Co-authored by Dr. Ken A. Williams, one of the two founders of CPFD Software, the keynote paper is to be presented by Mr. Scott Thibault, Vice President of CPFD Software. The Extended Abstract is already available prior to the conference and may be obtained on the CPFD Software web site also.

CPFD Software’s Barracuda VR ™ software package was used to show the ability of the CPFD® (Computational Particle Fluid Dynamics) technology for predicting otherwise unexpected behavior in deep-bed fluidization units. The nature of these unexpected phenomena, such as gas bypassing behaviors, are described in detail. The results of relevant experimental programs were compared to simulations performed using the CPFD technique and it is demonstrated that the computation method provides predictive results.

While comparison to rig-scale experiments is valuable, the paper goes on to show results for a number of different full-scale, industrial fluidization units that were studied to develop better understanding of a number of different issues, including gas bypassing.

• A 40MW biomass-fired CFB boiler in Strongoli, Italy was studied to determine engineered solutions to excessive erosion at multiple points in the CFB loop, including the cyclone inlet region, fluidized-bed heat exchanger, and suspension tube assembly downstream of the cyclone.
• An FCC regenerator at a U.S. refinery was studied to determine the root cause of afterburning (temperature rise between the top of the bed and the cyclone inlets) that had been observed in the operating unit for its entire 70-year operating life to date.
• A 140MW coal-fired CFB furnace at a municipal power plant in Duisburg, Germany, was modeled to determine the impact of co-firing the unit with 25% biomass.
• A unique sorbent-based warm syngas clean-up system being developed for IGCC (Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle) applications was modeled, including both hydrodynamic effects and chemistry.
• Components of a refiner’s FCC reactor were modeled to determine the change in erosion performance from design changes proposed by the equipment licensor for reducing erosion in the inlet region of the reactor riser cyclones.

Barracuda was chosen for this modeling because of its unique abilities for modeling three-dimensional particle-fluid flows with full thermodynamics and chemical reactions. Good agreement between the experimental or operational data and the simulations is shown.

Barracuda is used by major oil & gas, chemical, petrochemical, and power equipment manufacturers for simulating, understanding, and optimizing the operation of fluidized systems. Barracuda is capable of modeling this equipment at lab scale, pilot scale and full production scale, providing an essential tool to assist in scaling up new processes to full production size and throughput. Using Barracuda, engineers can “look inside” full scale reactors under actual operating conditions and understand how complex particle flow behavior impacts chemistry.

Simulations in Barracuda allow engineers to capture and isolate key chemical, thermal, and momentum data unobtainable by any other means. This means that engineers now have the tool to finally answer the question “What is really going on in my chemical reactor and how can I improve the process?”

About CPFD Software
CPFD Software LLC is an Albuquerque-based company specializing in solving particle-gas and particle-liquid problems for the power, oil & gas, petrochemical, and chemical industries. Their Barracuda® software provides accurate simulations of lab-scale, pilot plant, and full-scale reacting bed flows with full thermodynamics and chemistry. CPFD’s clients include Global 500 oil & gas refiners, chemical manufacturers, and research organizations worldwide. CPFD Software is a member of PSRI.