A LBM–DEM solver for fast discrete particle simulation of particle–fluid flows

• DOI: 10.1007/s00161-014-0351-z
• Publication Date: 2014-04-02T18:36:44Z
• Authors: Qingang Xiong; Ehsan Madadi-Kand...; Giulio Lorenzini
• Keywords: 02 engineering and technology; 0210 nano-technology

The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) for simulating fluid phases was coupled with the discrete element method (DEM) for studying solid phases to formulate a novel solver for fast discrete particle simulation (DPS) of particle–fluid flows. The fluid hydrodynamics was obtained by solving LBM equations instead of solving the Navier–Stokes equation by the finite volume method (FVM). Interparticle and particle–wall collisions were determined by DEM. The new DPS solver was validated by simulating a three-dimensional gas–solid bubbling fluidized bed. The new solver was found to yield results faster than its FVM–DEM counterpart, with the increase in the domain-averaged gas volume fraction. Additionally, the scalability of the LBM–DEM DPS solver was superior to that of the FVM–DEM DPS solver in parallel computing. Thus, the LBM–DEM DPS solver is highly suitable for use in simulating dilute and large-scale particle–fluid flows.