Particle Scale Flow

Packed beds are widely used in chemical process industries to carry out solid–catalyzed gas–phase reactions. The catalyst particle shape determines the local (particle–scale) transport phenomena which in turn contributes to the pressure drop, dispersion, heat and mass transport characteristics and therefore the reactor performance. Hence, it is imperative to understand the particle–scale flow in the packed beds. Even though a wide range of bed–scale experiments have been performed for estimation of global parameters like pressure drop, overall heat transfer coefficients etc., they do not provide detailed information on the particle–scale transport phenomena. On the other hand, particle–resolved CFD simulations can provide such detailed particle–scale information which helps to establish a relationship between the particle shape and the reactor performance. However, the CFD models lack rigorous validation due to difficulty in obtaining reliable particle–scale measurements. Therefore, the main purpose of the present work is to establish an approach measurements of the local flow field around the particle and residence time distribution (RTD) in the packed beds with the application of Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) measurement techniques. This information will be helpful in rigorous validation of CFD models which then can be used with confidence for the development of novel particle shapes for improving the reactor performance.

Publications/conference presentations:

• Karthik G. M., Abhijeet H. Thaker and Vivek V. Buwa, Particle–Resolved Simulations of Catalytic Fixed Bed Reactors: Comparison of Turbulence Models, LES and PIV Measurements, 14th International Conference on Gas–Liquid and Gas–Liquid–Solid Reactor Engineering (GLS–14), Guilin, China, 2019. (Accepted)

• Karthik G. M., Abhijeet H. Thaker and Vivek V. Buwa, PIV–LIF Measurements and CFD Simulations of Particle–Scale Flow and Tracer Distribution in Packed Beds, Chemical Engineering Science, 2018. (To be submitted)

• Abhijeet H. Thaker, Karthik G. M. and Vivek V. Buwa, Experimental and CFD Analysis of Particle–Scale Flow and RTD in Packed Beds, 13th International Conference on Gas–Liquid and Gas–Liquid–Solid Reactor Engineering (GLS–13), Belgium, Brussels, 2017.

• Hassam Mazhar and Vivek V. Buwa, PIV and LIF Measurements of Particle–Scale Flow in Packed Beds, 12th International Symposium on Particle Image Velocimetry (ISPIV 2017), Busan, South Korea, 2017.