CFD modelling of thermo-chemical process in catalytic pyrolysis of sawdust in bubbling fluidized beds

Nanhang Dong, Sai Gu*, Lindsay Marie Armstrong, Konstantinos Papadikis, Kaihong Luo

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book or Report/Conference proceedingConference Proceedingpeer-review

Abstract

Simulation of catalytic cracking of sawdust samples has been carried out in bubbling fluidized beds with in situ catalyst. The techniques of bio-oil upgrading are one of the critical issues in industrial applications. Computational modelling of thermochemical processing of biomass can be quite complex, since it involves the interaction of multiphase flow dynamics coupled with chemical reaction. The current work presents a numerical model that investigates the online catalytic upgrading of fast pyrolysis derived tars. The Eulerian-Eulerian approach is employed to model the multiphase flow in fluidized beds, coupled with the Kinetic Theory of Granular Flows. The kinetic scheme for catalytic pyrolysis is incorporated into the simulation to represent the decomposition of biomass. The simulation results show that the convection processes dominate the heating up of the sawdust particles while the space time, the ratio of catalyst mass to tar flow rate, can significantly influence the final product yield distribution.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of CHT-12. ICHMT International Symposium on Advances in Computational Heat Transfer, 2012
PublisherBegell House Inc.
Pages299-315
Number of pages17
ISBN (Print)9781567003031
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012
EventInternational Symposium on Advances in Computational Heat Transfer, CHT 2012 - Bath, United Kingdom
Duration: 1 Jul 20126 Jul 2012

Publication series

NameInternational Symposium on Advances in Computational Heat Transfer
ISSN (Print)2578-5486

Conference

ConferenceInternational Symposium on Advances in Computational Heat Transfer, CHT 2012
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityBath
Period1/07/126/07/12

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