Name: CAIO GUIMARÃES MAIOLI
Type: MSc dissertation
Publication date: 30/09/2016
Advisor:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| MARCIO FERREIRA MARTINS | Advisor * |
Examining board:
| Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| MARCIO FERREIRA MARTINS | Advisor * |
Summary: The thermochemical conversion processes are ways to convert solids into more convenient
energy carriers (charcoal), or turn them into liquid and gaseous fuels, or also heat or other
diverse products. Many studies have been conducted aimming to make the thermochemical
processes more efficient and economically viable.The application of Computational Fluid
Dynamics (CFD) models helps to optimize the design and operation of the thermochemical
reactors, such as fixed bed reactors. The free CFD softwares offer a cost-effective tool for
these studies. One such software that is gaining prominence is OpenFOAM. An solver
for OpenFOAM called biomassGasificationFoam was recently published for the simulation
of biomass gasification in fixed bed. In this work, it was done an evaluation of the solver
biomassGasificationFoam and the auxiliary libraries that accompany it, in order to generalize
their applicability in various solids thermochemical conversion processes in fixed bed. Its
models for heat and mass transport in a reactive porous medium were verified and validated
with proposed tests, analytical equations and experiments. Some code details were changed
and improvements were implemented. It was identified an overestimation of the diffusion
process of the gaseous species caused by a hypothesis adopted in these species conservation
equation. The kinetic model showed to be suitable for solid thermal decomposition processes
WHERE the reaction order is unitary. However, this model was not so suitable for solid
homogeneous reactions WHERE the reaction order is different from one and for heterogeneous
reactions. In overall, the biomassGasificationFoam presents an interesting potential, an
useful tool for the simulation of many solids thermochemical conversion processes in fixed
bed. Finally, informations were provided about the software OpenFOAM, and, especially,
about the biomassGasificationFoam, in order to serve as documentation to help future users
interested in its use.
