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Numerical Modeling of Pyrolysis of Sawdust in a Packed Bed

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Cleaner Combustion and Sustainable World (ISCC 2011)

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Abstract

An unsteady, one-dimensional mathematical model has been developed to describe the pyrolysis of sawdust in a packed bed. The sawdust bed was pyrolyzed using the hot gas and an electric heater outside the bed as the source of energy. The developed model includes mass, momentum and energy conservations of gas and solid within the bed. The gas flow in the bed is modeled using Darcy’s law for fluid through a porous medium. The heat transfer model includes heat conduction inside the bed and convection between the bed and the hot gas. The kinetic model consists of primary pyrolysis reaction. A finite volume fully implicit scheme is employed for solving the heat and mass transfer model equations. A Runge–Kutta fourth order method is used for the chemical kinetics model equations. The model predictions of mass loss history and temperature were validated with published experimental results, showing a good agreement. The effects of inlet temperature on the pyrolysis process have been analyzed with model simulation. A sensitivity analysis using the model suggests that the predictions could be improved by considering the second reaction which could generate volatile flowing in the void.

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Abbreviations

g:

gas

c:

char

s:

sawdust

g:

total gas

s:

solid

0:

initial value

in:

inlet

k:

reaction rate (s-1)

h sg :

heat transfer coefficient (w m−2.K)

D :

Diffusivity(m2 K−1)

Y i :

mass fractions (−)

B :

permeability (m2)

ε :

void fraction (−)

μ :

viscosity (kg/ms)

λ :

thermal conductivity (w m−1 K−1)

c p :

specific heat capacity (J kg−1 K−1)

ρ :

density (kg m−3)

T :

Temperature (K)

S :

resource

x :

axial

t :

time (s)

Rg:

gas constant (−)

Pr:

Prandtl number (−)

Re:

Reynolds number (−)

p:

pressure (N/m2)

Mg:

gaseous mole fraction (g mol−1)

u:

velocity (m s−1)

ν :

reaction progress variable

d p :

particle diameter (m)

h:

bed height (m)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China

    Qingmin Meng & Xiaoping Chen

Authors
  1. Qingmin Meng
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  2. Xiaoping Chen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiaoping Chen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Thermal Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, People's Republic

    Haiying Qi

  2. Institute of Thermal Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, People's Republic

    Bo Zhao

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Meng, Q., Chen, X. (2013). Numerical Modeling of Pyrolysis of Sawdust in a Packed Bed. In: Qi, H., Zhao, B. (eds) Cleaner Combustion and Sustainable World. ISCC 2011. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30445-3_32

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30445-3_32

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-30444-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-30445-3

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