CFD simulation of gas-liquid floating particles mixing in an agitated vessel

Gas dispersion and floating particles suspension in an agitated vessel were studied numerically by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The Eulerian multi-fluid model along with standard k-ε turbulence model was used in the simulation. A multiple reference frame (MRF) approach was used to solve the impeller rotation. The velocity field, gas and floating particles holdup distributions in the vessel were first obtained, and then, the effects of operating conditions on gas dispersion and solid suspension were investigated. The simulation results show that velocity field of solid phase and gas phase are quite different in the agitated vessel. Floating particles are easy to accumulate in the center of the surface region and the increasing of superficial gas velocity is in favor of floating particles off-surface suspension. With increasing solids loading, the gas dispersion becomes worse, while relative solid holdup distribution changes little. The limitations of the present modeling are discussed and further research in the future is proposed