Numerical simulation of dense gas-particle flows using the Euler-Lagrange approach

Dense gas-particle flows are encountered in a variety of industrially important processes for large scale production of fuels, fertilizers and base chemicals. The scale-up of these processes is often problematic and is related to the intrinsic complexities of these flows, which are unfortunately not yet fully understood despite significant efforts made in both academic and industrial research laboratories. In dense gas-particle flows both (effective) fluid-particle and (dissipative) particle-particle interactions need to be accounted for because these phenomena govern the prevailing flow phenomena to a large extent, i.e., the formation and evolution of heterogeneous structures. These structures have significant impact on the quality of the gas-solid contact and as a direct consequence thereof strongly affect the performance of the process. In this paper we will focus on the merits of the Euler–Lagrange approach to model gas-particle flows.