CFD based evaluation of polymer particles heat transfer coefficient in gas phase polymerization reactors

In this work, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has been employed to compute convection heat transfer coefficient (h) that is the key parameter in calculation of heat transfer rate between particles and fluids in an ethylene polymerization fluidized bed reactor. In addition, the effects of various parameters such as free stream fluid velocity, particles size, and particles interactions with different configurations on heat transfer coefficient were studied. Simulation results are in agreement with common engineering knowledge of the process. The results also indicate that particle interactions, particle size and fluid velocity have more significant impacts on h.