In this work, the authors combine state-of-the-art real-time Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) with three-dimensional CFD-DEM simulations to gain unprecedented insights into the dynamic behaviour of vibrated fluidized beds. The simulations were analysed both in a central slice, mimicking the MRI measurement, and across the full three-dimensional domain, allowing the representativeness of slice-based evaluation to be assessed against bed height, bubble diameter, bubble count and bubble rise velocity.
The study demonstrates excellent agreement between experimental measurements and numerical simulations. For non-vibrated cases, the CFD-DEM results reproduce established correlations for bubble diameter and rise velocity, while under gas-dominated conditions with low-to-moderate vibration no significant impact on bubble dynamics or overall bed hydrodynamics was observed. By systematically comparing slice-based tomographic measurements against full-domain simulations, the work provides valuable methodological guidance for the accurate interpretation of tomographic data.
The study is a collaboration between the Institute of Solids Process Engineering and Particle Technology and the Institute of Process Imaging at Hamburg University of Technology.
Nick Hildebrandt, Melis Özdemir, Swantje Pietsch-Braune, Stefan Benders, Alexander Penn, Stefan Heinrich (2026). Three-dimensional CFD-DEM simulations of vibrated fluidized beds validated by real-time MRI: Implications of slice-based versus full-domain analysis. Powder Technol. 477, 122468.
