Simulation of Coal and Biomass Cofiring with Different Particle Density and Diameter in Bubbling Fluidized Bed under O₂/CO₂ Atmospheres

Abstract

A 2D dynamic model for a bubbling fluidized bed (BFB) combustor has been developed for simulating the coal and biomass cofiring process under 21% O 2 /79% CO 2 atmosphere in a 6 kWth bubbling fluidized bed, coupled with the Euler-Euler two-phase flow model. The kinetic theory of binary granular mixtures is employed for the solid phase in order to map the effect of particle size and density. The distribution of temperature, volume fraction, velocity, gas species concentration, and reaction rates are studied with numerical calculations. The simulated temperature distribution along the height of the combustor and outlet gas concentrations show good agreement with experimental data, validating the accuracy and reliability of the developed cofiring simulation model. As indicated in the results, there are two high temperature zones in the combustor, which separately exist at the fuel inlet and dilute phase. The reaction rates are related to the species concentration and temperature. The higher concentration and temperature lead to the larger reaction rates. It can be seen that all of the homogeneous reaction rates are larger at the fuel inlet region because of rich O 2 and volatiles. High mass fraction of volatile gas is found at the fuel inlet, and the main reburning gas at the dilute phase is CH 4 . The mass fraction distribution of CO is related to the volume fraction of fuel which is due to the fact that the source of CO is not only from the devolatilization but also from the gasification. On the basis of this theoretical study, a better understanding of flow and combustion characteristics in biomass and coal cofiring under oxy-fuel atmospheres could be achieved.

Numerical and Experimental Study on Oxy-fuel Coal and Biomass Co-firing in a Bubbling Fluidized Bed

“…Fluidized bed co-firing of coal and biomass is a complex multiphase flow process coupled with heat transfer, mass transfer, and chemical reactions. A two-dimensional comprehensive combustion model based on the Euler–Euler method coupled with homo- and heterogeneous reactions has been established in our previous study . The simulated combustion processes of fuel conversion in the fluidized bed include particle drying and devolatilization, volatile combustion, char gasification, and combustion .…”

“…Modeling Section. Fluidized bed co-firing of coal and biomass is a complex multiphase flow process coupled with heat 38 The simulated combustion processes of fuel conversion in the fluidized bed include particle drying and devolatilization, volatile combustion, char gasification, and combustion. 39 On the basis of the kinetic theory of granular flow (KTGF) for the binary granular mixture model, 40 an Eulerian granular model is adopted for fuel particles to model the gas−solid flow.…”