Project Description

Introduction: A fluidized bed is a state of a mixture of solid particles and fluid, which is
widely used in many modern technologies for efficient implementation of various physical
and chemical processes. The solid particles which are present in the fluidized bed could be
fluidized by either gas or liquid, upon which the whole mixture starts to behave like a
liquid. The chief advantage of a fluidized bed system is that the particles are well mixed
leading to low temperature gradients. This means that fluidized beds are likely to have
high heat and mass transfer rates between the fluid phase and solid phase.

A liquid-solid fluidized bed, which is used in vertical fluidized-bed heat exchnagers made
by Klaren International b.v. (see https://www.klarenbv.com/self-cleaning-heat-exchange-
technology/ ) is an ensemble of solid particles that are suspended (fluidized) in vertical
tubes by an upward flowing liquid. The benefits of liquid−solid fluidization in a heat
exhnager is fouling removel as the fluidized particles create mild scourings that result in
cleaning effect on the wall of the heat exchanger tubes. However, the opertion of a
fluidized bed is not always free from problem. Their hydrodynamic behaviour can
sometimes show unwanted changes, e.g. due to agglomoration or particle setteling
process. Hence, the prediction of the hydrodynamics in fluidized beds of particles is of
fundamental importance in designing the equipments and in evaluating the efficiency of
physical and/or chemical operations.

Problem Details: The fouling of heat exchangers may be defined as the accumulation of unwanted
deposits on heat transfer surfaces. The foulant layer imposes an additional resistance to heat transfer and
the narrowing of the flow area, due to the presence of deposit, results in an increased velocity for a given
volumetric flow rate.

In the heat exchangers designed by Klaren International, a throttle plate is installed at the top of the tubes.
The general schematic of a throttle plate is shown here. In general, the plate consists of three parts, i.e.,
contracting part, straight and expanding parts. The
thickness, angles and diameter of the parts may
vary from one designed heat exchanger to another
one. In a heat exchanger, a liquid flow is flowing in
the tubes and then, at the top of the tube bundle
reaches the contracting part of the plate. As a
result of the change in the diameter, the flow
velocity increases. Then the flow passes the
straight part with length of t2 and finally enters the
expanding zone. The role of the throttle plate is
stabilizing the particle-liquid flow above the tube
bundle and preventing downward flow in a one or
more tubes during the operation.

It has been observed in different installed heat exchangers that fouling layers develop below the contracting
parts of the throttle plate, as the shape of the fouling layer exactly follow the contracting angle of the throttle
plate. Observations/inspections have shown that the fluidizing particles are absent in the fouling layer, which
is formed in the contracting region, whereas some particles are trapped in the extended fouling layers, i.e.,
layers which have blocked the hole completely or partially. In these cases, the particles are present in the
central part of the hole. The absence of cleaning particles in the contracting part explain that the cleaning
particles are not able to enter and hit the contracting parts. In other words, cleaning particles move in the
center of the throttle plate and have no impact with the contracting boundaries of the plate. As a result, the
fouling layers have chance to grow and block the hole.

CFD Analysis: The geometry of the contracting part of the plate resembles
flow in a sudden/gradual contracting channel as a well-known problem in the
fluid mechanics. The flow of fluid through a contraction (decrease in pipe
diameter) results in an increase in the velocity and pressure drop compared to
the equivalent straight pipe.

We aim to use CFD for better understanding the particle-liquid flow in the
vicinity of the throttle plate that will help us to optimize the design of the
throttle plate. Our main research question is: how we can improve the throttle
plate design as the fluidizing particles can hit the contracting surface to prevent
fouling? For this purpose, a series of CFD simulations would be necessary to
investigate the effect of contracting angel, thickness of the straight part and
angle of the expanding part on the hydrodynamic of particle-liquid flow.

3D simulations should be done for simulating particle-liquid flow in a single

vertical tube with various throttle parts at the top. The length of tube before
reaching the throttle plate should be around 50cm to be able to see random motion of particles. Steady and
transient turbulent flow coupled with DPM-EDM is used in the Lagrangian frame of reference to track
particles’ motion whereas a Eulerian formulation is simultaneously used for the continuous phase. Different
forces acting on the Lagrangian particles along their trajectories are considered as well as a stochastic
behavior of the surrounding turbulent flow. We are interested in both steady and unsteady particle tracking.

For this project, we need an expert in CFD who is quite familiar with the Lagrangian (DPM-EDM) flow
simulations. Simulations could be done with any commercial packages such as Fluent, or with opensource
codes like OpenFoam. More details could be discussed during interviews.