NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF A PNEUMATIC DRYER USING COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS Tarek Jamaleddine and Madhumita B.

Ray*

Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 5B9 Abstract: Commercial slurry dryers encounter high manufacturing and operating costs. Numerical investigation of these systems prior to actual design and testing would thus be economical. In the present work, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to predict the hydrodynamics and drying mechanisms of a twodimensional, dense-phase, gas-solid turbulent flow in a large-scale vertical riser for the drying of bio-solids. A control-volume based technique based on the Eulerian frame of reference for multiphase flow was adopted. The kinetic theory of granular flow (KTGF) was applied to predict the particle-particle and particle-wall interactions. User-defined subroutines were added to extend FLUENT capability to account for mixture properties and to simulate the constant drying rate. The model predicted a core-annulus flow with maximum velocity of both phases in the core of the riser and denser down-flow pattern close to the walls. Initially, the CFD model was validated using published experimental data for PVC particles. Axial and radial distribution of the gas humidity and particles moisture content were also predicted. The sensitivity of the model to different operating conditions such as the inlet gas velocity, temperature, and solid moisture content was also examined. At present, the CFD model is extended to the drying of bio-solid using the properties published in open literature. Keywords: Pneumatic drying, Sludge drying, CFD, Modeling, Heat and Mass transfer 1. INTRODUCTION Pneumatic drying of dewatered bio-solid sludge is increasingly used in wastewater treatment plants. The drying operation is characterized by a co-current flow of a gas-solid mixture with flash evaporation of the solids surface-moisture while being transported by the drying medium (usually hot air) and then separated by a cyclone system. The drying process reduces the mass and volume of the final product and improves the sludge structure for ease of transportation, storage, and spreading by agricultural equipments. The final product is environmentally safe and can be land-filled or used for agricultural applications as an organic fertilizer for soil improvement. As with other drying applications, the flow, heat-, and mass-transfer processes in sludge drying are very complex. A thorough understanding of these processes assist in maintaining a successful operation of these units. A computational investigation prior to the actual design effort can save cost and improve drying operations. The objective is to predict the convective thermal drying of municipal sludge (bio-solids) using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and to examine the effects of various process parameters on drying.

To whom all correspondence should be addressed: Tel. 519-661-2111 ext. 81273, Fax: (519) 661-3498 Email: mray@eng.uwo.ca

Experimental investigation of sludge drying under convective (direct) and conductive (indirect) drying conditions has been reported in the open literature. Adamiec (2002) observed the drying characteristics of waste sludge of different form and origin in a fluidized bed equipped with a mixer. Leonard et al. (2005) examined the batch drying of municipal wastewater sludge using a microdryer. Arlabosse et al. (2005) developed a mathematical model for the study of the drying characteristics of biological sewage sludge of 15% municipal and 85% industrial origin. Good agreement was shown between their theoretical predictions and experimental observation for a lab-scale paddle dryer. Of the above studies, Arlabosse et al. (2005) reported the organic components and material properties for the pre-drying conditions of the examined sludge; parameters that are rarely available in the literature. In this work, pre-drying conditions of sludge reported in Arlabosse et al. (2005) are used. However, in this paper we report the results of validation of the numerical model using the experimental data from open literature. 1.1 Model Validation The developed numerical model was initially validated using experimental data for the drying of PVC particles in a previous work presented by Baeyens et al. (1995). In their study, the authors developed a numerical model and carried out an experimental investigation for the drying of PVC particles in a 25 m high pneumatic dryer. A schematic of the model used in this study similar to that of Baeyens et al. (1995) is shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the model used As shown in the figure, hot gas enters the computational domain vertically upward fluidizes and dries the PVC particles as they move along the length of the riser. In this work, the gas phase (primary phase) is a mixture of air and water vapor, the secondary phase (particles) is a mixture of solid and moisture. Initially, particles at room temperature were fed through the side inlets representing the behavior of a 3-D geometrical model. As the gas phase meets the particles, their temperature increases to a pre-defined evaporation temperature which was set to be a few degrees above the feeding temperature. At this stage particles are heated up and no mass transfer is introduced. At the onset of evaporation, convective mass transfer dominates the drying of surface moisture of particles during their residence time in the dryer. Since pneumatic drying is characterized by short residence times on the order of 1-3 seconds, mostly convective heat- and mass-transfer occur. Thus, no diffusion was introduced in this model. Numerical predictions for the radial velocity and temperature profiles for both phases are shown in Fig. 2. A fully developed flow was achieved at distances half-way the height of the riser. This demonstrates stability in the flow and robustness of the hydrodynamic model. In addition, a closer look at Fig. 2 shows

small values of relative velocities between the phases as should be expected when the secondary phase velocity approaches the gas velocity. It should be noted however that this value does not become zero even at the fully developed region close to the riser exit. Moreover, the bell-shaped trend of the velocity profile confirms the existence of slowly moving cluster of particles at regions close to the walls of the riser which is a characteristic of multiphase flow for dilute-systems. Fig. 2 also shows the radial distribution of temperature for both phases. High temperature values are predicted in the center of the riser with lower values close to the wall region. This is due to the presence of higher concentration of particles at that region in comparison to lower concentration in the higher-velocity air region at the riser core.
Radial Profil e at 17m above Riser Inl et 20 18 16 100 90 80 70 60

14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

Gas Velocity Particle Velocity Gas Temperature Particle Temperature

50 40 30 20 10 0 1.2

Radial Position [m]

Fig. 2. Radial profiles of velocity and temperature for both phases The bulk fluid temperature was also reported in Fig. 3 at regions of high concentration of the gas phase. The numerical predictions were validated against the experimental measured values of Baeyens et al. (1995). Only gas temperature values were reported in their paper and thus particles temperature was not shown in the present work. It can be seen from Fig. 3 that the numerical model underestimated the temperature values, in particular at regions away from the riser inlet. This overestimation of the heat transfer could be due to the Ranz-Marshall (1952) correlation used for Nusselt number (Baeyens et al., 1995). It should be noted that these results are preliminary and that the dependency of properties such as the gas and particle specific heat, viscosity, thermal conductivity, and diffusion coefficient on temperature has not been incorporated in this model, but will be considered in future simulations. Furthermore, correlations such as Gunn (1978) and Baeyens (1995) will also be considered.
140

Gas Temperature [deg C]

130 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 0 3 6 9 12

Baeyens (1995) Exp. Data Numerical Simulation

15

18

21

24

Dryer Length [m]

Fig. 3. Axial prediction of gas temperature along the length of the dryer

Temperature [deg C]

Velocity [m/s]

Fig. 4 shows the axial prediction of gas humidity along the length of the dryer. Due to lack of available experimental data, only predicted values are shown. An increase of 84% of vapor concentration is predicted. Fig. 5 shows a contour of the particles moisture distribution in the dryer. As can be seen in the plot, a decrease of 42% of particles moisture content is predicted in the top portion of the dryer and nearly 62% in the core region. The predictions are in good agreement with the experimental data of Baeyens et al. (1995) which showed a uniform distribution of moisture content down to 62% at the top section of the riser. The current model however overestimated the moisture distribution at this region. A possible cause for this deviation might be due to the absence of turbulent dissipation models for the particle phase in the Eulerian frame of reference. Eulerian models have the capability of showing the influence of gas turbulence on the particle phase but not vice versa. This factor underestimates the heat- and mass-transfer phenomena between the phases and thus leads to lower drying capability.
Gas Moisture Content x100 [kg H2O/kg Air]
4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 Numerical Simulation

Dryer Length [m]

Fig. 4. Gas moisture distribution along the length of the dryer

Fig. 5. Contour Plot of particle moisture distribution along the length of the dryer Conclusions: A control-volume based technique based on the Eulerian frame of reference for multiphase flow was used to simulate pneumatic drying of a dilute flow of PVC particles in a riser. The model is validated with the available experimental data from literature, which showed a good agreement between the simulations and experimental data. The model is currently used to study the drying of sludge bio-solids with properties incorporated from Arlabosse et al. (2005). Sensitivity analyses are being carried out with various operating conditions in an attempt to simulate a dense-phase commercial sludge dryer. Parameters such as initial particle moisture content, volume fraction, and gas temperature and velocity are being examined. The influence of particle-particle and particle-wall collision on the flow pattern and heat- and mass-transfer mechanisms will also be studied. Appendix: Model equations; the conservation equations governing the motion of both phases and the heat- and masstransfer mechanisms are as follows: The mass conservation equation:
n ( q q ) + q q U q = M t p =1

pq

(1)

The momentum balance equation:

q q U q + q q U q U q = q P + q + q q g + qp + M t

pq

U qp + F vm + F lift (2)

The conservation of energy equation:

The k model equations:

( q q H q ) + q q U q H q = q P + q : U q + Q pq + M t

pq

Hq

(3)

t,g ( g g k ) + g g U g k = g k g + g Gk , g g g g + g g k g k t

(4)

t,g g ( g g g ) + g g U g g = (C1 Gk , g C 2 g g ) + g g g kg t
+ g g g
The granular temperature equation:

(5)

3 ( p p p ) + p p U p p = Pp I + p : U p + (k p p ) p 3 pg p 2 t
Heat- and mass-transfer coefficients:

) (

(6)

2 .2 1/ 3 2 .7 1/ 3 Gunn (1978)(7) Nu p = 7 10 g + 5 g 1 + 0.7 Re 0 + 1.33 2.4 g + 1.2 g Re 0 p Pr p Pr

)(

) (

Nu p = 2.0 + 0.6 Re

12 p

Pr

13

Ranz-Marshall (1952)(8) Baeyens et al. (1995)(9)

Nu p = 0.15 Re p

In analogy to the heat-transfer coefficient, mass-transfer can be determined by substituting Sherwood number for Nusselt number and Schmidt number for Prandtl number such that:

Pr =

cpg k cond

Sc =

g g Dv

Re p =

g U g U p d p g

(10)

Convective mass-transfer rate between phases is:

M convection =

kc M (C p C g ) = kc M dp dp

Psat (T p ) P X H 2O RT RT p g

(11)

The water vapor distribution in the gas phase or the species transport equation is:

( g gYg ) + g g U gYg = ( g g DvYg ) + M pg t

(12)

Boundary conditions; Uniform velocity-profile for the gas phase at the riser inlet with no-slip condition at the wall. Minimum fluidization velocity for the solid phase (nearly zero). Turbulent intensity I = 5% and turbulent viscosity ratio = 10. A pressure-outlet condition is specified at the riser outlet. For the particle phase, a shear-stress balance equation is defined at the wall:

p =

p p g o p U p ,|| p ,max

(13)

The granular temperature equation at the wall (Johnson and Jackson, 1987):

q =

3 p p 2 ( ) 3 1 ew p g o p2 p g o p U p ,|| U p ,|| 4 p ,max p ,max

(14)

REFERENCES Adamiec, J. (2002). Drying of waste sludges in a fluidized bed dryer with a mixer. Drying technology, 20, 839-853. Arlabosse, P., S. Chavez and C. Prevot (2005). Drying of municipal sewage sludge: from a laboratory scale batch indirect dryer to the paddle dryer. Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering, 22, 227-232. Baeyens, J., D. van Gauwbergen and I. Vinckier (1995). Pneumatic drying: the use of large-scale experimental data in a design procedure. Powder technology, 83, 139-148. Gunn, D.J. (1978). Transfer of heat or mass to particles in fixed and fluidized beds. Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, 21, 467. Johnson, P.C. and R. Jackson (1987). Frictional-collisional constitutive relations for granular materials with application to plane shearing, J. Fluid Mech., 176, 93. Leonard, A., S. Blacher, P. Marchot, J.P. Pirard and M. Crine (2005). Convective drying of wastewater sludges: influence of air temperature, superficial velocity, and humidity on the kinetics. Drying technology, 23, 1667-1679. Ranz, W.E. and W.R. Marshall (1952). Chemical Engineering Progress, 48,141.