CFD modeling of petcoke co-combustion in a real cement kiln: The effect of the turbulence-chemistry interaction model applied with K-ϵ variations

Abstract

Abstract Using alternative fuels (AF) in industry high consuming energy where fossil fuels are largely consumed may be a great solution to decrease CO2 emission and cost production. Or, when using these alternative fuels, the combustion may be difficult to control regarding the different components of AFs compared to fossil fuels. In this case, the use of the computational fluid dynamics CFD tools is a great solution to predict the AFs combustion behavior. This paper represents a computational study of petcoke and olive pomace (OP) co-combustion in a cement rotary kiln burner, established on the commercial CFD software ANSYS FLUENT. This study presents a useful key to choose an adequate simulation model that well predicts co-combustion problems. The performance of the K-ϵ turbulence models varieties (standard, Realizable, and Re-Normalization Group) combined with the hybrid finite rate/eddy dissipation model and the simple eddy dissipation model for predicting the co-combustion characteristics was investigated. The particle phase solutions are obtained using the Lagrangian approach. The performance of the mentioned model was evaluated based on the mesh accuracy, convergence time, temperature shape, and important chemical elements concentration. The predicted values of species concentrations and temperature are compared to the results obtained from the real case study and available literature. The standard K-ϵ model combined with the hybrid finite rate/eddy dissipation model gives the best results and the lower computational resources required for the 2-D model realized.