A Continuum Theory for the Flow of Pulverized Coal in a Gasifier

Multiphase flows have increasingly become the subject of considerable attention because of their importance in many industrial applications, such as fluidized beds, pneumatic transport of solids, coal combustion, etc. For example. coal conversion in an entrained flow reactor has received much attention as an important process for transforming coal into fuel gas [cf. Phuoc and Ourbetaki (1987)l. In this work the behavior of coal particles in a down flow reactor is modeled using the theory o f interacting continua (or mixture theory). The mixture is considered to be made up of saturated granular materials (coal particles) infused with a linearly viscous fluid (gas). Appropriate constitutive relations for stresses and interactive forces are motivated and proposed [Massoudi (1988) 1. The conversion of coal particles is studied in terms of chemical kinetics, fluid dynamics flow of volatiles and the heat transfer mechanism at the interface.