CFD Simulation of Gas–Solid Mixing in a Spouted Bed Applied to the Conversion of Polyolefin Waste

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21712/lajer.2025.v12.n3.p249-256

Keywords:

Fluent, Leito de Jorro, Pirólise, Combustível

Abstract

Pyrolysis in spouted bed reactors can recover aluminum and produce waste-derived fuel from carton packages. However, reactors with polyethylene/aluminum composite (LDPE/Al) and sand mixing (of different sizes and specific densities) can lead to unstable spouting regimes. Therefore, this research aims to simulate the gas-solid flow in beds with mixtures of sand and LDPE/Al using a 2D Euler-Euler Granular model. This allows for the identification of stable operational conditions with low particle segregation. Results show that the mixing index predictions agree with experimental data. Predicting the effect of operating conditions and mixture properties on the degree of bed mixing aids in the start-up of pyrolysis reactors for producing waste-derived fuels and aluminum recovery.

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Author Biographies

  • Inacio, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo
    Graduating in Chemical Engineering from the Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo.
  • Renata, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo

    Master's degree in Energy at Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo

  • Renato, Instituto Federal do Espírito Santo
    Graduated in Mechanical Engineering (1996) and holds a Master's degree in Environmental Engineering (1998) from the Federal Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES). He earned a PhD in Civil Engineering (2002) from Loughborough University in England. Since 1994, he has been developing research in the field of fluid mechanics applied to various areas of engineering. Currently, he is a Full Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the Instituto Federal do Espírito Santo (IFES), São Mateus Campus, and is a permanent professor in the Postgraduate Program in Mechanical Engineering at UFES and in the Postgraduate Program in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at IFES.
  • Daniel, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo
    Associate Professor in the Petroleum Engineering course at the Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, São Mateus campus. He holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (1998). After obtaining a Master's degree in Chemical Engineering from the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (1999), he began working in the area of ​​Computational Fluid Mechanics (CFD), with an emphasis on Multiphase Flows in the Oil and Gas sector. At the Na Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), he earned a doctorate in Chemical Engineering in the area of ​​Computational Fluid Mechanics with an emphasis on stirred tanks. He was a technical consultant at ESSS for 9 years. His main areas of expertise are: numerical and experimental modeling of multiphase flows, fluid separation, and computational fluid mechanics. He has participated in the ANP-PRH 53.1 at UFES since 2020. He has been the coordinator of the High-Performance Computing Laboratory of the Postgraduate Program in Energy since 2016.
  • Marcelo, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo

    He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in 2006 from UFSCar, Brazil. Since 2008, he teaches transport phenomena in the Engineering and Technology Department, UFES, Brazil. His research in the Energy program (UFES) since 2011 focuses on computational multiphase fluid dynamics to waste-derived fuel production using fluidized and spouted bed reactors. He also works on recovering natural gas liquid fractions using a gas sub-cooled process (GSP) applied to the current Brazilian market scenario. In 2023, he received a fellowship for research productivity (BPC-PQ) granted by Espírito Santo Research and Innovation Support Foundation (FAPES).

References

Almeida, NP, de Lira, TS and Silverio, BC (2024) ‘Fluid dynamics and segregation of sand-malt waste mixture in conical spouted bed’, Latin American Journal of Energy Research, v. 11, n. 1, p. 45-56. https://doi.org/10.21712/lajer.2024.v11.n1.p45-56

Bacelos, MS and Freire, JT (2006) ‘Stability of spouting regimes in conical spouted beds with inert particle mixtures’, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, v. 45, n. 2, p. 808–817. https://doi.org/10.1021/ie050633s

Epstein, N and Grace, JR (2010) Spouted and Spout-Fluid Beds: Fundamentals and Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Louvem, RF, Ribeiro, DC, Siqueira, RN, Santos, KG e Bacelos, MS (2023) ‘Valorization of Tetra Pak Waste in a Conical Spouted Bed: Predicting the Polyethylene/Aluminum Mixing Index Using CFD Designs’, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, v. 64, n. 33, p. 16359–16374. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.5c01756

Makibar, J, et al. (2011) ‘Investigations on heat transfer and hydrodynamics under pyrolysis conditions of a pilot plant draft tube conical spouted bed reactor’, Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensification, v. 50, n. 8, p. 790–798. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cep.2011.05.013

Mantegazini, DZ, Xavier, TP and Bacelos, MS (2021) ‘Conical spouted beds for waste valorization: assessment of particle segregation in beds composed of sand and Tetra Pak residues’, Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, v. 47, p. 101334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2021.101334

Melo, JLZ et al. (2016) ‘CFD modeling of conical spouted beds for processing LDPE/Al composite’, Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensification, v. 108, p. 93–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cep.2016.07.011

Rovero, G and Piccinini, N (2011) ‘Particle mixing and segregation’ em Spouted and Spout-Fluid Beds: Fundamentals and Applications. New York: Cambridge University Press, p. 141–160.

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Published

11/29/2025

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 3 (2025): 1 Encontro Interdisciplinar em Energia

Section

Eficiência Energética

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Copyright (c) 2025 Latin American Journal of Energy Research

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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How to Cite

CFD Simulation of Gas–Solid Mixing in a Spouted Bed Applied to the Conversion of Polyolefin Waste. (2025). Latin American Journal of Energy Research, 12(3), 249-256. https://doi.org/10.21712/lajer.2025.v12.n3.p249-256

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