Modelling of gibbsite calcination in a fluidized bed reactor

Abstract

A steady state, non‐isothermal fluidized bed reactor model for co‐current flow of gas and solids has been developed as a series of Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR) compartments. For each CSTR compartment, mass and energy balances were coupled with a particle‐scale gibbsite calcination kinetic model previously developed by the authors. The overall solids residence time distribution is captured by the compartment calcination model. The multi‐scale model was solved numerically through an iterative procedure that alternated between solving particle‐scale and reactor‐scale parts of the model. Gas, water vapour and solids concentrations, as well as particle and gas temperatures and gibbsite conversion profiles, are predicted inside the calcination reactor. The developed model can be used to facilitate improvements in the operation and design of industrial‐scale reactors.