Numerical investigation of gas-solid heat transfer in rotating fluidized beds in a static geometry

Gas-solid heat transfer in rotating fluidized beds in a static geometry is theoretically and numerically investigated. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of the particle bed temperature response to a step change in the fluidization gas temperature are presented to illustrate the gas-solid heat transfer characteristics. A comparison with conventional fluidized beds is made. Rotating fluidized beds in a static geometry can operate at centrifugal forces multiple times gravity, allowing increased gas-solid slip velocities and resulting gas-solid heat transfer coefficients. The high ratio of the cylindrically shaped particle bed “width” to “height” allows a further increase of the specific fluidization gas flow rates. The higher specific fluidization gas flow rates and increased gas-solid slip velocities drastically increase the rate of gas-solid heat transfer in rotating fluidized beds in a static geometry. Furthermore, both the centrifugal force and the counteracting radial gas-solid drag force being influenced by the fluidization gas flow rate in a similar way, rotating fluidized beds in a static geometry offer extreme flexibility with respect to the fluidization gas flow rate and the related cooling or heating. Finally, the uniformity of the particle bed temperature is improved by the tangential fluidization and resulting rotational motion of the particle bed.     

Experimental investigation of a rotating fluidized bed in a static geometry

Rotating fluidized beds in a static geometry are based on the new concept of injecting the fluidization gas tangentially in the fluidization chamber, via multiple gas inlet slots in its cylindrical outer wall. The tangential injection of the fluidization gas fluidizes the particles tangentially and induces a rotating motion, generating a centrifugal field. Radial fluidization of the particle bed is created by introducing a radially inwards motion of the fluidization gas, towards a centrally positioned chimney. Correctly balancing the centrifugal force and the radial gas-solid drag force requires an optimization of the fluidization chamber design for each given type of particles. Solids feeding and removal can be continuous, via one of the end plates of the fluidization chamber.The fluidization behavior of both large diameter, low density polymer particles and small diameter, higher density salt particles is investigated at different solids loadings in a 24 cm diameter, 13.5 cm long non-optimized fluidization chamber. Scale-up to a 36 cm diameter fluidization chamber is illustrated.Provided that the solids loading is sufficiently high, a stable rotating fluidized bed in a static geometry is obtained. This requires to minimize the solids losses via the chimney. With the polymer particles, a dense and uniform bed is observed, whereas with the salt particles a less dense and less uniform bubbling bed is observed. Solids losses via the chimney are much more pronounced with the salt than with the polymer particles.Slugging and channeling occur at too low solids loadings. The hydrostatic gas phase pressure profiles along the outer cylindrical wall of the fluidization chamber are a good indicator of the particle bed uniformity and of channeling and slugging. The fluidization gas flow rate has only a minor effect on the occurrence of channeling and slugging, the solids loading in the fluidization chamber being the determining factor for obtaining a stable and uniform rotating fluidized bed in a static geometry.     

柱形流化床传热特性的数值模拟

对Shedid等搭建的圆柱体流化床采用欧拉?欧拉法进行三维数值模拟,考察了颗粒球形度、表观进气速度和床料初始堆积高度对流化床内垂直加热壁面与流动床料之间对流传热特性的影响,采用有效导热系数分别计算气相和固相的对流传热系数。结果表明,随表观进气速度增大,流化床内颗粒物料湍流运动加剧,加热壁面平均温度和流体平均温度下降,壁面流体间传热平均温度差减小,壁面流体间对流传热系数增大;随初始床料高度增加,流化床内颗粒与加热壁面的接触面积增大,导致固相平均对流传热系数增大。     

CENTRIFUGAL FLUIDIZATION: EFFECTS OF PARTICLE DENSITY AND SIZE DISTRIBUTION

Based on the model of the centrifugal fluidized bed as a homogeneous viscous rotating fluid, the equation for conservation of momentum in the tangential direction is solved to obtain expressions for bed pressure drop and the radial variations of tangential velocity within the bed region. Comparisons with available data on bed pressure drop indicate that the fluidized bed rotates as a rigid body. Experimental data are also presented on minimum fluidization velocity and bed pressure drop with different particle densities and size distributions, verifying the validity of the available models for packed bed and fluidized bed pressure drop and minimum fluidization velocity in a centrifugal fluidized system.     

CENTRIFUGAL FLUIDIZATION: EFFECTS OF PARTICLE DENSITY AND SIZE DISTRIBUTION

Based on the model of the centrifugal fluidized bed as a homogeneous viscous rotating fluid, the equation for conservation of momentum in the tangential direction is solved to obtain expressions for bed pressure drop and the radial variations of tangential velocity within the bed region. Comparisons with available data on bed pressure drop indicate that the fluidized bed rotates as a rigid body. Experimental data are also presented on minimum fluidization velocity and bed pressure drop with different particle densities and size distributions, verifying the validity of the available models for packed bed and fluidized bed pressure drop and minimum fluidization velocity in a centrifugal fluidized system.     

不同圆球复合无序堆积床内流动传热数值分析

圆球堆积床内孔隙分布影响其内部流场及温度场分布, 且小管径-球径比堆积床由于壁面限制, 内部孔隙率变化剧烈, 其内部流动和传热不均匀现象明显。针对D/d_p为3的圆球无序堆积床构建了3种非等直径圆球复合堆积结构:径向分层复合堆积、轴向分层复合堆积以及随机复合堆积结构, 并采用DEM-CFD方法建模计算, 从径向及整体角度分析比较不同复合堆积床内流动换热特性及其流场和温度场分布的均匀性。结果表明:孔隙率及孔隙大小分布共同影响堆积床内流场和温度场分布;相对于单一等直径圆球堆积, 采用复合堆积结构能使堆积床内部孔隙率分布更均匀, 其内部流场和温度场分布也更为均匀;对于D/d_p为3的堆积通道, 径向分层堆积结构对于提高整体流动换热性能及改善内部流动换热均匀性都有显著效果。     

A consolidated flow regime map of upward gas fluidization

A new flow regime map, resulting from more fundamental studies on the hydrodynamics and new flow regimes, is proposed in response to more practical reclassifications of the existing regimes with the development of upward gas-solids fluidization systems. The previously reported flow regime maps and flow structures of some widely used fluidized beds are carefully examined. To better reflect the industrial applications, the fast fluidization regime is reclassified as high-density and low-density circulating fluidization regimes. A consolidated flow regime map is then proposed where the flow regimes of upward fluidization expand to include new types of fluidized beds such as circulating turbulent fluidized bed and high-density circulating fluidized bed. The proposed flow regime map consists of six flow regimes: bubbling, turbulent, circulating turbulent, high-density circulating and low-density circulating fluidization, and pneumatic transport. The transitions between the regimes are discussed with new correlations proposed for fluid catalytic cracking type particles. Analysis on the dominating phase in the different types of fluidized beds reveals the dynamic changeover from solids phase continuous in conventional low-velocity batch/“fixed” fluidization operations to gas phase continuous in high-velocity continuous/“moving” fluidization operations and provides more insights to the transitions between the flow regimes for industrial design and practice.     

High-temperature de fluidization

Operation of fluidized beds at high temperatures is limited by the tendency of the bed particles to agglomerate, causing defluidization. This operating limit is important in several processes, including coal conversion, iron ore reduction, and cement manufacture.At lower temperatures, the bed remains fluidized at velocities above the normal minimum fluidization velocity. Once the bed is operating above an ‘Initial Sintering Temperature’, the fluid velocity must be well above the normal minimum fluidization velocity in order to prevent defluidization. The defluidization velocity increases with increasing operating temperature. The ‘Initial Sintering Temperature’ can be estimated using a dilatometer to measure thermal expansion and contraction of a loosly packed sample of the bed particles.     

APPLICATIONS OF CROSSFLOW MAGNETICALLY STABILIZED FLUIDIZED BEDS

The utilization of fluidized beds to effect separations has been limited by the fluid bypassing and particle mixing which tends to decrease the efficiency of separation. Application of a magnetic field to a fluidized bed of magnetizable particles produces a quiescent state with several of the best properties of both fluidized and fixed beds. Similar to fluidized beds, the magnetized beds resemble a liquid and are easily transported between vessels. Their contacting properties, however, are close to those of packed beds with near plug flow of both the fluid and bed particles. These magnetized fluidized beds have advantages when operated in a crossflow configuration, with continuous participates movement transverse to the ascending flow of the fluidizing fluid. Applications of these crossflow beds include solids/solids separation, fluid filtering, and chromatographic separations.     

Heat transfer in aggregative and particulate liquid-fluidized beds

Wall-to-bed heat transfer in liquid fluidized beds, particulately and aggregatively fluidized, was studied. Glass particles fluidized with water gave particulate fluidization and lead particles with water gave aggregative fluidization. Local heat transfer coefficients and bed temperature profiles were measured. Heat transfer coefficients were found to be strongly dependent on particle size and porosity and increased with increasing particle size, but were independent of the height of the heater surface from the grid. Any variations in local bed properties, such as porosity do not affect wall-to-bed heat transfer. The heat transfer coefficients show a characteristic, maximum at porosities near 0.7 for both systems. Bed temperature profiles deviate considerably from open-pipe values.A two-resistance model for the heat transfer resistance agrees well with the data. Bed resistance is modeled by a radial eddy diffusivity, which indicates the mixing effectiveness in the core of the bed. Glass beds (particulate) show a maximum mixing effectiveness at porosities near 0.7 and the mixing effectiveness increases with particle diameter. Lead beds (aggregative) show two maxima in mixing effectiveness, the first between porosities of 0.5 and 0.6, and the second between porosities of 0.7 and 0.8. Mixing is greatest at an intermediate particle size in the case of lead beds. In both systems the fraction of the total resistance in the bed core increases as porosity decreases towards packed bed conditions.     

气-固微型流化床压降特性及最小流化速度的实验研究

在内径3～20 mm的4个气-固微型流化床中,分别考察了A类和B类两种类型颗粒的流化特性,同时研究了床几何结构、操作条件、物相性质等各因素对其最小流化速度的影响.结果 表明,气-固微型流化床中的床层压降特性与颗粒类型密切相关,不同的流动状态下两种类型颗粒的流动特性存在显著地差异.在固定床阶段,与B类颗粒相比,A类颗粒与...     

磁场生物流化床特性的研究

本文对含磁粉固定化细胞载体—聚丙烯酰胺凝胶粒子的液固、气液固流化床在均匀磁场中的流化特性进行了研究.测定了液固床的空隙率及气液固三相床的相含率,并获得了相应的关联式.本文同时研究了磁场流化床用于固定化细胞处理含酚废水,进行催化降解反应的应用效果.     

Experimental and computational study of the bed dynamics of semi‐cylindrical gas–solid fluidized bed

With computational fluid dynamics (CFD) it is possible to get a detailed view of the flow behaviour of the fluidized beds. A profound and fundamental understanding of bed dynamics such as bed pressure drop, bed expansion ratio, bed fluctuation ratio, and minimum fluidization velocity of homogeneous binary mixtures has been made in a semi‐cylindrical fluidized column for gas–solid systems, resulting in a predictive model for fluidized beds. In the present work attempt has been made to study the effect of different system parameters (viz., size and density of the bed materials and initial static bed height) on the bed dynamics. The correlations for the bed expansion and bed fluctuations have been developed on the basis of dimensional analysis using these system parameters. Computational study has also been carried out using a commercial CFD package Fluent (Fluent, Inc.). A multifluid Eulerian model incorporating the kinetic theory for solid particles was applied in order to simulate the gas–solid flow. CFD simulated bed pressure drop has been compared with the experimental bed pressure drops under different conditions for which the results show good agreements.     

Fluidization and slugging in large-particle systems

Square-nose slugging that occurs with large particles in relatively small-diameter fluidized beds shows certain similarities with the fluidization behaviour in a fluidized bed coal combustion system with closely packed heat-exchanger tubes. In the present investigation, square-nose slugging is studied in fluidized beds of 0.1 and 0.15 m I.D. with coarse sand and alumina particles, at ambient conditions. Recording of pressure fluctuations was used to analyse the fluidization behaviour. A remarkable change in the pressure fluctuation pattern occurs at the transition from normal fluidization to slugging: a more regular signal with a narrowed frequency spectrum is found.In the square-nose slugging regime, the pressure fluctuations seem to be caused by the disintegration of a rising solids slug, followed by the raining down of the particles. Experimental evidence for this mechanism was found in the behaviour of the magnitude of the pressure fluctuations as a function of operating variables.The frequency of square-nose slugging increases with approximately the square root of the bed diameter and appears to be independent of the type of particles used. The slug frequency decreases slightly with the gas velocity between about 0.8 and 1.8 m.s⁻¹, and is inversely proportional to the stationary bed height between 0.15 and 0.4 m.     

Drying of Sodium Acetate in a Pulsed Fluid Bed Dryer

Sodium acetate crystals obtained from the reaction of acetic acid with sodium hydroxide are usually dried in rotary or fluidized beds. In this study, a batch pulsed fluid bed dryer with a 0.18 m² cross‐sectional area was used in an attempt to reduce energy consumption and increase productivity. Drying curves of sodium acetate were determined for different conditions: inlet air temperature of 65 and 80 °C and pulsation frequency of 0 rpm (conventional fluidized bed), 500 and 900 rpm (pulsed fluid bed). A 2² factorial design was used to analyze the results. The intermittent flow helped to break agglomerates and provided better contact between particles and the gas. Drying rates were higher under pulsed fluidization when compared to conventional fluidization. Conventional fluidized bed drying consumed 2.5 times more energy at 80 °C. The influence of temperature on the drying rate was also evident.     

3D simulation of effect of geometry on minimum fluidization velocity and flow regimes in a spout-fluidized bed

Spout–fluid beds are used for a variety of processes involving particulate solids, like coating, drying, granulation and etc. The spout–fluidized bed combines a number of favorable properties of both spouted and fluidized beds. In this study, the Granular Eulerian model is used in 3-D hydrodynamic simulation of spout fluidized bed for calculation of minimum fluidization velocity. The results of simulation were compared with experimental data and good agreement was obtained. Then the effect of geometry on minimum fluidization velocity was studied. Also a review of flow regimes in different spout fluidized bed geometries was studied.     

Prediction of critical fluidization velocity and maximum bed pressure drop for binary mixture of regular particles in gas–solid tapered fluidized beds

The problems associated with conventional (cylindrical) fluidized beds, viz., fluidization of wider size range of particles, entrainment of particles and limitation of fluidization velocity could be overcome by using tapered fluidized beds. Limited work has been carried out to study the hydrodynamics of single materials with uniform size particles in tapered beds. In the present work, an attempt has been made to study the hydrodynamic characteristics of binary mixtures of homogeneous and heterogeneous regular particles (glass bead and sago) in tapered fluidized beds having different tapered angles. Correlations have been developed for critical fluidization velocity and maximum bed pressure drop for gas–solid tapered fluidized beds for binary mixtures of regular particles. Model predictions were compared with experimental data, which were in good agreement.     

液固和气液固微型流态化研究进展

在百年流态化的研究过程中,涉及到直径不同的流化床。但是,多以流化床的大型化为研究目标,对微型流化床及其本身特性的研究很少。作为专门处理固体颗粒的流态化单元过程,其装置的微型化将兼具微通道反应器和宏观流化床各自的优点,是流态化研究的重要方向。鉴于气固微型流化床已有全面的国内外进展综述,本文仅对液固和气液固微型流化床的国内外研究进展进行分析。结论性内容包括：液固微型流化床床径减小,壁面效应增强,最小流化液速实验值大于Ergun公式计算值;需对描述液固均匀膨胀流化规律的Richardson-Zaki方程加以修正。气液固微型流化床内存在4种典型流型：半流化、弹状流、分散鼓泡流和液体输送流;由于床径减小,出现半流化状态,依据压降表观液速关系曲线等无法确定最小流化液速;气液固微型流化床的反应性能得以有效提升;最后给出了进一步研究的方向,以期为后续研究提供参考。     

High velocity attrition nozzles in fluidized beds

Gas-solid fluidized beds are used in many industrial applications such as polyethylene production, drying, coating, granulation, fluid catalytic cracking and fluid coking. For some industrial applications, controlling the size distribution of the particles in a fluid bed is extremely important in order to avoid poor fluidization. One method to control the size of the particles in the bed is to use attrition nozzles, which inject high velocity gas jets into the bed creating high shear regions and grinding particles together. The objective of this study was to test different high velocity attrition nozzles and operating conditions in order to determine the effects of fluidization velocity, nozzle size, nozzle geometry, bed material and attrition gas properties on the grinding efficiency. Samples of solids were taken from the bed and analyzed before and after each injection and a grinding efficiency was defined as the new surface area created per mass of attrition gas used. An empirical correlation was also developed to estimate the grinding efficiency, and its predictions were validated using the experimental data. Large diameter nozzles with a Laval nozzle geometry, operating at high upstream pressures and high fluidization velocities, resulted in the highest grinding efficiencies. Gas properties, such as speed of sound and density, had a significant impact on the grinding efficiency.     

A Tribute to the Late Professor Giulio Massarani 1937–2004

Spouted bed equipment has the potential of producing high-quality particulate materials with reduced energy consumption and environment impact. Particle-to-gas mass transfer was investigated in a spouted bed with a novel design of two rotating drums placed symmetrically in the apparatus to create air inlet openings of adjustable width, so that fluidization can be adapted to the requirements of each product and process. The mass transfer coefficients between particle surface and gas were derived from first-period drying experiments with porous, nonhygroscopic material by assuming perfect back-mixing or, alternatively, ideal plug flow of the gas. Respective Sherwood numbers were empirically correlated and found to be superior to the Sherwood numbers of conventional fluidized beds or conventional spouted beds.