Non-homogeneous gas-solid flow in a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) riser was numerically simulated with CFD models. According to the data and information obtained from the time-averaged CFD flow fields

a novel non-ideal reactor model named equivalent reactor network (ERN) model was developed for the CFB riser. Six parameters for characterizing the structure of a reactor network and the criteria for equivalence checking of the established reactor network were proposed. Systematic analysis on each model parameter and the correlations between them were made elaborately. Values of these parameters were determined subsequently. It was found that the developed ERN model

which was based on the time-averaged CFD flow fields

was capable of describing reasonably non-ideal gas-solid flow behaviors in the CFB riser.