Liquid and Powder Motion in Packed Bed

Abstract

In high-temperature processes, solid, liquid, and gas phases generally coexist together and react with each other. The gas flow in a liquid-containing packed bed is dependent on the liquid and powder distributions, as well as the packed bed structure. The liquid and powder flow in the vacancies of the packed bed because of gravity and gas flow, and move or accumulate there. The accumulation might clog the gas flow. In the present study, the mechanism of liquid and powder accumulation and resulting clogging was investigated with the aim of finding ways to mitigate liquid or powder accumulation in a packed bed. A Discrete Element Method (DEM) model[1] was developed for the analysis of the clogging phenomena, and the relationship between the physical properties of powder and the amount of powder accumulated in the packed bed was investigated. A Moving Particle Semi-implicit (MPS) method[2] was employed for analyzing the liquid flow in the packed bed, and the influence of liquid properties and wettability on its motion was determined. Moreover, experiments were carried out to investigate the interaction between liquid and powder in the packed bed. Further, the influence of wettability and physical properties of the packed material and powder on their accumulation was studied. The wettability of the packed material by the liquid in the bed was found to have a significant influence on powder accumulation.