Packing fixed bed reactors with cylinders: influence of particle length distribution

Ferdaous Dorai (1) , Matthieu Rolland (1) , Anthony Wachs (1) , Manuel Marcoux (2) , Eric Climent (2)

1 IFPEN - IFP Energies nouvelles
2 IMFT - Institut de mécanique des fluides de Toulouse

In this work, we are interested in a better understanding of the local packing structure of fixed bed reactors made of cylindrical pellets packed in cylindrical tubes. Packing of cylindrical particles is simulated using Grains3D DEM code and results are analyzed in terms of void fraction using 3D analysis tools. With tube diameter as a secondary parameter, we investigate the porous structure depending on the pellet length distribution: average porosity, radial porosity, orientation of the pellets and variability of those indicators when repeating the numerical experiments.

Mots clés: Fixed bed; Packing; Cylindrical particle; Void fraction; DEM; Length distribution

Domaines: Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]; Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]

Ferdaous Dorai, Matthieu Rolland, Anthony Wachs, Manuel Marcoux, Eric Climent. Packing fixed bed reactors with cylinders: influence of particle length distribution. 20th International Congress of Chemical and Process Engineering - CHISA 2012, Aug 2012, Prague, Czech Republic. pp. 1335-1345. ⟨hal-00990268⟩