Influence of internal components on gas-solid flow characteristics in fluidized bed reactor for organic silicon monomer synthesis

Internal components play a crucial role in the synthesis of organic silicon monomer in gas-solid fluidized bed reactors (FBRs). Finger-tube (F-tube) and U-tube components are commonly utilized to control the temperature and ensure its homogeneity in FBRs, thereby guaranteeing a high selectivity of the target product. The main objective of this work is to better understand the influence of F-tube and U-tube on the hydrodynamics in FBRs. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) combined with the particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique were employed to explore the flow characteristics. The numerical data were validated against the particle velocity using an image processing technique. The results revealed that the F-tube increases the bed voidage by 3.2% and reduces the pressure drop by 13.0%. While the U-tube increases the bed voidage by 2.1% and reduces the pressure drop by 11.2%. These internals improve fluidization by ensuring even particle distribution and enhancing intra-particle circulation compared to reactors without internals. (c) 2024 Chinese Society of Particuology and Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.