Fluid Flow and Solid/Fluid Suspensions Flow in 3-D Packed Beds of Spheres: the effect of periodicity of fixed beds

Abstract

A 3-D numerical study is performed to investigate the effects of periodicity (geometry) on flow of fluid and on flow of solid/fluid suspensions in packing arrangements of fixed beds of spheres. The porosity is fixed at 0.58 and the following packing arrangements are studied: simple cubic, face-centered cubic, hexagonal, rhomboedric hexagonal and tetragonal. Simulations are carried out at Reynolds numbers ranging from 0.1 and 50, and using solid suspensions with different sizes (0.2, 2 and 10 micron) and densities (200 and 2000 kg/m3). The effect of the periodicity on fluid flow characteristics (permeability and inertia parameter) and on the penetration efficiency of solid suspensions within the packed beds is analyzed and quantified.