Eulerian-Lagrangian method for three-dimensional thermal reacting flow with application to coal gasifiers

Energy transport and chemistry are modeled in an extension of the Eulerian-Lagrangian computational particle fluid dynamics (CPFD) methodology. The CPFD methodology is based on the MP-PIC method, which uses a stochastic particle method for the particle phase and an Eulerian method for the fluid phase, to solve equations for dense particle flow. In our extension of CPFD, an enthalpy equation describes energy transport for fluid, and provides for transfer of sensible and chemical energy between phases and within the fluid mixture. Homogenous and heterogeneous chemistry are described by reduced-chemistry, and the reaction rates are implicitly solved numerically on the Eulerian grid. Inter-phase momentum and energy transfer are also implicitly calculated, giving a robust numerical solution from the dilute flow to close-pack limits. A three-dimensional example of a hot fluidized bed coal gasifier is presented with homogeneous and heterogeneous chemistry. The inter-dependencies of fluidization, thermal, and chemistry behaviors in this complex three-dimensional calculation are described. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.