Fuel 140 (2015) 178191

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Fuel
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fuel

Computational uid dynamics simulation of LaaObi bituminous coal

in a uidized-bed chamber for air- and oxy-fuel combustion
technologies
Leye M. Amoo
Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA

h i g h l i g h t s
 We provide the rst ever computational insights to the physics of LaaObi coal in Nigeria.
 Realistic objectives are geared towards coal power generation.
 Further establishes the understanding of LaaObi coal.
 Oxy-combustion technology signicantly yields lower emissions.

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 18 July 2014
Received in revised form 1 September 2014
Accepted 19 September 2014
Available online 6 October 2014
Keywords:
Combustion
Fluidized-bed
CFD
Energy
Nigeria

a b s t r a c t
Coal still remains the most plentiful and dominant fossil fuel. Coal is an inhomogeneous organic fuel
formed mainly from decomposed plant matter consisting of aromatic and hydroaromatic structures
joined by short aliphatic chains whereby aromaticity increases with coalication rank. The use of coal,
particularly for electricity generation, is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. In this research
study, computational uid dynamics (CFD) is applied to simulate aircoal and oxy-coal ow, combustion,
and emission characteristics in a uidized-bed combustion chamber. This work investigates LaaObi
coal, which is found in the Middle Benue Trough (MBT) of Nigeria. As far as the authors are aware, this
research presentation represents the rst CFD-based assessment and analysis for any Nigerian coal. Realistic primary objectives of uidized-bed combustion research in Nigeria would be the following: (1)
establishing an understanding of the physics and emission characteristics of various fuels (coal, waste,
etc.) in the country with a view to future scale-up; and (2) developing and establishing measures to curb
pollutant emissions in such future power plants for electricity generation. The pertinent combustion
parameters of this research were validated with existing experimental data; good agreement was
achieved. This work furthers the understanding of the LaaObi coal combustion mechanism and its
potential utilization as fuel for future coal-power plants for electricity generation in Nigeria.
2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Today, coal is utilized in large tonnages for the generation of
electricity in power plants. Latest estimates indicate that 41% of
electric power generation depends on coal [1]. With continued global climate change concerns, efforts continue worldwide to achieve
cleaner and more efcient coal combustion for energy production.
Such future energy systems can be expected to have signicantly
lower environmental impacts due to the use of clean-coal
technologies.

E-mail address: oamoo@stevens.edu

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2014.09.076
0016-2361/ 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Of particular focus and interest in achieving cleaner coal

combustion is the use of uidized-bed combustion (FBC) technology [2]. FBC continues to be the subject of considerable scientic
research due to its exibility as an energy-conversion technology
and its intrinsic low-pollutant emissions. FBC is insensitive to fuel
quality and has a high heat release rate and heat transfer coefcient. The concept of the uidized bed relies on a uid being forced
upwards through a bed of particles (e.g., coal) where a point is
reached when the drag force imposed by the uid levitates the
particles in the bed. The principal ow regimes in uidized beds,
based on the increasing values of U (supercial gas velocity), are
bubbling-free bed expansion; bubbling uidization; slug ow;
turbulent uidization; fast uidization; and dense suspension

179

L.M. Amoo / Fuel 140 (2015) 178191

upow [3]. There are generally two types of uidized-bed combustor: bubbling or circulating.
The notable advantages of uidized-bed combustors include uniform temperature distribution, a large solidgas exchange area,
high heat-transfer coefcients, fuel exibility (various possible
sizes and moisture contents, etc.), stable combustion at low
temperatures, and generally no moving parts. The notable
disadvantages include additional required equipment for solid separation or gas purication, erosion of the inside of the combustor,
agglomeration (that can lead to de-uidization), and difculties
operating at partial load [2,3]. That notwithstanding uidized-bed
combustion is often regarded as a clean-coal technology due to its
high combustion efciency and reduced environmental impact.
Coal was discovered in Nigeria in 1909 and mining activities
began in 1915 at Ogbete in Enugu, Southeastern Nigeria [4]. In
Nigeria, coal was perhaps the rst energy resource to be exploited
for rail transport and electricity generation. In present day Nigeria,
however, coal remains the smallest contributor to the overall fuel
mix [5] and ranks low in worldwide coal production. Nigerian coal
is presently mostly utilized for cement production; in foundries,
brick factories, and bakeries; and as a domestic cooking fuel. With
a projected increase in global energy demand to between 12 and
15 GW by 2025, coal is expected to play a prominent role in several
proposed power generating facilities [6]. Indeed, and more recently,
Nigeria signed a US$3.7b agreement with a Chinese consortium for
coal mining and power plant construction with the future goal of
generating up to 30% of Nigerian electricity from coal [7].
With proven coal reserves estimated to be about 2.5 billion tonnes (of which 250 million tonnes are lignitic and the remainder are
mainly subbituminous [4,8]), Nigerian coals are principally low
rank with caloric values comparing favorably with universal gures of the same rank [8]. They have also been reported to have
good potential for gasication and liquefaction and have ne combustion characteristics [8]. They burn with long ames, which are
desirable even though they require large combustion spaces [9].
Gasication studies of LaaObi coal in a shallow bed were performed in the work of [10]. The structural characterization of six
Nigerian coals by laser spectroscopic techniques (X-ray diffraction
and Raman and FTIR spectroscopy) was presented in Ref. [11]
showing that a linear relationship exists between coal structural
parameters and their elemental carbon and volatile matter
content. In a more recent work on new coal nds in Nigeria, the
authors in Ref. [12] presented compositional studies and technological applications. Flash pyrolysis of Nigerian Asaba lignite in a
uidized-bed reactor was performed in the work of [13] to investigate the yield of volatile matter, tar, and C1C4 hydrocarbons
showing that they increased with temperature for which the temperature range was 390790 C. There are also other ongoing bubbling uidized-bed combustor designs for future experimental
studies as presented in the work of [14]. Research works from
these studies on some Nigerian coals show that they have low levels of toxic metals such as Cr, Pb, Cu, and Zn as compared to some
foreign coals thus making Nigerian coals relatively more environmentally friendly than some foreign coals.
In this study, LaaObi coal is under CFD investigation, a bituminous coal for which experimental studies were carried out by
Popoola and Asere [15]. As far as the authors are aware, this work
represents the rst CFD-based assessment and analysis for any
Nigerian coal under airfuel and oxy-fuel combustion, making it
a very worthwhile undertaking to yield more insights on the physics of Nigerian coals. It is envisaged that the study will provide
more perspectives on the coal with the aim of utilizing it to generate electricity.
Nigeria has notable coal deposits found at Ogboyoga, Okaba,
Enugu, Ezimo, Orukpa and LaaObi. LaaObi coal is characterized by low moisture content, volatile matter, high carbon content,

Fig. 1. Schematic description of the combustion process [15].

and believed to be TuronianConiacian in age. The coal has a caloric value that ranges between 20,000 and 35,600 kJ/kg1, suggesting optimal suitability for combustion. The coal deposits of
LaaObi are geologically the oldest so far discovered in Nigeria
and found in the MBT. It is perhaps the only coal in Nigeria with
good coking properties. A cokable coal is that which softens, fuse,
and re-solidies when heated to form carbon-rich material called
coke. The coal is also laden with high ash and sulphur contents relative to the other coal types found in Nigeria, and as such would
require washing prior to coking. Interested readers may consult
the Refs. [8,16] further for more information on LaaObi coal.
CFD is the mathematical modeling and simulation of ow and
thermal systems, where it is assumed that the governing equations
are in the form of NavierStokes, thermal energy, and species
equations along with the appropriate equations of state. The
method requires the mass, momentum, thermal energy, and

Table 1
Reaction rates and constants.
Reaction rate
(kmol m3 s1)

Reaction rate
constant

r1 = k1Crawcoal

k1 = 4.136  104 exp (0.73  108/RT)

k2 = 5.0122  1011 exp (2.0085  108/RT)

0:7
r2 k1 C 0:8
O2 C CH4
17:5Y H2O P
r3 k3 Y CO Y 0:5
H2O 124Y H2O RT

k4 C 1:5
H2 C O2

r4
r5 = k5CtarCO2

r6 6ucdYp char kc C O2

1:8

k3 = 3.25  1010 exp (1.255  108/RT)

k4 = 1.03  1014T1.5 exp (0.284  108/RT)
k5 = 3.80  107 exp (0.555  108/RT)
k6 = 8910 exp (1.4974  108/RT), kd = ShDguc/
dpRTg
 0:5 1
l
u u d
Re
Sh 2ug 0:69 u
Sc3 ; Re g l c p ; Sc q Dg g
g

r 7 6ucdYp char k7 C CO2

Dg(T, p) = Dg(T0, p0)(T/T0)1.75[p0/p]

r8 = k8CN2CO

Dg(T0, p0) = 3.13  104 m2/

s, T0 = 1500 K, p0 = 101.325 Pa
k7 = 4.1  106 exp (29787/
T), k8 = 1.8  1011 exp (38370/T)
k9 = 1.8  107T exp (4680/T)

r9 = k9CNCO2

c
kc 1=kRT=w
1=k2
d

180

L.M. Amoo / Fuel 140 (2015) 178191

species concentration to be conserved both locally and globally in

the model. These equations are partial differential equations
(PDEs). The primary dependent variables to be calculated are the
velocities (u, v, w), pressure (P), temperature (T), and some scalar
eld (/); the independent variables are space directions (x, y, z)
and time (t). Solving these requires specifying initial and boundary
conditions around the system boundary. These equations are, however, highly nonlinear; they are not solvable by explicit, closedform, analytical methods. Alternative and approximate numerical
methods, such as nite difference and nite volume, are options
for solving them. CFD is benecial in gaining an insight into the
combustion phenomenon in a uidized-bed combustor, and particularly for scale-up efforts in a developing nation like Nigeria. While
CFD is not a substitute for carrying out physical experiments, it can
be more suitable in cases where the technique is highly guaranteed
to work. Thus, CFD is an indispensable analysis and design tool for
an increasing number of applications. Several compendiums on
CFD uidized-bed coal studies may be consulted for further
descriptions of previous contributions [1722]. Summarily, an

excellent review and overview of oxy-fuel coal-combustion technology was presented in [23,24]. CFD modeling of the FBC of coal
for design and scale-up purposes eliminates, to some degree, the
need for expensive testing of prototype FBC systems; thus, it helps
in arriving at the best design conditions. The importance of such
modeling and simulation to predict combustor performance cannot be overemphasized particularly for commercialization of FBC
technology, and environmental sustainability in Nigeria, as well
as for other developing nations.

2. Model description
The objective of the present study is to numerically study the
process of the heterogeneous combustion of the Nigerian Laa
Obi coal particles in a uidized-bed reactor for air- and oxy-fuel
combustion. The coal was taken from the LaaObi site in the
MBT of Nigeria; the coal particle sizes varied from 10 mm to
25 mm.

Fig. 2. Geometric description of the computational mesh with estimated dimensions (units: mm).

181

L.M. Amoo / Fuel 140 (2015) 178191

The schematic description of the uidized-bed combustion is

given in Fig. 1. In order to enhance the combustion the air inow
is divided by two lines. The oxidizer comes down through the coal
bed with the ow rate given in Table 1. The secondary air is
injected into the reactor via the port located above the bed. The
coal particles are fed into the system through a silo hopper. The
fuel is further injected into the process via the screw feeder at rates
of 0.2 and 0.3 kg/s. The combustion takes place in the bed, while
the unburned fuel and ash is further ltered in the gas cyclone
and then recycled back into the bed. The exhaust gases leave the
reactor from the vortex nder of the cyclone. The reactor is also
equipped with a control system of thermocouples distributed over
the height of the main combustion zone.
3. Mathematical formulation
Coal conversion processes include coal combustion, gasication,
liquefaction, and pyrolysis. Fluidized-bed heterogeneous combustion is a multiphase process with heat transfer where mass, momentum, and energy are exchanged between the phases. The multiphase
ow is patterned on the EulerianEulerian two-uid model [25],
where the two phases are treated as interpenetrating continua.
The continuity equation is given separately for each phase:

@um qm
!
_
um qm um m;
@t

where u is the volume fraction, q the density, u is the velocity, m

denotes the generic phase (g and c for gas and coal respec_ is the interphase mass exchange due to combustion.
tively), and m
The phase balance constraint is represented as:
h
X

um 1:

mw

The momentum equation is:

!
@um qm um
! !
rum qm um um
@t

!
!
_ !c ;
g Mm dm;h F int;c mu
um rp um rst qm um~

where p is the pressure and g is the acceleration due to gravity and

st is the turbulent stress tensor given by the standard k-epsilon turbulence model. The interphase momentum-transfer terms are equal
and opposite for the two phases (i.e., Mg,c = Mc,g), representing the
drag force expression for high particle loading [25]. The solid stress
caused by interparticle collisions is represented by the solid
pressure force Fint,c, and dm,h is the Kronecker delta such that:
580uc;lim uc

F int;c e

ruc ;

where uc,lim is the packing limit of coal powder [25]. The energy
conservation is given in terms of the enthalpy h and is represented
as:

@
!
u q hm rum qm um hm
@t m m
rum km rT m Sm dm;c qr ;

where k is the thermal conductivity, S is the energetic outcome of

the chemical reactions, and qr is the heat ux due to thermal radiation from the hot-coal grains (built into STAR-CD in accordance
with Lockwood and Shah [26]). The mass fraction, Yi, of the chemical reaction components (oxidation) in the gaseous phase follows
the diffusion equation:

!
@
!
u q Y i rug qg ug Y i r J i Ri ;
@t g g

where Ji is the diffusive ux and Ri is the production/consumption of

the species in the chemical reaction.

The coal friction or the friction of the dispersed phase over the
walls of the system is accounted for via the molecular and turbulent viscosity concepts applied to the Eulerian dispersed phase. The
latter is given by the standard ke model while the rst uses the
so-called apparent viscosity concept when the viscosity of the
aircoal mixture is calculated by the RoscoeBrinkman expression:

lapp lair 1  ucoal 2:5 ;

whence it is possible to derive the viscosity of the mixture using the

homogeneity assumption within the computational cell, and represented as:

lcoal

lapp  lair 1  ucoal

;
ucoal

The degradation of the coal particle is accounted for via the

mass transfer rate due to combustion assuming spherical coal particles and represented as:

dr coal
1
_

m;
dt
4pr2coal q

where rcoal is the radius of the coal particle, and the mass transfer
rate is given in Eq. (1).
Several reactions are considered to take place during coal combustion, such as char burnout; convection and radiation heat transfer between particles and gases; thermal and fuel NO formation/
destruction; and devolatization. It is important to take account of
these, especially coal devolatization [27]. However, in this work,

Table 2
Solver parameters.
Solver parameters

Values

SIMPLE scheme
Time step
Number of inner iterations
Relaxation factor momentum
Relaxation factor pressure
Relaxation factor turbulence
Number of sweeps
Residual tolerance

1 ms
5
0.3
0.1
0.3
100
0.05

Table 3
Operating parameters.
Operating parameters

Values

Coal feed rate (kg/s)

Mass ow rate (kg/s)
Bed temperature (C)
Bed diameter (mm)
Coal particle size (mm)

0.2 and 0.3

5.8 to 33.33
7501200
150
1025

Table 4
Analysis of LaaObi coal.
Analysis

Values

Proximate analysis
Moisture (wt%)
Volatile mater (wt%)
Ash (wt%)
Fixed carbon (wt%)

2.91
27.19
18.62
51.28

Ultimate analysis
C (wt%)
H (wt%)
N (wt%)
S (wt%)
Gross caloric (kJ/kg1)

59.29
40.61
2.10
1.81
23,721.4

182

L.M. Amoo / Fuel 140 (2015) 178191

Fig. 3. Contours and time series of the coal volume fraction in the midline cross-section of the reactor for 120 s of the process for 10 mm coal particles at a 0.2 kg/s feed rate.

and for simplicity and minimal computational cost, the single-rate

STAR-CD devolatization model was employed [28], which produces
combustible volatile char and ash:

yields

CH4 3=2O2 ! CO 2H2 O;

Carbon dioxide production:
yields

yields

CO 1=2O2 ! CO2 ;

1 kgdry coal ! Y c kgchar Y v kgvolatile 1  Y c  Y v kgash :

R1
Subsequent reactions of the coal combustion model can
however be expressed in the following reactions:
Methane oxidation:

R2

R3

Water steam formation:

yields

H2 1=2O2 ! H2 O;
Hydrocarbon oxidation:

R4

183

L.M. Amoo / Fuel 140 (2015) 178191

(a) 10 mm coal at 2 s

(d) 25 mm coal at 2 s

(c) 10 mm coal at 20 s

(b) 10 mm coal at 10 s

(e) 25 mm coal at 10 s

(f) 25 mm coal at 20 s

Fig. 4. (af) Temperature contours (K) in the midline cross-section of the reactor at 2, 10, 20 s of the process for 10 mm and 25 mm coal particles at a 0.2 kg/s feed rate.

yields

CH2:596 O0:158 1:570O2 ! CO2 1:298H2 O;

R5

Carbon oxidation:

yields

C CO2 ! 2CO;

NOx formation:
yields

yields

C O2 ! CO2 ;
Carbon oxide generation:

R7

R6

N2 O ! NO N;
yields

N O2 ! NO O:

R8
R9

184

L.M. Amoo / Fuel 140 (2015) 178191

1320
1300

T [K]

1280
1260
1240
1220
1200
1180

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

z/Hmax
Fig. 5. Reactor temperature as a function of the dimensionless axial coordinate for
10 mm coal particles at a 0.2 kg/s feed rate at 20 s.

The reaction rates R1R9 and reaction-rate constants are given

in Table 1; they are similar to those given in Zhou et al. [19] and in
CD-Adapco methodology [29].
4. Computational approach, grid independence test, and
validation
The commercial STAR-CD CFD code was employed to numerically simulate LaaObi coal in a uidized-bed combustor. The
CFD code yields numerical solutions of the equations (which
govern the ow by their temporal and spatial discretization). The
rst step of the model development was the generation of a 3D
CAD model of the process by employing Star-Design software
(CD-Adapco). The CAD model was further discretized with
300,000 3 mm-sized polyhedral computational volumes with
1 mm-sized prismatic subsurfaces. The resulting computational
mesh is presented in Fig. 2. It is important to note that the
dimensions of the experimental apparatus of [15] were not
included in their work; consequently, dimensions shown in Fig. 2
are estimates to enable performing the present CFD simulation.
This may have had some bearing on the results, as shall be shown
later; nonetheless, good agreement was generally observed.
In order to establish computational accuracy, grid independence studies are always necessary and were equally performed
in this work. Mesh renement for all or for few areas of interest
of the geometry are important for the accuracy of CFD modeling.
The mesh independence studies were conducted for two more
grids; coarse (230,000 cells) and ne (500,000 cells) meshes with
an observed discrepancy of not more than 9.6% (max) with respect

to the main macroscopic ow parameters of ow velocity, solid

volume fraction, and average pressure, temperature and volume
fraction patterns (3D arrays with data). The maximum relative
difference between the coarse mesh and an optimal mesh was
12.4%, while the difference between the optimal and ne mesh
was 6.8%. We were focused on not rening further if the difference
did not exceed 10%. Thus the 300,000 cells chosen were deemed
optimally satisfactory on the basis of the mesh independence study
with no combustion, i.e. considering only uid dynamics and heat
transfer. In essence, the mesh independence was examined with
different mesh sizes obtained by rening the coarser size until
results were not signicantly changed. The results were compared
with the experimental work and in general, good agreement with
experimental data signied a level of condence with the present
CFD predictions for investigating different operating conditions,
including for oxy-fuel combustion analysis of the same
uidized-bed combustor.
The computational time taken for the simulations varied
between 12 and 14 h per each case, and were performed on a
standard modern computer.
5. Numerical description
The numerical simulation of LaaObi bituminous coal under
air-red and oxy-fuel combustion was solved using STAR-CD
(CD-Adapco) iteratively with the use of the SIMPLE numerical technique, upstream spatial discretization, and temporal matching of
the Euler implicit method. Further details of the numerical
approach are given in Table 2.
The main process parameters and properties of the LaaObi
coal are given in Table 3. Table 4 presents the ultimate and
proximate analyses of the LaaObi coal particles.
6. Boundary conditions
The atmospheric pressure and the zero-velocity ow eld were
applied to the model at the initial temporal stage. The initial condition for the coal grains bed was achieved by prescribing the coal
volume fraction to be at the packing limit within the axial co-ordinate, which corresponds to the bed height stated in Popoola and
Asere [15]. In terms of the inlet boundary conditions, this was done
with the upcoming air into the bed, the air injected above the bed,
and the coal injection part. For the wall boundary conditions,
though, there is always velocity and temperature slip at the wall,
its effect is minimal to negligible; thus, the no-slip boundary
condition was considered and employed (i.e., u, v, w = 0). For other
outlets, a pressure outlet boundary condition was applied to the
model.

Table 5
Comparison of experimental and CFD predictions for space average reactor temperatures as a function of time for 10, 15, 20, 25 mm coal particles at a 0.2 kg/s feed rate.
Time (s)

Temperature, K
10 mm

2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20

Discrepancy, %
15 mm

20 mm

25 mm

CFD

Exp.

CFD

Exp.

CFD

Exp.

CFD

Exp.

1124
1152
1176
1190
1207
1216
1236
1253
1268
1284

1108
1154
1166
1197
1213
1213
1226
1248
1248
1283

1023
1109
1127
1105
1113
1126
1160
1163
1183
1180

1061
1141
1166
1083
1117
1141
1197
1188
1210
1188

1005
1064
1079
1121
1088
1110
1094
1156
1148
1163

1083
1073
1106
1154
1095
1166
1108
1173
1152
1188

1003
1057
1088
1055
1113
1090
1122
1097
1082
1110

1026
1085
1106
1013
1141
1061
1154
1095
1095
1129

10 mm

15 mm

20 mm

25 mm

2
0
1
1
1
0
1
0
2
0

5
4
4
3
0
2
4
3
3
1

10
1
3
4
1
6
2
2
0
3

3
3
2
6
3
4
4
0
2
2

185

L.M. Amoo / Fuel 140 (2015) 178191

16

gas velocity [m/s]

14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

z/Hmax
Fig. 7. Gas-velocity magnitude as a function of the dimensionless axial coordinate
for 10 mm coal particles at a 0.2 kg/s feed rate at 20 s of the process.

0.5
0.45
0.4

(a) The gas-phase velocity magnitude

char fraction

0.35
0.3
0.25
|

0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

z/Hmax
Fig. 8. Char content as a function of the dimensionless axial coordinate for 10 mm
coal particles at a 0.2 kg/s feed rate at 20 s of the process.

7.2. Temperature distribution

(b) The parcle-phase velocity magnitude

Fig. 6. (a and b) Velocity magnitude (m/s) of the gaseous and solid phases in the
midline cross-section of the reactor for 10 mm particles at a 0.2 kg/s feed rate at
20 s.

7. Results and discussions

7.1. Coal volume fraction
CFD-predicted contours of the coal volume fraction in the
midline cross-section of the reactor are given in Fig. 3 for 120 s
of the process when 0.2 kg/s of 10 mm particles were injected. It
follows from the gure that the particles are rather heavy and
the uidization is therefore minimal at the beginning of the
process. Further injection of the coal phase together with combustion within the bed intensies the ow eld, and therefore
increases the uidization. The densication of the solid phase
within the bed does not overcome the packing limit uc,lim = 0.7
due to the action of the solid pressure force given in Eq. (4).

The temperature contour of the gas rising during the

combustion process is presented in Fig. 4 for 10 mm and 25 mm
coal particles at 2, 10 and 20 s. It is observed from the gure that
the temperature rises with time due to an increase of the fuel (coal)
amount in the system under continuous injection. The distribution
of the temperature is mostly uniform over the reactor, while the
maximums are observed in the vicinity of the bed where the combustion is the most intensive. The bottom of the bed, in the coldest
region, is the result of less than intensive combustion combined
with the effect of cooling upcoming air.
It is also clear from Fig. 4af that an increase in particle size
hinders the combustion, thus resulting in a lower temperature
within the system. Essentially, temperature uctuations are coalparticle size dependent. This is explained by the reduction of the
contact combustion surface. Fig. 5 presents the temporal history
of the reactor average temperature for different coal particle sizes
at the feed rate of 0.2 kg/s. The experimental measurements are
compared to CFD predictions; a satisfactory agreement is observed
between the numerical model and the experimental results. The
discrepancies could be addressed as a lack of dimensions in the
experimental work of [15]. The temperature oscillation intensifying with the increase in the mean particle size happens because
of ash slug accumulating in the bed, which is impulsively cycled
back by the cyclone. The model is also capable of reproducing
the abovementioned oscillations. The results of the model validation in terms of the temperature history are given in Table 5.

L.M. Amoo / Fuel 140 (2015) 178191

The gas temperature along the reactor axis is given in Fig. 5. It

follows from the gure that the temperature increases within the
hot bed, then decreases due to the ow of fresh cold air from the
secondary inlet, and then increases again due to combustion.
7.3. Flow distribution
The ow velocity eld developed in the reactor is demonstrated
in Fig. 6a and b in terms of the contours of the gas and solid-phase
velocity magnitude. It follows from these gures that the gas is
accelerated up to 30 m/s in the contractions of the geometry: the
line to the cyclone and the cyclone vortex nder. The gas is hindered inside the bed due to the drag mechanism.
Again, due to the drag effect, the velocity of the coal phase
mimics the continuous phase. The effect of gravity hinders the
particles by an approximate factor of 3 relative to the gas-phase
velocity. The gas-velocity magnitude along the reactor axis is
provided in Fig. 7. It follows from Fig. 7 that the gas is initially
hindered in the bed region; thereafter, it is further accelerated in
the combustion zone. The secondary air supply increases the gas
speed again, while further ow deceleration is observed in the
vicinity of the bypass to the cyclone.
7.4. Char consumption
Char is a solid residue that generally mixes with the rest of the
bed and burns more slowly. The volume fraction of char predicted
in particles (provided in Fig. 8) is dependent on the dimensionless
axial coordinate of the reactor. The consumption of the char is in
line with the combustion process. The dependence therefore correlates with the distribution of temperature in the reactor. Initially,
the maximum concentration of char is observed at the bottom of
reactor; it is further reduced in the bed upon combustion.
However, the secondary maximum is observed at the region where

fresh coal is injected into the process. The char is further fully
burned down or consumed to negligible amounts. We also note
that the residuals of the particles with the unburnt material were
transported over the ow system as the second, dispersed phase.
The ash was assumed to remain with the coal particles, with
reduced size, thus there was no separate modeling to account for
ash segregation and transport.

7.5. Emissions
Fig. 9 reports the contours of the CO concentration in the midline cross-section of the reactor for 2, 10 and 20 s of the process,
with a mean particle size of 10 mm, and a 0.3 kg/s feed rate. It follows from the gure that the amount of carbon monoxide
decreases with time since the temperature rises and more oxygen
is captured by reactions in the dioxide production. Initially, the
maximum CO concentration is located above the bed; later, it shifts

25000
20000

CO (ppm)

186

15000

10mm-CFD
10mm-Exp.

10000

25mm-CFD
5000
0

25mm-Exp.
2

10

12

Time (s)

14

16

18

20

Fig. 10. Comparisons of CFD with experimental results for space average concentrations of CO as a function of time for 10 and 25 mm coal particles at a 0.3 kg/s feed
rate.

Fig. 9. Contours of CO concentration (ppm) in the midline cross-section of the reactor at 2, 10, and 20 s of the process for 10 mm coal particles at a 0.3 kg/s feed rate.

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L.M. Amoo / Fuel 140 (2015) 178191

Fig. 11. Contours of NOx concentration (ppm) in the midline cross-section of the reactor at 2, 10, and 20 s of the process for 10 mm coal particles at a 0.3 kg/s feed rate.

25000

900
800

20000

600
500

10mm-CFD

400

10mm-Exp.

300

25mm-CFD

200

25mm-Exp.

15000

10000

5000

100
0

O2 [ppm]

NO x (ppm)

700

10

12

14

16

18

20

Time (s)
Fig. 12. Comparisons of CFD with experimental results for space average concentrations of NOx as a function of time for 10 and 25 mm coal particles at a 0.3 kg/s
feed rate.

further into the bed. Fig. 10 reports the reactors average concentrations of CO over time for 10 mm and 25 mm particles; the CFD
predictions are also compared with the experimental data.
It is observed from Fig. 10 that an increase in particle size
decreases the CO amount in the system since it hinders combustion.
The oscillations are caused by the temporal pulsations of temperature (as illustrated). The model agrees well with the experiment.
The contours of NOx concentration are given in Fig. 11 for the
case with 10 mm coal particles at a feed rate of 0.3 kg/s. The temporal behavior of NOx differs from carbon dioxide since reactions
R8R9 require a relatively high temperature. NOx production is
therefore proportional to the temperature rise history, while the
spatial distribution of the NOx concentration is similar to that
observed for CO.

0
0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

z/Hmax
Fig. 13. Oxygen concentration as a function of the dimensionless axial coordinate
for 10 mm coal particles at a 0.2 kg/s feed rate for 20 s of the process.

The temporal history of the NOx concentration is given in Fig. 12

for 10 mm and 25 mm particles at a feed rate of 0.3 kg/s. The model
corresponds well to the experimental measurements while the
oscillations are driven by the temperature instabilities described
earlier.
7.6. Oxygen concentration
Fig. 13 reports oxygen concentration along the reactor axis. It
can be seen that the concentration reduces in the bed where oxidation mostly occurs. There is a further short increase due to the secondary air injection, and a later decrease with the continuous
combustion in the reactor.

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L.M. Amoo / Fuel 140 (2015) 178191

Fig. 14. Contours of the particle Nusselt number for the midline cross-section of the
reactor for 20 s of the process for 10 mm coal particles at a 0.2 kg/s feed rate.

Fig. 16. Temperature contours (K) in the midline cross-section of the reactor at 20 s
of the process for 10 mm coal particles at a 0.2 kg/s feed rate for oxy-fuel
combustion.

1320

T - air
T - oxy

1300
1280

T [K]

1260
1240
1220
1200
1180
1160

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

z/Hmax
Fig. 17. Comparison of oxy-fuel and airfuel combustion temperatures as a
function of the dimensionless axial coordinate at 20 s of the process for 10 mm
coal particles at a 0.2 kg/s feed rate.
Fig. 15. Contours of thermal heat ux on the walls of the reactor for 20 s of the
process for 10 mm coal particles at a 0.2 kg/s feed rate (dimensions in W/m2).

7.7. Heat transfer

Fluidized-bed combustion is particularly advantageous for its
high rate of heat transfer to both heating and cooling surfaces.
Particle size, bed density, the specic heat of the particles, along
with velocity and other physical properties determine the rate of
heat transfer. The heat transfer between the phases is presented
in Fig. 14 in terms of the particle Nusselt number, as estimated
according to the RanzMarshall expression for multiphase ows
[28]. The contours of the Nusselt number are presented for the

midline cross-section of the reactor at 20 s of the process for

10 mm coal particles at a 0.2 kg/s feed rate.
It follows from the gure that the most intensive heat transfer
takes place at the contractions of the geometry where the interphase slip is at a maximum. However, it is also observable that
intensive heat loss takes place in the vicinity of the secondary air
inlet, which cools the coal particles.
Fig. 15 illustrates the contours of the thermal heat ux at the
reactor walls for 10 mm coal particles at a 0.2 kg/s feed rate for
20 s of the process. The thermal transfer appears to be the superposition of the radiation heat transfer and the convective heat
exchange. The maximum thermal radiation is associated with the
main combustion zone, the uidized bed, where the ame

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L.M. Amoo / Fuel 140 (2015) 178191

0.5

16
14

Vg - oxy

0.35

char fraction

gas velocity [m/s]

Char-oxy

0.4

12
10
8
6
4

0.3
0.25
|

0.2
0.15
0.1

2
0

Char - air

0.45

Vg - air

0.05
0
0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

z/Hmax
Fig. 18. Comparison of oxy-fuel and airfuel combustion gas velocity magnitudes
as a function of the dimensionless axial coordinate at 20 s of the process for 10 mm
coal particles at a 0.2 kg/s feed rate.

temperature is highest; the thermal radiation is dominating in

terms of the sum of heat uxes. However, the convective heat
transfer, which takes place at the contractions of the model, is
comparable with the thermal radiation due to the enhanced heat
exchange coefcient in those zones with higher ow velocity.
8. Oxy-fuel combustion analysis
Coal-air combustion is arguably the dirtiest form of electrical
power generation with high emissions of criteria pollutants and

Fig. 19. Contours of CO concentration (ppm) under oxy-fuel combustion in the

midline cross-section of the reactor at 20 s of the process for 10 mm coal particles at
a 0.2 kg/s feed rate.

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

z/Hmax
Fig. 20. Char content as a function of the dimensionless axial coordinate for 20 s of
the process for 10 mm coal particles at a 0.2 kg/s feed rate.

greenhouse gases (GHG). Every kW h of electricity generated by

coal-air combustion produces an average 1,000 g/kW h of life-cycle
CO2 emissions, a GHG that is widely considered as the primary
contributor to global warming [30,31]. Burning coal in an oxygen
atmosphere is, however, benecial because only CO2 and water
are produced, which is favorable for carbon capture and storage.
This is preferable to the alternative of producing carbon, water,
and nitrogen. Oxy-fuel combustion of a carbon-containing fuel
can take place either in pure oxygen or in a mixture of pure oxygen
and CO2-rich recycled ue gas. The simulation studies of combustion in an oxygen atmosphere were performed at 100% O2 concentration (pure oxygen conditions). We recognize that several
literatures tend to employ O2 concentrations of 25%, 27%, or 29%
[17,23]; however, this work is interested in understanding combustion performance under 100% O2 concentrations. The initial
observation shows no signicant inuence of the atmospheric
composition on the multiphase uid dynamics of the process;
i.e., the contours of the volume fraction of the dispersed phase
remain equivalent to air-combustion cases. The combustion

Fig. 21. Contours of the thermal heat ux on the walls of the reactor under oxy-fuel
combustion for 20 s of the process for 10 mm coal particles at a 0.2 kg/s feed rate
(dimensions in W/m2).

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L.M. Amoo / Fuel 140 (2015) 178191

characteristics have, however, been slightly changed with respect

to temperature. Fig. 16 presents the temperature contours in the
midline cross-section of the reactor for 20 s of the process for
10 mm coal particles at a 0.2 kg/s feed rate.
It follows from Fig. 16 that combustion temperatures are
reduced in the presence of oxygen as the primary oxidant. Similar
behavior is conrmed in Fig. 17, where the mean gas temperature
is plotted for different axial co-ordinates in the reactor; a comparison with air combustion is also shown. The phenomenon of the
temperature reduction is related to the change of the particle residence time within the uidized-bed system. Reduction of ame
temperature leads to a slight reduction in gas ow velocity. This
is illustrated in Fig. 18 for the same particle size at a 0.2 kg/s feed
rate.
The emissions are, however, reduced dramatically since the
amount of oxygen is enough to oxidize most of the fuel. Fig. 19 presents the contours of the CO concentration in the midline crosssection of the reactor at 20 s of the process for 10 mm particle combustion at a feed rate of 0.3 kg/s. It follows from the gure that the
concentration of CO is reduced at least 20 times. The concentration
of NOx is insufcient for the case of oxy-combustion because nitrogen is signicantly removed from the comburent.
The amount of char consumed within the hot bed is similar to
that for the air-combustion case. It is signicantly lower for the
ame region since the temperature there is lower, and therefore
devolatilization is slower; this is demonstrated in Fig. 20. Devolatilization of coal particles generally depends on heating rate, temperature, pressure, coal-particle size, and coal type. The total heat
transfer is also reduced in the system due to a decrease in the mean
ow velocity and temperature, and is presented in Fig. 21 for contours of the heat ux at the walls of the reactor for 20 s of the process for 10 mm particles at a 0.2 kg/s feed rate.
9. Some notable recommendations for future work
Further experimental, numerical and CFD studies on all known
Nigerian coals.
Experimental and CFD studies on particle attrition, and ash
effects during uidized bed combustion.
Further studies on the relationship between the inert contents
of the coal and combustion efciencies, ignition and ame
stability.
10. Conclusion
Fluidized-bed combustors are relatively simple to build, operate, automate, and maintain. This study presents the CFD-modeling
predictions of airfuel and oxy-fuel for the ow, thermal transfer,
and emissions characteristics of various sized LaaObi coal particles in a laboratory scale uidized-bed combustor. The model has
been validated against the empirics from the experimental work;
it demonstrates a maximum discrepancy of 16% and is within the
estimates presented in [21,29]. The mesh-independence check
reports the solution to be stable to within 10% and gives credence
to the numerical stability of the CFD model. The discrepancies
could be addressed to the lack of adequate details on the uidized-bed combustor. Nonetheless, this work thus offers a new
and different perspective through a visualization of the cardinal
aspects of the combustion of LaaObi coal in a uidized bed as
well as its prospects as a fuel for electricity generation.
In general, we found that the smallest and therefore lightest of
the particles in this study (10 mm) were easily uidized, and
homogeneously mixed with the air. This led to higher combustion
temperatures, lower CO emissions, better volatiles consumption
and a slightly faster ow eld. NOx concentration was however

high. The heaviest of the particles, or as the particles increased in

size (1525 mm), the combustion occurred at lower temperatures
with higher CO concentration, and a slower ow eld. The amount
of the unburnt volatiles were also found to be higher.
Furthermore, the study revealed that the combustion process is
mostly uniform and efcient within the system. Key ndings
include:
a. Some ow non-uniformities were observed due to the secondary air injector, which is mostly assumed to enhance
the combustion ame located above the bed.
b. Slugging was observed for cases with large coal particles;
this resulted in the periodic pulsation of the main integral
ow parameters. Thus, it is recommended to use small
(10 mm) coal particles for industrial processes and energy
production scale-up.
c. Thermal NOx production is proportional to temperature
increase, while CO decreases with time as temperature rises.
d. Under oxy-fuel conditions, CO concentration is reduced by a
factor of 20 compared to airfuel conditions, while thermal
NOx concentration is negligible.
There is limited publication on coal simulations to predict oxyfuel combustion in uidized beds. The combustion, which took
place in the presence of oxygen, appears to be less efcient due
to a decrease of the overall process temperature and gas velocities
of the reactor. Oxy-fuel combustion is, however, associated with
negligible emissions, as has been shown in this study. This makes
it a very attractive option from an environmental perspective. Generally, there is a need to use existing codes and to develop new
mathematical models to support and improve the environmental
performance of existing coal facilities and for the design of new
coal facilities for industrial scale-up.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to express their gratitude to the very competent reviewers and editor for their thoughtful questions and suggestions which have led to the improvement of the contents of
this paper.
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