Particuology 59 (2021) 24–33

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Particuology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/partic

Visualization study on the coarse graining DEM for large-scale

gas–solid flow systems
Yuki Mori a , Mikio Sakai b,∗
a
Department of Nuclear Engineering and Management, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
b
Resilience Engineering Research Center, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Gas–solid flows are ubiquitous in industrial systems. The coupled model of the discrete element method
Received 7 February 2020 (DEM) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is one of the techniques for the simulation of the gas–solid
Received in revised form 21 May 2020 flows. To enhance the applicability of the DEM-CFD method, the coarse graining DEM has been developed
Accepted 8 July 2020
to simulate large-scale powder systems. The coarse graining DEM is a scaling law model and hence can
Available online 31 July 2020
simulate large-scale systems using a smaller number of particles than the actual one. Although the coarse
graining DEM enables to effectively simulate large-scale powder systems on a single PC, visualized image
Keywords:
is lack of reality due to reduced spatial resolution. Here a novel visualization method is developed to
DEM-CFD method
Coarse graining DEM
produce realistic images. In the proposed technique, the virtual particles are located by considering the
Computer graphics motion and location of the coarse grain particles. To show the adequacy of the proposed method, two
types of visualization based on the computational results are made: a blow-up of powder due to injected
gas flow and a spouted bed. In these systems, the visualized images are shown to be improved by the
proposed visualization technique. The effectiveness of the proposed method is proved by the agreement
of the images based on the calculation results between the standard DEM-CFD method and coarse graining
DEM.
© 2020 Chinese Society of Particuology and Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of
Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Introduction
Gas–solid flows are ubiquitous in various industries, such as
pneumatic conveying (Kuang, Zhou, & Yu, 2020; Sakai & Koshizuka,
2009), spouted beds (Takabatake, Mori, Khinast, & Sakai, 2018),
cyclone separators (Chu, Chen, & Yu, 2015), and fluidized beds
(Ge, Chang, Li, & Wang, 2019; Sakai, 2016; Wang, Luo, Hu, Lin, &
Fan, 2019). For a better understanding of the phenomena of the
gas–solid flow systems, numerical simulations have been exten-
sively applied. There are two types of approaches to simulate the
gas–solid flows: one is the Euler–Lagrange method, the other is the
Euler–Euler method, such as the two-fluid model (Goldschmidt,
Beetstra, & Kuipers, 2004; Verma, Deen, Padding, & Kuipers, 2013).
The coupled model of the discrete element method (DEM) (Cundall
& Strack, 1979) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is well
employed in the Euler-Lagrange methods. In order to apply the
DEM-CFD method (Tsuji, Kawaguchi, & Tanaka, 1993) to the indus-
trial systems, the authors’ group has developed an innovative
∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: mikio sakai@n.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp (M. Sakai).
model which is referred to as the coarse graining DEM (Mori, Wu,
& Sakai, 2019; Sakai & Koshizuka, 2009; Sakai et al., 2010; Sakai,
Takahashi, Pain, Latham, & Xiang, 2012; Sakai et al., 2014; Xie,
Shen, Takabatake, Yamaguchi, & Sakai, 2020). The coarse grain-
ing DEM is one of the scaling law models (Chan & Washino, 2018;
Chu et al., 2015; Hu et al., 2018), where the large size modeled
particle represents the group of the original particles. The mod-
eled particle is referred to as the coarse grain particle or parcel.
Herein “coarse graining” indicates not the discrete-to-continuum
technique (Goldhirsch, 2010; Weinhart, Hartkamp, Thornton, &
Luding, 2013), but a scaling law model of the DEM. In this study,
the coarse grain DEM which is developed in the authors’ group
(Sakai & Koshizuka, 2009) is used. In the coarse graining DEM, the
total energy is modeled to agree between the coarse grain particle
and the group of the original particles when the binary collision
occurs between the coarse grain particles. Thus, the coarse grain-
ing DEM makes it possible to simulate a large-scale system by using
a smaller number of computed particles than the actual one. The
coarse graining DEM is useful because it enables to simulate large-
scale powder systems on a single PC. Although the adequacy and
computational efficiency of the coarse graining DEM has been val-
idated in various systems (the fluidized bed (Sakai et al., 2014),

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.partic.2020.07.001
1674-2001/© 2020 Chinese Society of Particuology and Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 Y. Mori, M. Sakai / Particuology 59 (2021) 24–33 25

spouted bed (Takabatake et al., 2018), and die-filling system (Yao,
Mori, Takabatake, Sun, & Sakai, 2018)), the visualized image might
become a problem, namely, lack of reality. This is because the
spatial resolution is reduced due to the usage of the coarse grain
particle. One should not shy away from the visualization problem.
This is because the imagination of engineers might be improved
drastically when the results of the coarse graining DEM simulation
are visualized realistically. In this study, a visualization method is
developed to produce the visualization image of the calculation
results realistically. In the visualization, coarse grain particles are
visualized by the virtual particles, where not only the elimination of
the virtual particles in the bulk region is made for efficient visualiza-
tion but also the virtual particles are distributed by considering the
motion and location of the coarse grain particles. In order to show
the adequacy of the proposed visualization method, two types of
gas–solid flow systems are selected: a blow-up of powder due to
injected gas flow and a spouted bed. In these systems, the visualized
images are shown to be drastically improved by using the proposed
method. Besides, the processing time, including computation and
visualization is illustrated to be reduced drastically by using the
proposed technique. Consequently, the adequacy and efficiency of
the proposed method are proved through this study.
particle is modeled based on the assumption of the kinetic energy
agreement between the coarse grain and original particle systems.
The binary collision of all the original particles is assumed in the
coarse graining DEM when a binary collision occurs in the coarse
grain particles. Then, the velocity of the coarse grain particle is
assumed as the average velocity of a group of original particles.
According to the assumptions, F nCGM and F tCGM are given as
 
F nCGM = l3 −kp ınCGM − p v rn CGM (4)
and
⎧ 3 
⎪ l −kp ıtCGM − p v rt CGM F nCGM < p F nCGM
⎨
F tCGM = vrt , (5)
⎩ −l3 p F nCGM CGM F nCGM ≥ p F nCGM
⎪
v rt CGM
where, kp , ı, p , v r , and p are, respectively, the spring constant,
displacement, the damping coefficient, relative velocity, and coeffi-
cient of friction. In the coarse graining DEM, the physical properties
of the original particles are available. The damping coefficient is
derived from the restitution coefficient as

mCGM lne
p = −2 kp  , (6)
2 2 + (lne)2
Numerical modeling
where e is the restitution coefficient. The drag force acting on a
In this study, the integrated DEM-CFD method (Mori et al., 2019) coarse grain particle is given as
is employed for the numerical simulation of gas–solid flow systems.
ˇp VpCGM
In the integrated DEM-CFD method, the solid phase is modeled F dCGM = (u − v CGM ) , (7)
by the DEM, and the gas phase is modeled by CFD based on the 1−ε
local volume average technique. Besides, not only the coarse grain- where, ˇp , ε, and u are, respectively, the interphase momentum
ing DEM is available, but also the signed distance function (SDF) transfer coefficient, the void fraction of the fluid grid which includes
(Shigeto & Sakai, 2013) and immersed boundary method (IBM) the particle, and the fluid velocity. A combination of the equations
(Sun & Sakai, 2016b) are used to model the wall boundaries in the of Ergun (Ergun, 1952) and Wen-Yu (Wen & Yu, 1966) is employed
gas–solid flow simulation. In the integrated DEM-CFD method, the in the coefficient ˇp , which is given as
coarse grain particles are visualized directly, and hence the visual- ⎧
ization images become lack of reality. ⎪
⎪ (1 − ε)2 f 1.75 (1 − ε) 
⎨ 150 2
+
d
|u − v CGM | (ε ≤ 0.8)
εdo o
ˇp = , (8)
Solid phase modeling ⎪
⎪
⎩ 3 CD (|u − vCGM | ε (1 − ε)) ε−2.65 (ε > 0.8)
4 do
The solid phase is analyzed by the DEM in which the coarse
⎧  
graining DEM is employed. As mentioned above, a coarse grain ⎪
⎨ 24 1 + 0.15Re
0.687
particle represents a group of original particles in the coarse grain- (Re ≤ 1000)
CD = Re , (9)
ing DEM. Regarding the governing equations of the solid phase, ⎪
⎩
translational and rotational motions are given by 0.44 (Re > 1000)
dv CGM 
mCGM = F CGM + F dCGM − VpCGM ∇ p + mCGM g (1) And
dt
|u − v CGM | εdo
and Rep = , (10)
f
dωCGM 
ICGM = T CGM , (2) where f , do , , CD , and Rep are, respectively, the fluid viscosity, the
dt
diameter of original particles, the fluid density, the drag coefficient,
where m, v, t, F, F d , Vp , p, g, I, ω, and T are, respectively, the mass and the particle Reynolds number. In the coarse graining DEM, par-
of the particle, the translational velocity of the particle, time, the ticle motion can be simulated by using the physical properties of
contact force acting on the particle, the solid-fluid interaction force, original particles. The accuracy and applicability of the coarse grain-
the particle volume, pressure, gravitational acceleration, momen- ing DEM have been validated in previous studies (Mori et al., 2019;
tum inertia, the angular velocity of the particle, and torque. The Sakai et al., 2014; Takabatake et al., 2018).
subscript CGM stands for the coarse graining DEM. The diameter of
the coarse grain particles becomes l times larger than that of orig-
Gas phase modeling
inal particles, where l is a scaling ratio of the coarse grain particle.
Herein l is referred to as the coarse grain ratio. The contact force
The gas phase is modeled by CFD with the local volume average
acting on a coarse grain particle consists of normal and tangential
technique (Anderson & Jackson, 1967). The governing equations of
components:
the gas phase are Navier–Stokes and continuity equations, which
F CGM = F nCGM + F tCGM . (3) are given by

The subscripts n and t refer to normal and tangential com- ∂ (εuf )

+ ∇ · (εuf uf ) = −ε∇ p + F D + ∇ · (ε) + εg (11)
ponents, respectively. The contact force acting on a coarse grain ∂t
26 Y. Mori, M. Sakai / Particuology 59 (2021) 24–33

And then modified to the fluid velocity. Therefore, the correction term
F IB must be considered in Navier-Stokes equation as
∂ε
+ ∇ · (εuf ) = 0, (12)
∂t ∂ (εu)
+ ∇ · (εuu) = −ε∇ p + F D + ∇ · (ε) + εg + εF IB . (19)
where, uf , F D , and  is the fluid velocity, the drag force acting on the ∂t
fluid, and the viscous tensor respectively. The relationship between The correction term enforces the non-slip condition at the wall
the drag forces F D and F d is given based on Newton’s third law of boundary. F IB is given as
motion as follows:


F dCGM
FD + = 0,
Vgrid
where Vgrid is the volume of the fluid grid.
Wall boundary model
To create the wall boundary efficiently, the wall boundaries for
the solid and gas phases are modeled by the SDF and IBM in the inte-
grated DEM-CFD method. The combined SDF-IBM model enables
us to model the wall boundaries easily in the simulation of the
gas–solid flows. The details of wall boundary models are shown
below.
Wall boundary modeling in the DEM
The wall boundary modeling of the DEM is given by the SDF.
The SDF is saved in the spatial points of the calculation domain
with even interval. The SDF, which is denoted as (x), is given as
(x) = s (x) d (x) ,
where s (x) and d (x) are, respectively, the sign and the minimum
distance from the wall boundary at a given point x. s (x) becomes
positive when the points are inside of the calculation domain, and
vice versa. When the SDF is used, the normal component of the
overlap between the particle and wall is derived by
ldO
 ∇
ınCGM = − .
2 ∇ algorithm has been applied to computational grids so far. A new
The contact force between the coarse grain particle and the wall
is given as
 
F nCGM = l3 −kw ∇ ınCGM − w vrn CGM ,
where w is given by
 lne
w = −2 mCGM kw  .
2 + (lne)2
kw is commonly set to the same as kp . When the SDF is used in the
wall boundary, the tangential force is given in the same way as the
particle-particle contact. The adequacy of the SDF has been vali-
dated in the past studies (Basinskas & Sakai, 2016a, 2016b; Sakai,
Shigeto, Basinskas, Hosokawa, & Fuji, 2015; Sakai, Takabatake,
Tamura, Hatano, & Minakuchi, 2019; Shigeto & Sakai, 2013).
Wall boundary modeling in CFD
By using the IBM (Sun & Sakai, 2016a, 2016b, 2017; Udono &
Sakai, 2017; Udono, Uruga, Tsukada, & Sakai, 2020), the fluid-wall
interaction can be simulated even by using structured CFD grids.
In this method, the volume-weighted average velocity is used to
analyze the interaction between the fluid and the wall boundary
object. The volume-weighted average velocity u is calculated as
 
u = 1 −  uf + uw ,
where  and uw are the volume fraction and velocity of the wall,
respectively. The volume fraction  can be derived efficiently by
counting the SDF points in a CFD grid. In the IBM, the volume-
weighted average velocity is used instead of the fluid velocity and
 uw − û
(13) F IB = , (20)
t
where û and t are the fluid velocity before modification by the
IBM and the time step of numerical simulation, respectively. In the
IBM, not only should the grid size be smaller than the object size to
resolve wall boundaries, but also it should be sufficiently larger than
the particle size to satisfy the principle of the local volume average
technique. Incidentally, adequacy of the combined SDF-IBM model
has been shown in previous studies (Mori et al., 2019; Sun & Sakai,
2015, 2017; Yao et al., 2018).
Visualization method and algorithm
Although the coarse graining DEM is proved to be an established
model for large-scale gas–solid simulations, it fails to offer real-
istic image visualization due to the reduced spatial resolution. In
this study, a novel visualization method is developed to visualize
(14) the coarse graining DEM. In this method, the virtual particles are
located not only by eliminating those in the bulk region but also by
considering the motion and location of the coarse grain particles.
Elimination of bulk particles
In computer graphics, the culling algorithm is often performed
to reduce the rendering cost (Lloyd & Egbert, 2002). The culling
(15)
elimination or culling algorithm for the particles is proposed in
this study. In the granular flow simulation, the particles located in
the bulk region cannot be observed, and hence can be eliminated
to improve the efficiency of the rendering processes. On the other
(16) hand, determination of the particles for the elimination is not easy.
An empirical algorithm is proposed to judge the particles in the
bulk area and to eliminate them in the visualization.
(17) Fig. 1 shows a schematic image of the elimination algorithm.
Firstly, the bulk and non-bulk regions are identified base on the
volume fraction of the CFD grid. Fig. 1(a) indicates the volume frac-
tion of the solid phase, where the pale color region is a low volume
fraction of the solid phase. When the volume fraction of the solid
phase is more than 0.1, the CFD grids are regarded to be a bulk
region (Fig. 1(b)). This value is decided by trial and error. By using
the identification, the CFD grids classified into the outside of the
bulk region are defined as “outside grids” (Fig. 1(c)). The particles
which do not belong to the outside grids and the adjacent grids are
eliminated (Fig. 1(d)). Finally, only the particles belonging to the
outside grids and the adjacent grids are visualized (Fig. 1(e)).
Fig. 1
Distribution of virtual particles
Location of virtual particles
In the proposed method, the virtual particles are distributed by
(18)
considering the solid volume fraction and the location of the coarse
grain particles in the vicinity of the wall. As shown in Fig. 2, three
types of locations are taken into consideration, namely, (a) spherical
distribution, (b) Gaussian distribution, and (c) packing distribu-
tion. Basically, the virtual particles are distributed spherically based
 Y. Mori, M. Sakai / Particuology 59 (2021) 24–33 27

where ˝i , r sphere,j , r gaussian,j , r pack,j , ˛i and

i are the rotation
matrix, the relative position of the particle by the spherical dis-
tribution, Gaussian distribution, packing distribution, weight of
Gaussian distribution, and weight of packing distribution, respec-
tively. r sphere,j , r gaussian,j , and r pack,j are calculated before rendering.
˝i is randomly given by the individual coarse grain particle to
avoid making moiré fringe. Eq. (21) makes it possible to interpo-
late r sphere,j , r gaussian,j , and r pack,j continuously. The coefficient ˛i
at the k + 1 -th step of the visualization step is given as
⎧ 
⎪ t
⎪
⎪ ˛ki ˛ki + Sstop,i < 0
⎪
⎪ Tth
⎪
⎨ 
t t
˛k+1 = ˛ki + S 0 ≤ ˛ki + S ≤1 , (22)
i
⎪ Tth stop,i Tth stop,i
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ 
⎪
⎩ t
˛ki 1 < ˛ki + S
Tth stop,i

where Tth is the relaxation time for transforming the virtual particle
location from the spherical distribution into Gaussian distribution.
˛i is related to the location of the virtual particles and updated by
the time step. Sstop,i is the signed functions, which is +1 when the
particle stops, and vice versa. Eq. (22) means that the coefficient ˛i
is increasing and the location of virtual particles becomes Gaussian
distribution when the particle i is stopped. Sstop,i is defined by
  
vn i t vt i t
Sstop,i = sgn max Mthn − , Mtht − , (23)
Lfluid Lfluid

where, Lfluid , Mthn and Mtht are the CFD grid size, the threshold value
Fig. 1. Schematic illustrating the elimination of particles in the bulk region.
for normal and tangential components of particle movement. In this
study, Mthn and Mtht are empirically set to 0.05 and 0.01, respec-
tively. Eq. (23) means that the virtual particles become stationary
upon the coarse grain particle, and the location of the virtual par-
when the ratio of the particle movement to the CFD grid length is
ticles achieves Gaussian distribution when particles achieve the
less than Mth . In Eq. (21),
i is given as
stationary state. The location becomes packing distribution when
the coarse grain particles are judged to be a packing state. In order ⎧ 
⎪ t
to move and locate the virtual particles naturally, the relationship ⎪
⎪
ik
ik + Spack,i < 0
⎪
⎪ Tth
between the coarse grain particle i and virtual particle j is taken ⎪
⎨ 
into consideration. The relative position of the coarse grain particle t t

ik+1 =
ik + S 0 ≤
ik + S ≤1 , (24)
i and virtual particle j, viz. r ij , is provisionally given by ⎪ Tth pack,i Tth pack,i
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ 
  ⎪
⎩ t

r ij = (1 −
i ) (1 − ˛i ) ˝i r sphere,j + ˛i r gaussian,j +
i r pack,j , (21)
ik 1 <
ik + S
Tth pack,i

Fig. 2. Spatial location of virtual particles.

28 Y. Mori, M. Sakai / Particuology 59 (2021) 24–33

Fig. 3. Summary of location of the virtual particles.

where Spack,i is the signed function. Spack,i is given by Table 1

Physical properties.
Spack,i = sgn (th − i ) , (25)
Condition name (Unit) Value
where, i and th are the solid volume fraction in the CFD grid and Solid phase
the threshold value for judgment of packing state, respectively. The Spring constant (N/m) 5000
threshold th is empirically set to 0.45. Incidentally, Spack,i becomes Density (kg/m3 ) 2500
Coefficient of restitution (-) 0.9
positive when the volume fraction of the solid phase is judged to
Coefficient of friction (-) 0.3
be a packing state, namely, more than 0.45, whereas it becomes
negative when the volume fraction of the solid phase is not packing Gas phase
Density (kg/m3 ) 1.0
state.
i increases when the virtual particles keep packing state
Viscosity (Pa s) 1.8 × 10–5
(volume fraction of the solid phase is more than 0.45).

Expansion of a group of the virtual particles between the original system (the standard DEM-CFD) and the pro-
When the solid volume fraction is low, the virtual particles are posed visualization technique (visualization of the virtual particles
distributed over a considerable extent from the center position of based on the coarse graining DEM). In this study, two gas–solid
the coarse grain particle. In the proposed method, the range of the flow systems were employed, namely, a blow-up of powder due to
distribution of the virtual particles is given by injected gas flow and a spouted bed. The physical properties of the
Lfluid + (1 − ) ldo solid and gas phases are shown in Table 1. The gas density and vis-
K () = . (26) cosity were set to be 1.0 kg/m3 and 1.8 × 10–5 Pa s, respectively. The
ldo
solid particles were glass beads, where the density was 2500 kg/m3 .
Eq. (26) means that the maximum range of the virtual particle The coefficient of restitution was 0.9 and the friction coefficient was
location is the CFD grid size. The position of the virtual particle r  ij is 0.3. These physical properties are commonly used in past studies

updated by the position of the coarse grain particle r iCGM , r ij given (Sakai et al., 2014; Takabatake et al., 2018; Yao et al., 2018). Accord-
by Eq. (21) and K (): ing to the previous study (Kaneko, Shiojima, & Horio, 1999), soft
  spring was employed, namely, spring constant was 5000 N/m. The
r ij = r iCGM + K () r ij . (27)
computational hardware consisted of Intel Core i7-5960X central
processing unit and 16.0 GB memory capacity. POV-Ray version 3.7
Location of the virtual particles in the vicinity of the wall was used to visualize simulation results.
By the above algorithm, the virtual particles might be located
inside the wall. Not to locate the virtual particles in the wall, the
A blow-up of powder due to injected gas flow
position of the virtual particles inside the wall is corrected by the
proposed method. The correction is made by using the SDF because
Calculation and visualization conditions
the SDF has the distance and normal direction of the wall. Finally,
A blow-up of powder due to injected gas flow was selected in
when the virtual particles belong to the inside of the wall, the posi-
Case 1. In this case, particles were blown up by the injected gas and
tion of the virtual particles is updated as
collided to an obstacle. The schematic diagram of the calculation
⎧  
⎪
⎪

r ij

r ij −
dO
≥0
domain is shown in Fig. 4. The calculation domain was rectangular
⎪
⎪ 2 with a size of 300 mm × 110 mm × 800 mm. Table 2 shows the cal-
⎪
⎨  culation and visualization conditions. To satisfy the premise of the
r ij =  d  ∇ r ij   d  .(28) local volume average technique, the CFD grid size was 5 mm in x,
⎪
⎪ 
⎪
⎪

r ij +

r ij −
O
 r ij −
O
<0 y, and z directions, which was sufficiently larger than the particle
⎪
⎩ 2  2
∇ r ij size. The gas was injected from the left at a velocity of 10.0 m/s.
The diameter of the original particles was 0.5 mm. Case 1−1 was
Finally, the location of the virtual particles is summarized in the original system (number of calculated particles was 2,560,000)
Fig. 3. and was performed by the standard DEM-CFD method without the
coarse graining DEM. The coarse graining DEM was applied in Case
Simulation and visualization tests 1−2, in which the coarse grain ratio was set to 4.0 and the number of
calculated particles was 40,000. The calculation results in Case 1−2
In order to show the adequacy of the proposed visualization were visualized in three ways; Case 1−2A was created by direct
technique, agreements of the visualization images were examined visualization of the coarse grain particles, Case 1−2B was visual-
 Y. Mori, M. Sakai / Particuology 59 (2021) 24–33 29

Table 2
Calculation and visualization conditions of Case 1.

Condition name (Unit) Case 1−1 Case 1−2A Case 1−2B Case 1−2C

Solid phase
Coarse grain ratio (-) – 4.0
Diameter of original particle (mm) 0.5 0.5
Diameter of calculated particle (mm) 0.5 2.0
Number of particles (-) 2.56 × 106 4.0 × 104

Gas phase
Number of grids (-) 22 × 160 × 60
Grid size (mm) 5.0 × 5.0 × 5.0

Visualization
Particle size (mm) 0.5 2.0 0.5
Number of particles (-) 2.56 × 106 3.2 × 105 Less than 2.56 × 106 2.56 × 106

Fig. 4. Calculated area of Case 1.

Fig. 5. Color variation of particles and their ratio in Case 1.

ized by the proposed method, and Case 1−2C was visualized by the
proposed method without elimination of the particles. According
to the previous study (Meng et al., 2015), as shown in Fig. 5, parti-
cles were randomly colored by three different colors to improve the
quality of visualization. To evaluate the calculation efficiency, the
calculation and visualization time were compared between Case
1−1 and Case 1−2B.

Results and discussion

Fig. 6 shows the visualized images at 0.05 s and 0.1 s after the
start of the calculation for Case 1−1 and Case 1−2. Case 1−1, Case
1−2A, Case 1−2B, and Case 1−2C were, respectively, the images
for the visualization of the original system, the coarse grain parti-
cles, the proposed method, and the proposed method without the
elimination of the virtual particles. First, the visualization image of
the original system (Case 1−1) is described. In Case 1−1, particles
flowed upward due to the gas flow. After 0.05 s, the particles in the
upper part of the layer scattered forward, and the particles in the Fig. 6. Comparison of Case 1-1 and Case 1-2.
lower part of the layer moved forward horizontally. After 0.1 s, the
30 Y. Mori, M. Sakai / Particuology 59 (2021) 24–33
Table 3
Calculation time per frame in Case 1.
Condition name (Unit) Case1−1 Case1−2B
Numerical simulation (s) (1000 iterations) 1,535.0 25.0
Proposed method (location of the particles) (s) – 0.136
Rendering for visualization (s) 124.5 117.0
Total (s) 1,659.5 142.1
particles collided with the obstacle and were scattered upward, and
the powder bed largely deformed due to the injected gas.
Subsequently, the comparison of the visualization images
between Case 1−1 and Case 1−2 is described. The spatial location
of the computational particles was in good agreement between
standard DEM-CFD simulation (Case 1−1) and the coarse grain-
ing DEM (Case 1−2A). The visualized particle size was different
between Case 1−1 and Case 1−2A because of the usage of the
coarse graining DEM in Case 1−2A. Hence, the visualization image
was lack of reality when the coarse grain particle was visualized
directly. By introducing the proposed method, the visualized image
could be drastically improved. Visualization images obtained from
the proposed method are shown in Case 1−2B, where the images
were created by using the virtual particles based on the calcula-
tion results of the coarse graining DEM (Case 1−2A). When the
visualized image was compared in Case 1−1 and Case 1−2B, these
images were quite similar. The slight differences were appeared
in these images, specifically, some particles existing on the floor.
This is because lack of spatial particle resolution due to the coarse
graining DEM, usage of empirical threshold values in the proposed
visualization method, and indispensable uncertainty related to the
correlation of virtual particles near the wall. By using the pro-
posed visualization method, namely, converting the coarse grain
particles into the virtual particles, the visualized images were
much improved with respect to the resolution of the particles. Fur-
thermore, images in Case 1−2B and Case1−2C were compared to
investigate the effect of the elimination algorithm in the proposed
visualization method. In Case 1−2B, the virtual particles were elimi-
nated in the bulk region. The visualization image of Case 1−2B was
almost equivalent to that of Case 1−2C. This comparison proved
that the elimination algorithm could reduce visualized particles
effectively without impairing the quality of visualization images.
The calculation time was also compared with Case 1−1 and Case
1−2B. Table 3 shows the calculation time in Case 1−1 and Case
1−2B. In Case 1−2B, the time for the numerical simulation was
61.4 times faster than that in Case 1−1. This is because the num-
ber of calculated particles was reduced in Case 1−2B by using the
coarse graining DEM. In Case 1−2B, time for locating the virtual
particles became much smaller than the time for the gas–solid flow
simulation and rendering. Regarding the rendering time, Case 1−2B
was smaller than that of Case 1−1, since the proposed visualization
method could reduce the number of particles for the visualiza-
tion by the elimination algorithm. Thus, the proposed visualization
method made it possible to create images efficiently.
From these results, the proposed visualization method was
shown to solve the visualization problem for the coarse graining
DEM.
Simulation and visualization test in a spouted bed
Calculation and visualization conditions
To evaluate the applicability of the proposed method in
industrial processes, numerical simulation and visualization
were performed in a spouted bed. Fig. 7 shows a schematic
diagram of the calculated domain. The domain size was
105 mm × 600 mm × 60 mm. To satisfy the premise of the local vol-
ume average technique, the fluid grid size was set to 5 mm, which
Fig. 7. Calculated area in Case 2.
was sufficiently larger than the particle size. Two different inlet
boundary condition was used in this case, namely, the spouted gas
was given by 24.0 m/s in the center of the bottom, and the back-
ground gas was injected by 0.6 m/s in the other bottom areas. For
the initial condition, particles were packed randomly (Fig. 8).
Particles were colored in four colors based on the initial height,
and the number of particles of each color was the same. The
diameter of the original particles was 1.0 mm. The calculation and
visualization conditions are shown in Table 4. Case 2−1 was a
numerical simulation for the original particle system, and the num-
ber of calculated particles was 540,000. The coarse graining DEM
was applied to Case 2−2 in which the number of calculated parti-
cles was 6,750. The calculation results of Case 2−2 were visualized
in three different ways; Case 2−2A was created by direct visualiza-
tion of the coarse grain particle, Case 2−2B was visualized by the
proposed method, and Case 2−2C was visualized by the proposed
method without elimination algorithm.
Results and discussion
Fig. 9 shows the visualized images at 0.1 s and 0.3 s after the
start of the calculation of Case 2−1 and Case 2−2. At 0.1 s and
0.3 s, the spouted bed achieved a quasi-steady state. Case 2−1, Case
2−2A, Case 2−2B, and Case 2−2C were, respectively, the images
for the visualization of the original system (standard DEM-CFD
method), the coarse grain particles, the proposed method, and the
proposed method without elimination algorithm. First, the visu-
alization images of the original system shown in Case 2−1 are
described. In Case 2−1, the solid particles were blown up from
the center by the spouted gas. At 0.1 s, green particles originally
located at the bottom side moved upwards due to the spouted gas
and then distributed on the red particle layer. Each colored particle
layer maintained a horizontal layer, except for the central spouted
gas region. At 0.3 s, all the colored particles were well mixed at the
upper side of the powder bed, while the particle layer inclined at the
downside of the powder bed, where the central height was lower.
Subsequently, the comparison between Case 2−1 and Case 2−2
is shown. As described above, the calculation results of the coarse
graining DEM were directly visualized in Case 2−2A, and visual-
ized images were created in Case 2−2B using the proposed method.
The appearance of blown-up particles and the shape of the particle
layer well agreed between Case 2−1 and Case 2−2A. In the calcu-
 Y. Mori, M. Sakai / Particuology 59 (2021) 24–33
Fig. 8. Initial particle position and colors.
Table 4
Calculation conditions of Case 2.
Condition name (Unit) Case 2−1
Solid phase
Coarse grain ratio (-) – 2.0
Diameter of original particle (mm) 1.0
Diameter of calculated particle (mm) 1.0
Number of particles (-) 5.4 × 105
Gas phase
Number of grids (-) 21 × 120 × 12
Grid size (mm) 5.0 × 5.0 × 5.0
Visualization
Particle size (mm) 1.0
Number of particles (-) 5.4 × 105
lations, the spout shape agreed well between the image at 0.1 s in
Case 2−1 and the image at 0.3 s in Case 2−2A. The dynamic bed
height also agreed well between the image at 0.1 s in Case 2−1
and the image at 0.3 s in Case 2−2A. These results were reason-
able and acceptable because the dynamic bed height and the spout
shape oscillated randomly at a quasi-steady state in the spouted
bed. Consequently, it was shown that the macroscopic behavior of
the spouted bed could be simulated by the coarse graining DEM.
On the other hand, since the coarse grain particles were directly
visualized in Case 2−2A, the appearance was much different from
that in Case 2−1. In particular, at the fountain region, the appar-
ent volume fraction of solid particles in Case 2−2A became lower
than that in Case 2−1. The image could be greatly improved by the
proposed method. When the visualized images of Case 2−2B were
compared with those of Case 2−1, the spatial locations of the solid
particles in both cases were in good agreement. In Case 2−2B and
Case 2−1, slight image differences were observed in the fountain
region. This is because lack of spatial particle resolution due to the
coarse graining DEM as well as the usage of empirical threshold
values in the proposed visualization method. In Case 2−2B, usage
of the virtual particles made it possible to improve the visualiza-
tion image even by using the coarse graining DEM. The effect of the
elimination algorithm is described by comparing Case 2−2B and
2−2C. In Case 2−2B, although the virtual particles were eliminated
in the bulk region, the visualization image was quite similar to that
31
Case 2−2A Case 2−2B Case 2−2C
1.0
2.0
6.75 × 104
2.0 1.0
6.75 × 104 Less than 5.4 × 105 5.4 × 105
Case 2−2C. Thus, the elimination algorithm was shown to success-
fully reduce visualized particles without impairing the quality of
visualization images.
These results indicate that the visualization method proposed in
this study could solve the visualization problem in the coarse grain-
ing DEM and could efficiently create visualized images in industrial
processes.
Conclusions
The coarse graining DEM was useful to simulate industrial pow-
der systems. In the coarse graining DEM, the coarse grain particle
represented a group of original particles where total energy agreed
between them. Hence, the coarse graining DEM could reduce the
number of calculated particles based on the scaling law model.
Although the adequacy of the coarse graining DEM was shown in
the previous studies, visualization of the calculation results might
become a problem due to the lack of resolution. Specifically, the
appearance of the powder flow was far from the realistic image
because of the reduction of the number of computed particles. In
order to overcome this problem, a visualization method for the
coarse graining DEM was developed. In the proposed visualiza-
tion method, virtual particles were employed in the visualization
of the computational results of the coarse graining DEM, where
not only particle elimination algorithm but also the particle spa-
32 Y. Mori, M. Sakai / Particuology 59 (2021) 24–33
Fig. 9. The comparison of Case 2-1 and Case 2-2.
tial location algorithm was taken into consideration. Hence, the
proposed method had sufficient advantages in terms of the effi-
ciency of the DEM simulations and realistic visualization. To show
the adequacy of the proposed method, numerical simulations were
performed in two kinds of gas–solid flow systems. One was the
powder blow-up due to gas flow injection, and the other was the
spouted bed. In the numerical simulations, the reference images
were created by rendering calculation results in the original par-
ticle systems obtained from the standard DEM-CFD method. Then,
images were created by the proposed method based on the cal-
culation results of the coarse graining DEM simulations. Finally,
the images obtained from the proposed method were compared
with the reference images (the original particle system). Through
the comparison, the appearance of the images obtained from the
proposed method was in good agreement with the reference one.
Consequently, the proposed method was shown to reproduce the
original particle location efficiently, despite the reduced number of
computed particles.
Declaration of interests
There are no financial interests/personal relationships which
may be considered as potential competing interests.
Acknowledgments
Parts of the study were supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Num-
ber 19J22534, and KOZO KEIKAKU ENGINEERING Inc.
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