Fixed bed reactors are well known in chemical industry. These reactors are usually modelled using a pseudo-homogeneous approach and experimentally determined correlations. This simplified description does not permit a detailed analysis of the liquid flow between the particles, where local phenomena are particularly important, significantly influencing the overall reactor performance. In this work, complex local flow field patterns in fixed bed reactors are studied. Two different regular arrangements of spheres are investigated using the commercial computational fluid dynamics code CFX by ANSYS Inc. To validate the simulation results, Ergun and Carman pressure drop correlations are used. Numerical simulations are in a good agreement with both correlations. Furthermore, the residence time distribution is estimated using two different methods.
CFD-based modelling of the residence time distribution in structured fixed beds
BRUNAZZI, ELISABETTA
2007-01-01
Abstract
Fixed bed reactors are well known in chemical industry. These reactors are usually modelled using a pseudo-homogeneous approach and experimentally determined correlations. This simplified description does not permit a detailed analysis of the liquid flow between the particles, where local phenomena are particularly important, significantly influencing the overall reactor performance. In this work, complex local flow field patterns in fixed bed reactors are studied. Two different regular arrangements of spheres are investigated using the commercial computational fluid dynamics code CFX by ANSYS Inc. To validate the simulation results, Ergun and Carman pressure drop correlations are used. Numerical simulations are in a good agreement with both correlations. Furthermore, the residence time distribution is estimated using two different methods.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
