In a recent paper, Gui et al. (2008. DEM-LES study of 3-D bubbling fluidized bed with immersed tubes. Chemical Engineering Science 63, 3654-3663) reported the results of numerical simulations of a bubbling fluidized bed containing internal tubes using discrete element model (DEM) coupled to a large eddy simulation (LES). We comment on the correctness of the numerical set-up regarding the use of LES as well as the worthiness of using a turbulence model for the case of dense two-phase flows. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.