A generalized contact modification for fixed-bed reactor CFD simulations

Particle-resolved CFD simulations provide detailed insights into fixed-bed reactors. One of the remaining challenges is the generation of high-quality computational cells, which is especially challenging near particle-particle contacts. This contribution presents a generalized and automated contact modification independent of the particle shape by introducing a defined gap of 1 % of the particle diameter. This approach is successfully demonstrated for non-spherical cylinders, hollow and multi-hole cylinders, and a novel particle shape in terms of radial void fraction, pressure drop and an illustrative heat transfer study.