Mixing and Segregation Characteristics of Binary Granular Material in Tapered Fluidized Bed: A CFD Study

Abstract

The particle flow pattern, mixing and granule segregation in a tapered fluidized bed have been studied along with the hydrodynamics. At first the bed of varying total mass and granule fractions is fluidized then the bed is defluidized to freeze the composition, the bed is sectioned to layers and the composition in each layer is determined by sieving. Mate-rials used in the present study are dolomite and glass beads with different B.S.S Sizes. A series of unsteady, three fluid CFD simulations were performed using FLUENTTM 6.2. Simulation parameters viz. solution technique, grid, maximum packing fraction and operating conditions like gas velocity were investigated for relative effects on particle mixing and segregation. Good arrangement of solid volume fraction profile was obtained between the experimental results and simulation results for regular particles.