Effect of External Electric Field on Fluidization of Rodlike Particles Using CFD–DEM

Abstract

Given the significant impact of an external electric field on fluidized bed hydrodynamics and the practical importance of rodlike particles, this study examines the behavior of a fluidized bed containing rodlike particles under various external electric fields. Simulations were performed using a coupled computational fluid dynamics-discrete element method, and rodlike particles were generated using a multisphere approach aided by quaternions. The effect of different vertical and horizontal external electric fields on the orientation of particles was investigated. Also, the effect of particle size on their orientation in the presence of constant vertical and horizontal external electric fields was explored in this work. The results showed that increasing the electric field strength and reducing the size of rodlike particles lead to an increment in the tendency of particles to become oriented along the direction of the electric field. Moreover, the effect of the external electric field at various inlet gas velocities on the probability distribution of the porosity in the bed was studied. Finally, the effect of vertical and horizontal electric fields on the bubble diameter was examined. This study offers a deeper understanding of the fluidization of rodlike particles in the presence of an electric field, and its findings can be applied to design and optimize related processes.