Determination and comparison of rotational velocity in a pseudo 2‐D fluidized bed using magnetic particle tracking and discrete particle modeling

Modeling of dense granular flow has been subject to a large amount of research. Particularly discrete particle modeling has been of great importance because of the ability to describe the strongly coupled dynamics of the fluid and the solids in dense suspensions. Many studies have been reported on the validation of the translational particle velocities predicted by using these models. The rotational motion however has received far less attention, mainly because of the spherical nature of the particles under investigation and the lack of techniques with the capability to study the rotational behavior of the solid phase. In this study, we will for the first time present experimental data on the rotational behavior of particles in a pseudo two‐dimensional fluidized bed setup using Magnetic Particle Tracking. In addition the experimental results are compared to data obtained from discrete particle simulations. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 3198–3207, 2015     

A numerical study of fluidization behavior of Geldart A particles using a discrete particle model

This paper reports on a numerical study of fluidization behavior of Geldart A particles by use of a 2D soft-sphere discrete particle model (DPM). Some typical features, including the homogeneous expansion, gross particle circulation in the absence of bubbles, and fast bubbles, can be clearly displayed if the interparticle van der Waals forces are relatively weak. An anisotropy of the velocity fluctuation of particles is found in both the homogeneous fluidization regime and the bubbling regime. The homogeneous fluidization is shown to represent a transition phase resulting from the competition of three kinds of basic interactions: the fluid-particle interaction, the particle-particle collisions (and particle-wall collisions) and the interparticle van der Waals forces. In the bubbling regime, however, the effect of the interparticle van der Waals forces vanishes and the fluid-particle interaction becomes the dominant factor determining the fluidization behavior of Geldart A particles. This is also evidenced by the comparisons of the particulate pressure with other theoretical and experimental results.     

Improved magnetic particle tracking technique in dense gas fluidized beds

Noninvasive monitoring of multiphase flow is rapidly gaining increased interest. More specifically noninvasive particle tracking techniques have received a lot of attention in recent years to study dense granular flow. However, these techniques are usually quite expensive and require strict safety measures. An improved magnetic particle tracking (MPT) technique for dense granular flow will be presented in this article. The improvements of the analysis technique for MPT will be demonstrated and rigorously tested with a three‐dimensional system and two‐dimensional sensor system. The strengths and limitations of the MPT technique will also be reported. Finally, the results of the MPT are compared with data obtained from a combined particle image velocimetry and digital image analysis technique. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 60: 3133–3142, 2014     

Fluidization characteristics of printed circuit board plastic particles with different sizes

The experiments were carried out in a fluidized bed of 56 mm in diameter and 1 600 mm in height to determine the fluidization characteristics of four sizes of printed circuit board plastic (PCBP) particles. It indicates that the fluidization characteristics of PCBP particles depend on the average size and particle type. 123 µm PCBP particles (1#), belonging to Geldart A group with strong viscous force, whose fluidization behaviours was similar to those of Geldart C, was difficult to fluidize. Whereas, 275 µm (2#), 354 µm (3#), and 423 µm (4#) PCBP particles, belonging to Geldart B, were fluidized smoothly. The bed collapsing process is composed of three stages: the bubble escaping stage, the sedimentation stage, and the solid consolidation stage. The collapsing process of 1# PCBP particle lasts 6 s or long. 2#, 3#, and 4# PCBP particles, Geldart group B particles, collapse process consists of the bubble escaping stage and the solid consolidation stage. The minimum fluidization velocities from modified Ergun Equation were agreement with experimental data for 2#, 3#, and 4# PCBP particles.     

Experimental investigation of solid particles flow in a conical spouted bed using radioactive particle tracking

Solid particles flow in a conical spouted bed is characterized by radioactive particle tracking. The influence of operating conditions on key parameters of this flow is evaluated and discussed: the morphology of the solid bed is not strongly influenced by the forces exerted by the gas on the solid particles, but rather by geometrical considerations; the particles spend approximately 8% of their time in the spout in all experiments; it is the force exerted on the solid particles by the gas that directly controls the volumetric flow rate between adjacent regions, and not the amount of particles in the bed; as U/U_ms increases, the volume of solid particles in the annulus decreases, the volume of solid particles in the fountain increases and the volume of solid particles in the spout remains constant. Correlations to predict key flow parameters as functions of operating conditions are also established and discussed. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 26–37, 2016     

On trajectory and velocity measurements in fluidized beds using positron emission particle tracking (PEPT)

Positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) is a non-invasive technique that can be used for following the trajectories of particles in fluidized beds, so increasing understanding of solids motion in fluidized bed processes. We describe how PEPT is applied, how its performance is optimized, and how trajectory information can be built up into instantaneous and time-averaged measures of particle movement. Choices and pitfalls in data processing are explained and illustrated by reference to the travelling fluidized bed (TFB) collaboration initiated by Professor John Grace.     

Fluidization characteristics of oil palm frond particles in agitated bed

Fluidization characteristics of crushed oil palm fronds were studied. The elongated shape of the particles and their fibrous nature created entanglement between the particles and caused the bed to form crack and plug flow when aerated in ordinary fluidized bed. Fluidization of the fibres became feasible with the aid of mechanical agitation. Agitation helped to loosen the entanglement of the fibres which prevents air to pass through the bed of particles, as a result, fluidization state could be attained. Experiments were carried out in a column with height of 72 cm and ID of 14.4 cm. Superficial air velocities used ranged from 0.1 to 1.1 m/s, bed heights ranged from 4 to 8.5 cm, agitation speeds ranged from 300 to 500 rpm and particle initial moisture contents from 0.5 to 2.4 g water/g dry solids. Analysis of the fluidization characteristics showed that minimum fluidization velocity was independent with bed height and agitation speed. However, investigation on the effect of particle initial moisture content showed that minimum fluidization velocity increased with particle moisture content. A new empirical correlation to predict minimum fluidization velocity has been derived which gives good agreement with experimental data in this study and the data from other study in the literature.     

Fluidization of Group B particles with a rotating distributor

A novel rotating distributor fluidized bed is presented. The distributor is a rotating perforated plate, with 1% open-area ratio. This work evaluates the performance of this new design, considering pressure drop, Δp, and quality of fluidization. Bed fluidization was easily achieved with the proposed device, improving the solid mixing and the quality of fluidization.In order to examine the effect of the rotational speed of the distributor plate on the hydrodynamic behavior of the bed, minimum fluidization velocity, U_mf, and pressure fluctuations were analyzed. Experiments were conducted in the bubbling free regime in a 0.19 m i.d. fluidized bed, operating with Group B particles according to Geldart's classification. The pressure drop across the bed and the standard deviation of pressure fluctuations, σ_p, were used to find the minimum fluidization velocity, U_mf. A decrease in U_mf is observed when the rotational speed increases and a rise in the measured pressure drop was also found. Frequency analysis of pressure fluctuations shows that fluidization can be controlled by the adjustable rotational speed, at several excess gas velocities.Measurements with several initial static bed heights were taken, in order to analyze the influence of the initial bed mass inventory, over the effect of the distributor rotation on the bed hydrodynamics.     

Fluidization of moist sawdust in binary particle systems in a gas–solid fluidized bed

The fluidized behavior of binary mixtures of moist sawdust and glass spheres has been investigated. The sawdust alone was observed to fluidize poorly, with extensive channelling occurring. The addition of 0.322 and 0.516 mm glass spheres to the fluidized bed of sawdust improved the fluidization characteristics. The mixtures of sawdust and 0.322 mm spheres were completely mixed when fluidized. Mixtures of sawdust and 0.516 mm spheres were either partially or completely mixed, depending upon gas velocity in the fluidized bed. As the moisture content of the sawdust was increased, the minimum fluidization velocity of the binary mixture also increased. There was an upper limit to the moisture content of the sawdust at which fluidization could be achieved. When the moisture content of the sawdust exceeded 33 and 54 wt% on a dry basis, agglomeration and channelling occurred in the mixtures of sawdust and glass spheres, with sizes 0.322 and 0.516 mm, respectively. The moisture likely contributes to interparticle liquid bridging forces. Binary mixtures of larger 0.777 and 1.042 mm glass spheres and up to 82% moisture sawdust did not readily agglomerate, but the two components completely segregated during fluidization.     

Experiments on floating bed rotating drums using magnetic particle tracking

Magnetic particle tracking (MPT) was employed to study a rotating drum filled with cork particles, using both air and water as interstitial medium. This noninvasive monitoring technique allows for the tracking of both particle translation and rotation in dry granular and liquid–solid systems. Measurements on the dry and floating bed rotating drum were compared and detailed analysis of the bed shape and velocity profiles was performed. It was found that the change of particle–wall and particle–particle interaction caused by the presence of water significantly affects the bed behavior. The decreased friction leads to slipping of the particles with respect to the wall, rendering the circulation rate largely insensitive to increased drum speed. It was also found that the liquid–particle interaction is determining for the behavior of the flowing layer. The well-defined experiments and in-depth characterization performed in this study provide an excellent validation case for multiphase flow models.     

Measuring binary fluidization of nonspherical and spherical particles using machine learning aided image processing

The binary fluidization of Geldart D type nonspherical wood particles and spherical low density polyethylene (LDPE) particles was investigated in a laboratory-scale bed. The experiment was performed for varying static bed height, wood particles count, as well as superficial gas velocity. The LDPE velocity field were quantified using particle image velocimetry (PIV). The wood particles orientation and velocity are measured using particle tracking velocimetry (PTV). A machine learning pixel-wise classification model was trained and applied to acquire wood and LDPE particle masks for PIV and PTV processing, respectively. The results show significant differences in the fluidization behavior between LDPE only case and binary fluidization case. The effects of wood particles on the slugging frequency, mean, and variation of bed height, and characteristics of the particle velocities/orientations were quantified and compared. This comprehensive experimental dataset serves as a benchmark for validating numerical models.     

振动流化床临界流化速度理论预测与实验研究

根据振动流化床床层动力学特性,提出了第一、第二流化段,第一、第二临界流化速度的概念.从流化床临界流化速度的定义出发,得出了振动流化床第一临界流化速度数学模型.在二维振动流化床内,以不同粒径的玻璃珠为床料进行实验研究,分析了振动和其它操作条件对临界流化速度的影响,通过实验数据关联得到了振动能量传递系数的数学表达式,并将模型预测与实验结果进行了对比.结果表明振动强度增加,第一、第二临界速度均减小,振动对第一临界流化速度影响更显著,当振动强度超过1.57后,不通气体床层也能流化,第一临界流化速度降为零,模型预测与实验结果有较好的一致性.     

粘附性颗粒流化床内构件的选型

研究了多孔板式内构件和桨叶式内构件对粘附性颗粒流态化的影响. 实验表明,多孔板式内构件对流化质量的改善不好,桨叶式内构件的效果良好但仍然存在缺陷. 通过结合二者优点开发的孔桨式内构件克服了桨叶式内构件的缺点,显著地改善了粘附性颗粒的流化质量.     

Effective particle diameters for simulating fluidization of non‐spherical particles: CFD‐DEM models vs. MRI measurements

Computational fluid dynamics—discrete element method (CFD‐DEM) simulations were conducted and compared with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements (Boyce, Rice, and Ozel et al., Phys Rev Fluids. 2016;1(7):074201) of gas and particle motion in a three‐dimensional cylindrical bubbling fluidized bed. Experimental particles had a kidney‐bean‐like shape, while particles were simulated as being spherical; to account for non‐sphericity, “effective” diameters were introduced to calculate drag and void fraction, such that the void fraction at minimum fluidization (ε_mf) and the minimum fluidization velocity (U_mf) in the simulations matched experimental values. With the use of effective diameters, similar bubbling patterns were seen in experiments and simulations, and the simulation predictions matched measurements of average gas and particle velocity in bubbling and emulsion regions low in the bed. Simulations which did not employ effective diameters were found to produce vastly different bubbling patterns when different drag laws were used. Both MRI results and CFD‐DEM simulations agreed with classic analytical theory for gas flow and bubble motion in bubbling fluidized beds. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 2555–2568, 2017     

带纵向涡发生器喷动床内颗粒流动特性PIV实验

针对喷动床内环隙区颗粒缺少横/径向运动的特点,通过实验将纵向涡流发生器及纵向涡流效应引入喷动床。采用粒子图像测速技术研究了在内径为152 mm的喷动床内纵向涡流及颗粒设计参数对喷动床内喷射区及环隙区颗粒相径向速度的影响,研究结果表明,纵向涡发生器在扰流元件上方横截面内颗粒相运动出现大量二次涡流,相比较于无纵向涡流扰流件情况,喷动床内的颗粒径向速度得到了显著增加,表明纵向涡发生器能够增强颗粒相在喷射区及环隙区的径向运动能力。在喷动床稳定喷动范围内,颗粒直径及颗粒密度越小,纵向涡流对颗粒相径向运动的强化效果越佳。     

压力脉动法预测硅粉颗粒最小流化速度的实验

应用压力传感器研究了不同筛分粒径的硅粉的流化性质，证实流化床层的压力脉动标准方差σp随着表观气速的增加而线性增大, 根据σp=0的条件即可确定流化床的初始流化气速Umf. 此Umf与传统压降变化法得到的实验结果基本一致. 对测得的不同筛分粒级的硅粉的Umf进行拟合，得到了Umf与相应粒级平均粒径的关联式Umf=0.014e10(d–0.28)–0.012e–10(d–0.28)+0.065. 对双粒级复配混合颗粒体系的σp进行的实验研究发现，其σp介于相关单粒级体系的σp之间，并且粗颗粒组份的比例对σp的影响较大.     

内置水平管的振动流化床中混合物的临界流化速度

在内置水平管的矩形振动流化床内研究了玉米粒和塑料珠混合物(Geldart D颗粒)中的流体力学性质。考察了颗粒质量分数、振动频率、振幅和内置水平管对混合颗粒的临界流化速度的影响。实验表明,振动的加入降低了混合物的临界流化速度。根据振动流化床的动力学特性,分析床层中颗粒受力情况,建立了混合颗粒物在振动流化床中临界流化速度的两类数学模型。通过实验数据建立两种模型的关联式所得的计算值和实验值误差控制在10%以内,吻合较好。     

Investigating the dynamics of cylindrical particles in a rotating drum using multiple radioactive particle tracking

The behavior of granular flows inside rotating drums is an ongoing area of research. Only a few studies have investigated non‐spherical particles despite the fact that particle shape is known to have a significant impact on flow behavior. In addition, the experimental techniques limit the interpretation of the results of these studies. In this work, we compared the flow behavior of cylindrical and spherical particles using the multiple radioactive particle tracking technique to capture the positions and orientations of cylindrical particles simultaneously. We analyzed two important components of the transverse flow dynamics, that is, the boundary between the active and passive layers, and the velocity profile on the free surface. For the cylindrical particles, two general models are proposed to calculate the velocity profiles on the free surface and the effective particle sizes in the active and passive layers. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 2622–2634, 2016     

Hydrodynamic forces on monodisperse assemblies of axisymmetric elongated particles: Orientation and voidage effects

We investigate the average drag, lift, and torque on static assemblies of capsule-like particles of aspect ratio 4. The performed simulations are from Stokes flow to high Reynolds numbers (0.1 ≤ Re ≤ 1,000) at different solids volume fraction (0.1 ≤ ɛ_s ≤ 0.5). Individual particle forces as a function of the incident angle ϕ with respect to the average flow are scattered. However, the average particle force as a function of ϕ is found to be independent of mutual particle orientations for all but the highest volume fractions. On average, a sine-squared scaling of drag and sine-cosine scaling of lift holds for static multiparticle systems of elongated particles. For a packed bed, our findings can be utilized to compute the pressure drop with knowledge of the particle-orientation distribution, and the average particle drag at ϕ = 0° and 90°. We propose closures for average forces to be used in Euler–Lagrange simulations of particles of aspect ratio 4.     

磷矿颗粒流态化特性的实验研究

在高1 m、内径42mm的流化床中,对粒径54-600 μm、密度2 252-2 665 kg/m3的磷矿颗粒的流态化特性进行实验研究.实验结果表明:磷矿颗粒粒径和密度对磷矿颗粒流态化行为有较大影响,床层膨胀比随着磷矿颗粒粒径的增大而逐渐减小.当磷矿颗粒属于Geldart B类颗粒时,流化较好;而当颗粒平均粒径为82 ...