Paper presented to the 10th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Florida, 14-16 July 2014.
CFD tools are essential in the design and operation of
boilers. One particular aspect that can be modelled by CFD is
the deposition and plugging in heat transfer surfaces of boilers.
Fouling and slagging are the most typical causes of
unscheduled boiler shutdowns. This is why appropriate
predictions of deposition geometries and rates are of high
interest. Among other applications, CFD Multiphase
approaches are capable of modelling particle-laden streams.
However, the relatively large number of models to select, each
one with its own properties, typical applications, benefits and
drawbacks- creates difficulties when trying to determine which
model to use at first approach.
The problem that we are going to tackle is of a really
complicated and multidisciplinary nature (thermo-fluid
mechanics, sticking/rebounding of particles, sintering, among
others). Dynamic mesh capabilities in commercial CFD
software packages are able to modify the interphase fluiddeposit
according to the growth rate, assuming it has been
accurately calculated by a convenient multiphase model for
particle-laden flows. In this work, such a CFD model for
prediction of deposition shapes in a classical boiler bank of a
Kraft Recovery Boiler will be developed and presented. The
effect of tube transversal spacing will also be analyzed
