(254c) Numerical study of particle tracking measurements in fluidized bed reactors

Particle tracking is an important non-invasive technique to measure the solids flow in fluidized bed reactors. In this study, we carried out CFD-DEM simulations to compare different particle tracking methods used in the travelling fluidized bed experimental test campaign led by the UBC team. Different types of tracer particles used in the radioactive particle tracking (RPT) and positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) were simulated to evaluate their impacts on the measured flow fields, e.g., solids velocity and mean solids concentration, and to help understand the significant discrepancy between these two types of measurements observed experimentally. We then evaluated different methods to calibrate the particle tracking measurements for comparison with numerical simulations. It is critical to consistently post-process numerical data and experimental measurements for validation purpose. Some limitations of the trajectory-following experimental techniques were examined. The learning has been applied to the modeling study of a horizontal stirred bed reactor for polypropylene production for which the simulation was validated against RPT measurements in a cold flow unit.