(22f) Hydrodynamic Fluidized Bed Data for the PSRI and NETL Modeling Challenge Problems

Engineering and modeling are synonymous with each other. We need models to simplify the world into manageable components because if you canxt manage it, you canxt control it. The problem is models are dependent on assumptions and simplifications. Thus, all models are wrong. It is the validation process that enables a model to be useful. Particulate Solid Research, Inc. (PSRI) and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) teamed up to provide the most comprehensive granular-fluid challenge problem yet. On May 9, 2010, PSRI and NETL issued a challenge to model a 3-foot (0.9-meter) diameter by 20-foot (6-meter) tall fluidized bed and a 12-inch (0.3-meter) diameter by 52-foot (15.9-meter) tall circulating fluidized bed (CFB) riser. On October 30, 2010, modelers were asked to submit their first pass results after which the corresponding experimental results were disclosed. This paper is a discussion of the fluidized bed results which includes includes bed density profiles, transient pressure responses, bubble hydrodynamics, and helium tracer responses for FCC catalyst powder of varying fines level. The goal of this challenge problem is not to rank the models, but to learn what does and does not work and to grow from those learnings. Understanding the data is the first step in this growth.