Development of a generic engineering model for packed bed reactors using computational fluid dynamics

Packed bed reactors are used in many chemical processes. With the advent of modern computers, flow simulation (Computational Fluid Dynamics, CFD) can be an aid in the design of process equipment. For particulate systems like packed bed reactors, simulation of the flow around the particles is very computationally expensive. Therefore, simulation in this level of detail is primarily useful for scientific research. For engineering purposes, a more practical approach is needed. Existing engineering rules are not suitable for direct application in a CFD model. In this work, new models are developed and existing engineering rules are adapted to be used in a semi-homogeneous packed bed CFD model. These models pertain to reaction and diffusion in a porous catalyst particle; bed packing and structure near walls; flow in packed beds and the influence of the packing structure on flow resistance and dispersion and mixing in packed beds as a funciton of packing structure. All models are combined and implemented in a free, open source CFD code (Dolfyn). This code is subsequently demonstrated and validated.