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.     

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.     

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 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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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 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.     

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.     

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。     

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 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 %.     

Permanent jet formation in beds of particulate solids

The simple criterion proposed by Chandnani and Epstein (1984, 1986) for stable spouting, d_or/d_p ≤ 25.4, is shown to give a good separation between gas-solid systems which form permanent jets and those that bubble, for a wide range of experimental data reported in the literature. The criterion is suggested as a necessary but not sufficient condition for permanent jet formation in fluidized, spout-fluid and spouted beds.     

Minimum fluidization velocity at elevated temperature in tapered fluidized bed

Very little data of minimum fluidization velocity at elevated temperatures of tapered bed are available in the literature. This study was undertaken to provide some data under elevated temperature conditions in tapered bed. Data on minimum fluidization velocity have been obtained experimentally for temperature up to 800 °C in case of 0.5 mm diameter of sand particles and up to 500 °C in case of 1 mm diameter of glass beads in tapered bed. An equation valid for the bed has been developed in terms of Archimedes number and Reynolds number. The experimental values for minimum fluidization velocity at elevated temperatures have been compared with the calculated values obtained from present equation and from earlier equations developed by other authors for ambient conditions in conventional (cylindrical) bed and tapered bed. Fairly good agreement was found to exist between the calculated (from present equation) and the experimental values.     

High voidage fluidization — the prediction of particle and fluid velocities

A fluidized system in which there is a combination of small particle size, low density difference between solids and fluid, and high fluid viscosity is characterized by high voidage and a low value of interparticle fluid velocity. In a ‘flow-through’ reactor in which these conditions prevail it is possible to define the net upward velocities of the solids and fluid in a way which takes account of the size distribution of the solids, so that there is a unique upward velocity for each particle size. From this, the equilibrium particle size distribution in the reactor can be predicted.