Fluidized bed reactors reached became popular in the 80-90s. Since then, this equipment has become important for thermo electrical generation, because it permits fuel options for a high degree of conversion but with lower costs than those used in industrial processes. This technique does not play am important role in Brazil yet, where the use of optional electric generation technologies are now being considered. Thermal generation is one option in which that fluidized bed reactors can be used to burn materials like coal and biomasses. The mathematical models have been efficient in investigating the virtual conditions of the processes. In this work, a mathematical model aiming to simulate the fluidized bed reactor is proposed. The model uses the concept of a multiphase-multicomponent system to simulate the transient inner flowing conditions in 3D. The transport equations of mass, momentum and energy are solved by the finite volumes method. The phases are modeled using continuum mechanics principles, where a collection of identical particles is considered. The simulation results of the fluidized bed reactor showed good agreement with the experimental data.
Multiphase flow; transient; 3D; Computational simulation
