Advances in mathematical modeling of fluidized bed gasification

Gasification is the thermochemical conversion of solid fuel into the gas which contains mainly hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen. In gasification, fluidized bed technology is widely used due to its various advantageous features which include high heat transfer, uniform and controllable temperature and favorable gas-solid contacting. Modeling and simulation of fluidized bed gasification is useful for optimizing the gasifier design and operation with minimal temporal and financial cost. The present work investigates the different modeling approaches applied to the fluidized bed gasification systems. These models are broadly classified as the equilibrium model and the rate based or kinetic model. On the other hand, depending on the description of the hydrodynamic of the bed, fluidized bed models may also be classified as the two-phase flow model, the Euler-Euler model and the Euler-Lagrange model. Mathematical formulation of each of the model mentioned above and their merits and demerits are discussed. Detail reviews of different model used by different researchers with major results obtained by them are presented while the special focus is given on Euler-Euler and Euler-Lagrange CFD models. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.