Numerical Study on the Gas–Solid Flow in a Spouted Bed Installed with a Controllable Nozzle and a Swirling Flow Generator

[Image: see text] The swirling flow technology is adopted on a nozzle of the spouted bed in order to enhance the radial movement of the particles. The hydrodynamic characteristics in a spouted bed with a swirling flow generator installed on the nozzle are numerically investigated based on the two-fluid model (TFM). The traditional spouted bed and spouted bed with an integral swirling blade nozzle (ISBN) are simulated and analyzed. Numerical results show that the dead zone at the cone region of the annulus can be effectively eliminated by using the ISBN. The maximum decrease in particle concentration near the cone region is 72%, and the ISBN structure can significantly improve the comprehensive fluidization degree of the spouted bed when γ equals 86°. The turbulent kinetic energy of gas can be significantly increased by the swirling flow along the radial direction in the spouted bed, especially in the spout region. Also, the swirling flow can promote the radial velocity and granular temperature of the particles in the spouted bed, which is helpful to the radial mixing of particles and gas phase between the central spout and the annulus in the spouted bed. There exists a value of ξ (equals 0.526), which brings the greatest elimination effect of the flow dead zone in the annulus of the limited spouted bed space, and the overall fluidization of the spouted bed has the best performance when ξ = 0.316.