This 2018 assignment for SCG Chemicals focused on "Simulation and Optimisation of an Industrial-Scale Fluidised-Bed Dryer" within the process and manufacturing sector. Using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and our process modelling services, the team translated the existing project brief into a structured technical assessment. The work was intended to show why the system behaved as it did, how performance changed across credible scenarios, and which interventions offered the strongest engineering value.

For the first time, an industrial-scale Fluidised-Bed Dryer (FBD) for the largest petrochemical company in Thailand was simulated with an aim of obtaining key operating parameters such as temperature and velocity distributions, evaporation rate, moisture level within solid particles and residence time. The physics involved in such a large reactor is extremely complicated and involves multiphase flow, turbulence, heat transfer, evaporation and particle interaction, etc. Most of the methods and techniques used in this project have never been tried before and this project represents the most comprehensive and successful simulation of a fluidised-bed reactor with an industrial-scale application.

The methodology centred on a transient industrial-scale multiphase CFD model of the fluidised-bed dryer with coupled heat and mass transfer. The representation retained the gas distributor, bed region, millions of representative polymer particles and the interfaces controlling fluidisation, evaporation and drying. Boundary and operating conditions covered airflow, temperature, particle loading, moisture content and relevant operating or geometry changes across the dryer envelope, with material, fluid and equipment properties assigned from the available design information. Resolution was concentrated in regions where steep velocity, thermal, concentration or phase gradients were expected, while the overall model remained efficient enough to compare several credible configurations. This balance allowed system-level performance to be linked to the local mechanisms responsible for it.

The assessment compared operating set-points and design changes intended to improve fluidisation and drying uniformity. Performance was judged using gas and particle velocity, bed expansion, temperature, evaporation rate, particle moisture, residence time, mixing and drying uniformity. Results were reviewed through quantitative summaries and engineering visualisations, such as contours, vectors, streamlines, sections and time histories, selected to suit the physics. Important assumptions and operating uncertainties were considered so that the recommendations relied on repeatable comparative trends rather than a single nominal case.

For SCG Chemicals, the principal value was an industrially useful basis for scale-up, operating-window definition and future dryer optimisation. The final evidence linked each recommendation to the relevant model or process output, making it suitable for internal design reviews, supplier or contractor discussions and, where applicable, planning, safety or regulatory dialogue. The work also created a reusable baseline that can be updated as geometry, operating data or test results become available, reducing the cost and risk of later design iterations.

A disciplined quality-control workflow supported the analysis. Geometry, units, mass and energy balances, boundary-condition consistency and solver convergence were checked before options were ranked. Mesh or parameter sensitivities were used where they were most likely to affect the engineering conclusion, and limitations were documented explicitly. This ensured that the study remained traceable and reproducible rather than relying on isolated simulation images.