Minimum fluidization velocities for gas–solid 2D beds

The purpose of this study is to present some new data to estimate minimum fluidization velocity (u_mf) in a two-dimensional bed. When investigating fluidodynamics with a fluidized bed, a fixed normalised parameter is needed. This parameter stands for the degree of mixing and its outcome between the phases. It is well known that the minimum fluidization velocity is normally used to represent the transition from fixed to fluidized bed conditions. Fluidization experiments with different height and weight bed and for different particle sizes were carried out in a two-dimensional fluidized bed. Minimum fluidization velocity was found to be a function of bed weight, particle diameter and column width.     

Minimum fluidization velocity in gas‐liquid‐solid minifluidized beds

The initial fluidization characteristics of gas‐liquid‐solid minifluidized beds (MFBs) were experimentally investigated based on the analyses of bed pressure drop and visual observations. The results show that U_Lmf in 3–5 mm MFBs can not be determined due to the extensive pressure drop fluctuations resulting from complex bubble behavior. For 8–10 mm MFBs, U_Lmf can be confirmed from both datum analyses of pressure drop and Hurst exponent at low superficial gas velocity. But at high superficial gas velocity, U_Lmf was not obtained because the turning point at which the flow regime changes from the packed bed to the fluidized bed disappeared, and the bed was in a half fluidization state. Complex bubble growth behavior resulting from the effect of properties of gas‐liquid mixture and bed walls plays an important role in the fluidization of solid particles and leads to the reduction of U_Lmf. An empirical correlation was suggested to predict U_Lmf in MFBs. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 1940–1957, 2016     

Velocities of entrainment in liquid fluidized beds of mixed solids

Experimental data are reported on velocities of entrainment in liquid fluidized beds. Single as well as multicomponent mixtures of solids varying in size and/or density have been investigated. By drawing an analogy with partially fluidized bed systems, phase equilibrium diagrams of binary and ternary mixtures have been constructed and presented. Correlations have been developed for the prediction of velocities related to the beginning of entrainment, minimum entrainment and complete entrainment.     

Velocities of entrainment in liquid fluidized beds of mixed solids

Experimental data are reported on velocities of entrainment in liquid fluidized beds. Single as well as multicomponent mixtures of solids varying in size and/or density have been investigated. By drawing an analogy with partially fluidized bed systems, phase equilibrium diagrams of binary and ternary mixtures have been constructed and presented. Correlations have been developed for the prediction of velocities related to the beginning of entrainment, minimum entrainment and complete entrainment.     

Minimum fluidization velocities for gas—liquid—solid three-phase systems

Cocurrent upward gas—liquid fluidization of coarse solids is actuated primarily by the motion of the liquid at relatively low gas velocities and by the momentum of the gas at zero or low liquid velocities. Our gas-perturbed liquid model, which has previously been shown to give good predictions of the minimum liquid fluidization velocity, U_lmf, at a fixed low gas velocity, is shown here also to give reasonable agreement with U_lmf measurements for inverse three-phase fluidization at a given upward gas velocity, using the coefficient in the gas hold-up equation of Yang et al. [X.L. Yang, G. Wild, J.P. Euzen, Int. Chem. Eng. 33 (1993) 72] as an adjustable parameter. It is further shown that a liquid-buoyed solids/liquid-perturbed gas model can predict with moderate success the minimum gas fluidization velocity, U_gmf, for three-phase cocurrent upward fluidization of coarse solids at zero or low liquid velocities.     

Critical fluidization velocities and maximum bed pressure drops of homogeneous binary mixture of irregular particles in gas-solid tapered fluidized beds

Recently, tapered fluidized bed has become more attractive because of the problems associated with conventional (cylindrical) beds like fluidization of widely distributed particles, entrainment of particles and limitation of fluidization velocity. There have been some investigations on hydrodynamics of uniform single size particles but there have been no detailed studies of homogeneous binary mixture of particles of different sizes and different particles in tapered beds. In the present work, an attempt has been made to study the hydrodynamic characteristics of homogeneous binary mixture of irregular particles in tapered beds having different tapered angles. Correlations have been developed for important characteristics, especially critical fluidization velocities and maximum bed pressure drops of homogeneous binary mixture of irregular particles in gas-solid tapered fluidized beds. Experimental values of critical fluidization velocities and maximum bed pressure drops have been compared with the developed correlations.     

Minimum fluidization velocity of binary mixtures

The fast defluidization method was used to measure the minimum fluidization velocities of binary systems. Based on the experimental data obtained from the published literature and from this work, different correlations used for predicting the minimum fluidization velocities of binary systems were evaluated and compared.     

Motion of solids in spouted beds

Solids movement in a spouted bed has been investigated by means of a radioactively marked particle technique, using a scintillation counter as a detector. The average particle velocity in the spout was found to depend on gas flow rate, gas inlet geometry, axial elevation, bed height, and column diameter. The solids circulation rate is shown to be proportional to the gas flow rate and, further, a function of column and gas inlet geometry, density of fluidising gas and particle diameter. Empirical correlations for both the particle velocity in the spout and the solids circulation rate as a function of axial elevation, are presented.     

Analyzing threshold velocities for fluidization and pneumatic conveying

In previous works we have shown that by defining various threshold velocities in terms of the modified Reynolds number as a function of the modified Archimedes number a generalized master-curve can be plotted. Then, using this curve, the ratio between various threshold velocities can be easily determined. However, all the threshold velocities were defined for mono-sized particles. The purpose of this paper is to show how the threshold velocities can be used to design of particle-fluid systems for particle size distribution. The analysis provides practical guides for various engineering scenarios, such as selecting the appropriate fluidization velocity for maximum fluidization and minimum entrainment and determining the conveying velocity in pneumatic systems. In addition, the analysis provides a guide to determine whether the deposited layer of particles at the pipe bottom is stationary or moving, for cases where the superficial velocity is smaller than the saltation velocity.     

超细颗粒聚团流化的临界流化速度

在内径50 mm的流化床实验台上,测量SiO₂、Al₂O₃和TiO₂ 3种超细颗粒原生粒径从30 nm增加到5 μm的临界流化速度（U_mf）,并以Geldart A类颗粒（粒径45 μm）为参照。结果表明：3种超细颗粒的U_mf随粒径的变化规律一致,随原生粒径从30 nm增加到5 μm,U_mf逐渐增大;当颗粒粒径增加到45 μm,U_mf大幅度减小,其与原生粒径为30和200 nm时接近。对于不同材料,U_mf由大至小的顺序依次为TiO₂、Al₂O₃、SiO₂。粉体安息角测量表明：对于同种材料颗粒,原生粒径对超细颗粒的U_mf和安息角的影响规律一致,即5 μm超细颗粒的安息角最大。聚团尺寸模型计算表明：稳定流化时,聚团尺寸随原生粒径的变化趋势以及随不同材料的变化趋势均与U_mf的变化趋势一致。研究结果为超细颗粒流化临界速度预测研究奠定了基础。     

Prediction of minimum bubbling velocity, fluidization index and range of particulate fluidization for gas-solid fluidization in cylindrical and non-cylindrical beds

A uniform fluidization exists between minimum fluidization velocity and minimum bubbling velocity. Experimental investigations have been carried out for determination of minimum bubbling velocity and fluidization index for non-spherical particles in cylindrical and non-cylindrical beds. In the present paper equations have been developed for the prediction of minimum bubbling velocity for gas-solid fluidization in cylindrical and non-cylindrical (viz. semi-cylindrical, hexagonal and square) beds for non-spherical particles fluidized by air at ambient conditions. A fairly good agreement has been obtained between calculated and experimental values. Based on the experimental data it is concluded that under similar operating conditions minimum bubbling velocity and the fluidization index are maximum in case of either semi-cylindrical conduit or hexagonal conduit for most of the operating conditions and minimum in case of square one. It is further observed that the range of uniform (particulate) fluidization is maximum in case of semi-cylindrical bed for identical operating conditions.     

Hydrodynamics of gas–solid fluidization in tapered beds

Gas–solid fluidization has a wide range of industrial applications like catalytic reactions, combustion, gasification, etc. In a number of these applications, there is particle size reduction during the operation leading to severe entrainment and limitation of operating velocity. The various problems associated with particles of different sizes or changing particles sizes could be overcome by adopting tapered beds in fluidization operation. In the present investigation, the fluidization phenomenon in tapered beds has been critically assessed through experimental investigations using particles of different sizes and materials and wide range of apex angles of the vessels. The effect of particle size and apex angle on the fluidization behaviour is clearly brought out which has not been reported so far in literature. The importance of compressive force existing in tapered beds is highlighted. In addition, correlations for all hydrodynamic characteristics, viz. critical fluidization velocity, minimum velocity for full fluidization, maximum velocity for defluidization, peak pressure drop, fluctuation ratio, compressive force, and hysteresis have been developed some of which are proposed for the first time.     

流化床中气固均匀分布的失稳现象

流化床因其均匀且剧烈的气固相互作用保证了其优异的流动和传递性能,因而广泛应用于化学工业中。因此,构建定量计算气固均匀分布的失稳临界点既是重要的学术问题又具有工程意义。本文分别使用气相和固体颗粒相的质量分数表示气固分布状态;引入颗粒床层压力载荷（Φ _T）描述分布器输入的规则负熵和固体颗粒床层自身混沌熵产生之间相互作用;由于密相颗粒床层远离平衡态且具有强非线性耗散项,因此需基于普利高津最小超量熵增原理给出气固密相流在并联系统均布状态的失稳临界点（Φ _Tc）：分布器和固体颗粒床层总熵增在气固均布和气固非均布情况下相等;由于并联系统的对称性,可将N单元路径并联系统气固均布稳定性分析简化为判断单元路径压降二阶导数正负;在此基础上讨论了操作参数、固体颗粒性质和分布器结构参数对气固密相床层均布稳定性的影响。此外,通过气体示踪和压力脉动频谱分析在直径为300mm冷模实验验证了颗粒床层压力载荷（Φ _T）对密相气固均布稳定性的影响;同时应用该方法论计算了工业流化床反应器临界床层高度、临界表观气速以及分布器临界阻力系数,指导了操作工况的调整和分布器结构设计,对比分析了改造前后的反应情况。     

Transition to turbulent fluidization in a binary solids fluidized bed

This paper presents a study on the transition velocity from bubbling to turbulent fluidization in a binary solids fluidized bed. Experiments were carried out with two kinds of binary solids mixtures with FCC as fine particles and silica sands as coarse particles. The onset velocity to turbulent fluidization, U_c, determined by the measurement of pressure fluctuations, was found to increase with increasing the fraction of coarse/heavy solids. By introducing an equivalent particle diameter and an equivalent particle density, the results obtained in this study can properly be described by a general correlation of U_c proposed by Cai and co-workers (1989) for mono-density particles with relatively narrow size distribution.     

Minimum fluidization velocity at elevated temperatures and pressures

A procedure based on the Ergun equation to predict the minimum fluidization velocity at elevated temperatures and pressures and for different gaseous fluidizing agents has been discussed and shown to be applicable for practical purposes.     

Minimum spouting velocity of scaled-up beds

This note presents the results for minimum spouting velocity in beds up to 1.1 m diameter. New evidence is provided that for fixed aspect ratio the minimum spouting velocity first falls and then begins to rise as bed diameter is increased. A simple correction factor applied to the Mathur and Gishler minimum spouting velocity correlation is required for beds ≥ 0.4 m diameter.     

流化床内颗粒混合研究

分析了流化床内颗粒混合机理，综合了床内水平方向和垂直方向上颗粒混合，将床内颗粒混合过程分成两部分：一是向上运动的尾迹相和向下运动的乳化相之间的对流交换，二是乳化相内横向扩散。建立了二维的对流扩散模型，数值结果和实验数据吻合。     

Segregation in beds of large particles at high velocities

In some industrial fluidized bed processes, notably coal combustion, the bed contains a very wide size range (50 – 5000 μm) of equal density particles. In others the particles change their density as the reaction proceeds, giving a bed of particles having similar sizes but densities varying by a factor of up to 2.

Experiments have been done in a bed 0.29 m diam. at velocities up to 5 m/s, using coarse particles up to 6 mm. They show that segregation by density difference can be reduced to negligible proportions by using high velocities, but that segregation by size appears to be an intrinsic feature of coarse particle systems at all velocities when a very wide size range is present. A tentative form of equation is proposed for segregation by size; the equations of Rowe are useful predictors for segregation by density difference.     

Minimum spouting velocity in multiple spouted beds

Studies have been carried out in multiple spouted beds having 2, 3 and 4 spout cells; different fluid inlet orifices and different solids have been used with air and water as spouting fluids. The minimum spouting velocities are measured for different bed depths. The experimental data for particle Reynolds number at minimum spouting have been correlated and the square root mean deviation between the calculated and experimental values is found to be 8.75 %.