CFD Modeling of Solid Fluidization in a Column

Primary objective of the work is to model resin particles within the column during the particle fluidization and sedimentation processes and to understand hydraulic behavior for particles within column during the resin fluidization and sedimentation processes. The modeling results will assist in interpreting experimental results, providing guidance on specific details of testing design, and establishing a basic understanding of resin particle’s hydraulic behavior within the column. The model was benchmarked against the literature data and the test data conducted by Savannah River National Laboratory at Savannah River Site (SRS). A scoping analysis effort has been undertaken to address the feasibility of simulating the basic fluidization and sedimentation aspects pertinent to the resin addition/removal process considered here. The existing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code Fluent was chosen for this effort. Both fluidization and sedimentation of granular particles (i.e., of varying sizes) were based on an Eulerian model for granular flow. A two-dimensional axial symmetrical cylindrical geometry was chosen to perform the solid-fluid simulations. The column consisted of a fluid region of 48” in diameter by 94” in height where at both the top and bottom boundaries liquid fluid could pass through, but resin particle could not (i.e., assuming screens at both ends).