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Gao, X. Y., J.; Lu, L. Q.; Rogers, W. A. "Coupling particle scale model and SuperDEM-CFD for multiscale simulation of biomass pyrolysis in a packed bed pyrolyzer," Aiche Journal Vol. 67, No. 4, 2021, p. 15. https://doi.org/10.1002/aic.17139.

Abstract: An efficient biomass pyrolysis process requires a comprehensive understanding of the chemical and physical phenomena that occur at multi-length and time scales. In this study, a multiscale computational approach was developed and validated for biomass pyrolysis in a packed-bed reactor by integrating pyrolysis kinetics, a particle scale model, and Superquadric Discrete Element Method-Computational Fluid Dynamics (SuperDEM-CFD) in open-source code MFiX. A one-dimensional particle-scale model that discretizes the characteristic length of biomass particle into layers was developed to predict the intraparticle phenomena inside a single particle. The 1D model was validated by comparing it with a single biomass particle pyrolysis experiment. A recently developed SuperDEM-CFD model was employed to simulate the non-spherical particle-particle contact and fluid-particle interaction. The coupled model was applied to simulate the pyrolysis of cubic biomass particles in a packed bed and validated by comparing with experimental data. Simulation with and without particle-scale model was compared, and the effect of the gas-solid heat transfer models was also investigated.
Keywords: biomass; CFD‐ DEM; MFiX; non‐ spherical; pyrolysis; superquadric; heat-transfer coefficients; direct numerical-simulation; verification; conduction; kinetics; mass; Engineering
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