The motion of discs and spherical fuel particles in combustion burners based on Monte Carlo simulation

The position of pellet fuel particles in a burner largely determines their combustion behaviour. This paper addresses the simulated motion of circles and spheres, equivalent to pellet, and their final position in a packed bed subject to a gravitational field confined inside rigid cylindrical walls. A simplified Monte Carlo statistical technique has been described and applied with the standard Metropolis method for the simulation of movement. This simplification provides an easier understanding of the method when applied to solid fuels in granular form, provided that they are only under gravitational forces. Not only have we contrasted one parameter, as other authors, but three, which are radial, bulk and local porosities, via Voronoi tessellation. Our simulations reveal a structural order near the walls, which declines towards the centre of the container, and no pattern was found in local porosity via Voronoi. Results with this simplified method are in agreement with more complex previously published studies.