Heat Transfer Models for Dense Pulverized Particle Jets

Heat transfer is a crucial aspect of thermochemical conversion of pulverized fuels. Over-predicting the heat transfer during heat-up leads to under-estimation of the ignition time, while under-predicting the heat loss during the char conversion leads to an over-estimation of the burnout rates. This effect is relevant for dense particle jets injected from dense-phase pneumatic conveying. Heat fluxes characteristic of such dense jets can significantly differ from single particles, although a single, representative particle commonly models them in Euler–Lagrange models. Particle-resolved direct numerical simulations revealed that common representative particles approaches fail to reproduce the dense-jet characteristics. They also confirm that dense clusters behave similar to larger, porous particles, while the single particle characteristic prevails for sparse clusters. Hydrodynamics causes this effect for convective heat transfer since dense clusters deflect the inflowing fluid and shield the center. Reduced view factors cause reduced radiative heat fluxes for dense clusters. Furthermore, convection is less sensitive to cluster shape than radiative heat transfer. New heat transfer models were derived from particle resolved simulations of particle clusters. Heat transfer increases at higher void fractions and vice versa, which is contrary to most existing models. Although derived from regular particle clusters, the new convective heat transfer models reasonably handle random clusters. Contrary, the developed correction for the radiative heat flux over-predicts shading effects for random clusters because of the used cluster shape. In unresolved Euler–Lagrange models, the new heat transfer models can significantly improve dense particle jets’ heat-up or thermochemical conversion modeling.