Numerical simulation and experimental validation of oil shale drying in pneumatic conveying dryer

ABSTRACTOil shale is an important unconventional energy and has enormous reserves in the world. However, the high moisture content impedes its utilization in the restoration and combustion process. This paper explores experimental and numerical studies on the drying performance of the Liu Shu River oil shale in a pneumatic conveying dryer (4.8 cm ID, 1.8 m high). The experiments were carried out under the different operation conditions. The 3-D modeling was done with a computational fluid dynamics package, in which the gas phase is modeled as a continuum using Euler approach, and the particle phase is modeled by a discrete phase model with a Lagrangian approach. The effects of inlet air velocity, particle size, solid mass flow rate, and inlet air temperature on the drying performance of oil shale particles are investigated. It is found that the simulated values are in good agreement with experimental data. The developed model of is thus suitable to describe the oil shale pneumatic drying process. Generall...