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Modeling a Rotary Tube Reactor

Posted 03.03.2026, 14:11 GMT-5 Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Heat Transfer, Chemical Reaction Engineering Version 6.3 0 Replies

Shrieks08

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Hi all,

I want to develop a 3D model of a rotary tube reactor, where there is an input feed coming from one end of the reactor along with some gas. The reactor is externally heated, and the heat drives some reactions in the input feed. My main question is the approach to use for simulating this.

To develop a complete model, I need to account for the flow, heat transfer, and the reactions. The general way of initiating this from the literature is as follows (see attached image for some more clarity): 1) Based on the experimental parameters such as the reactor dimensions, reactor tilt, feed rate, etc., compute the bed height and the angle of the chord subtended by the solid bed. 2) Develop a geometry based on this including the reactor shell, a domain for the bed, and a domain for the freeboard (gas) region.

In this case, the bed consisting of powdered solids still moves so the flow of the solid bed should be accounted for. Additionally, the things to take care of are: the flow in the freeboard region, heat transfer (conduction+convection+radiation), and chemical reactions either through species transport modules or defining our own ODEs.

I wanted to know: 1) If I assume the bed height/angle of the chord through the analytical equation and make a geometry based off of it (note that there will be the solid bed in the geometry but in reality, initially there will only be air in the tube), what functionality does COMSOL have to model the flow of the bed? 2) Assuming I do not use the analytical equations and I use Euler-Euler model to model the flow, how can I include the boundary conditions from the heat transfer/species transport/ODEs interfaces as I will not be having a geometry defined for the solid bed (because in Euler-Euler, I will be treating the whole region inside the tube as a multiphase material but specified volume fractions)?

Thank you! I understand that my description might not be very clear. In this case, I am happy to discuss further.

Attachments:

mixing_1.png

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