(497c) PSRI Lectureship Award in Fluidization: CFD as a tool to better understand multiphase flow physics

Science is built on three pillars — experimentation, theory, and computation — which serve as the foundation of scientific discovery. Of these, computation is the fastest growing due to cheap computer hardware and free operating systems and compilers. Much sophisticated software, including computational fluid dynamics (CFD), is low-cost and open source, thus accelerating the use and development of faster, more efficient computational tools. Surprisingly, even with the latest developments in experimentation, theory, and computation, the physics of multiphase flows are still poorly understood. This talk will focus on using CFD to help develop a better understanding of the apparent complexity of fluidized bed operations. The initial part of the talk will focus on analyzing the predictions of different continuum two-fluid methods (TFM) based on some simple examples. Then, we’ll switch to discrete methods that provide detailed flow visualizations of particle rotation and interactions with walls to analyze attrition and erosion for high-speed flows. The last example will demonstrate the ability of CFD to provide a clear explanation to the formation and growth of granular jets previously observed experimentally in the past decade. Finally, we will briefly discuss views and opinions on the path forward to simulate large-scale industrial fluidized beds.