Validation of the twoPhaseEulerFoam solver for jet inlet fluidized bed

Gas-solid fluidized beds operating in the bubbling regime have been widely used in various fields of chemical engineering and of the power industry due to the highest contact efficiency between the phases, which leads to a higher conversion, and to a better heat distribution these systems can grant for their nature. The numerical modelling of bubbling fluidized beds presents particular difficulties due to the high number of particles involved in the system, which makes the adoption of Lagrangian models impossible for the simulation of devices of practical interest due to their high computational cost. As a consequence, the Eulerian-Eulerian two-phase approach is the choice to simulate these systems. where the normal stresses of the particulate phase are modelled with the kinetic theory of the granular flow, or with some rheological model to calculate the normal stresses of the particulate phase, in order to avoid an unphysical increase in its phase fraction . The aim of the work is to perform the validation of the solver twoPhaseEulerFoam, presents in OpenFOAM ver. 2.3.x, for the numerical simulation of a fluidized bed with an inlet jet. The experimental set-up proposed in Kuipers et al. [1] is used to compare numerical simulation with experimental results. With a proper choice of the available models and correlations whose effect will be illustrated, it is confirmed the ability of the solver at reproducing the transient phenomenon. Nevertheless, several numerical caveats emerged, making the selection of numerical parameters crucial for a successful integration. [1] Kuipers, J., Tammes, H., Prins, W., Van Swaaij, W., 1992. Experimental and theoretical porosity profiles in a two-dimensional gas-fluidized bed with a central jet. Powder technology 71 (1), 87-99