Abstract: A CFD-DEM heat transfer model was established by coupling the model set up based on the mechanism of both particle-particle and particle-fluid-particle heat transfer with the computation fluid dynamics-discrete particle model (CFD-DEM), which adopts actual contact stiffness to calculate the heat transfer. The CFD-DEM heat transfer model was verified with experimental data of a typical spouted fluidized bed, and the model was then used to further study the heat transfer characteristics of the bed. Results indicate that the heat transfer coefficient of particles is greatly influenced by their flow status, and it is higher in interior cycle than in exterior cycle. The heat transfer coefficient is symmetrically distributed in the spouted fluidized bed, which is higher in fluidized region than in un-fluidized region. The highest heat transfer coefficient appears in both sides of the bed bottom and at the gas entrance, whereas, relatively low heat transfer coefficient exists in the middle region.