Simulation of thermal conversion of solid fuel by the discrete particle method

Abstract

We introduce the discrete particle method (DPM) that derives from the discrete element method (DEM). This is an advanced numerical simulation tool that takes into account both motion and chemical conversion of granular material, such as coal or biomass, in furnaces in conjunction with computational fluid dynamics (CFD). However, predictions of solely motion or conversion in a decoupled mode are also applicable. The DPM uses object oriented computational techniques that support objects representing three-dimensional particles of various shapes, size, and physical properties of particle material. This makes DPM a highly versatile tool in dealing with a variety of problems related to different industrial applications of granular matter. A review of literature concerning different approaches to mass and heat transfer in packed beds is presented. Keywords: dicrete particle method (DPM), numerical modelling, combustion, moving bed, forward acting grate