Oyebanjo  Oke

Oyebanjo received his BSc degree in Chemical Engineering from University of Lagos (Nigeria) in 2006. His final year project was on fluid flow in elastic pipes. He obtained MSc in Chemical Engineering from UCL in 2010 with a Distinction grade. His Masters degree project was on computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modelling of homogeneous gas-fluidized beds. Then, he worked as a process engineer at Lafarge-Holcim (UNICEM) company in Calabar, Nigeria. He has shown interest in experimental and theoretical investigation of multiphase systems, especially those involving gas and solid phases.

Research project

Title: Numerical simulations and experimental investigation of homogeneous and bubbling gas-fluidized beds

My research activities focus on mathematical modelling and experimental investigation of multiphase flow. The latter occurs in many operations in the chemical, petroleum and power generation industries. Multiphase flow covers a wide range of subjects, from nearly homogeneous flow, as developed in long transport lines of gas-liquid-solid mixtures, to completely separated flows, observed in gas-fluidized reactors. Mathematical modelling of these systems aim to develop design tools needed to reduce the need for experimentation, pilot plant and scale-up, increase productivity, and reduce energy consumption and environmental impacts. An area of multiphase flow that is particularly interesting to me is fluidization. Fluidized beds are widely employed in several industrial applications including power generation, petroleum, pharmaceutical, and food processing. Developing accurate mathematical models for the multiphase flow in a fluidized bed requires a detailed understanding of the fluid and particle dynamics. This involves answering, among others, questions such as: how do particles interact with one another?
How do particles interact with the fluid? How can we quantify the rate of solid or gas mixing in a fluidized bed? Two modelling approaches are usually adopted: the Eulerian-Eulerian and the Eulerian-Lagrangian. In the former, averaged equations describe the fluid and the solid as interpenetrating continua. In the latter, conversely, one tracks the motion of each particle and solves the average equations of motion only for the continuous phase. These modelling approaches are powerful, providing enormous detail of the granular media. In this project, the two modelling approaches are adopted to investigate the fluid dynamic interactions in fluidized beds; in particular, the process of lateral solid mixing. The latter, in particular, is important for assessing the performance of large-scale fluidized bed reactors

Education

BSc in Chemical Engineering, University of Lagos, 2006
MSc in Chemical Engineering, UCL, 2010