Wall Segment of 4-hole Cylinders

The base particle for our simulations with non-spherical pellets was an equilateral cylinder. We set up geometries in which the cylinders had 0, 1, 3 or 4 longitudinal holes of the same character. A 120-degree packed bed segment was used with two axial layers of particles and translational periodic boundaries at the inlet and outlet. The configuration of the segment was determined by performing an experimental study of packing equilateral cylindrical particles in a bed with a tube to cylinder diameter ratio of four. Dense particle packing structures were created using the Unidense method. From a large selection of packing structures the most common packing situation was used to perform comparative studies on the influence of the particle internal geometry. The resultant bed structure is shown here in a three-dimensional view for the pellets with four internal holes.