Structure of effective catalyst layers around bubbles in a fluidized catalyst bed

In a fluidized catalyst bed, the reactant gas transfers from the bubble phase to the emulsion phase and reactions proceed in the emulsion phase. The catalyst particles around the bubbles should contact the gases containing a high concentration of the reactants. Therefore, the effect of the catalysts around the bubbles is very important for estimating the conversion and selectivity in the reactor. In order to study the role of these catalysts, the hydrogenation of carbon dioxide was carried out in a fluidized catalyst bed. Based on the results, the amount of the catalyst that was effective for the reaction was calculated. In addition, the shape of the bubbles ascending in the fluidized catalyst bed was observed using a fast X-ray computer tomography (CT) scanner. The structure of the bubbles in the fluidized catalyst bed was very complicated and the surface area of the bubbles was much greater than the obtained when assuming spherical shaped bubble. By assuming that effective catalysts existed around the bubbles, the thickness of catalyst layer was obtained. Finally, the 3-dimensional images of the catalyst layers around the bubbles were reconstructed.     

高密度浓相流化床中气泡的兼并与分裂特性

利用先进的高速动态分析系统对二维床中气泡的行为进行了研究,通过对所拍摄图象的分析处理．得到了不同介质流化床内形成的气泡形状、大小、聚并及分裂的基本规律和特点．实验研究表明．气泡的兼并主要是两气泡问的合并、被合并气泡总是从气泡的尾涡区曳入气泡;气泡分裂主要发生在操作气速较大或大气泡中,是由于其顶部粒子流(或“剪切流”)的侵入造成的;操作气速较低,粒度、密度较大粒子形成的流化床更易于造成气泡的湮灭。     

Novel phenomenological discrete bubble model of freely bubbling dense gas–solid fluidized beds: Application to two‐dimensional beds

A phenomenological discrete bubble model has been developed for freely bubbling dense gas–solid fluidized beds and validated for a pseudo‐two‐dimensional fluidized bed. In this model, bubbles are treated as distinct elements and their trajectories are tracked by integrating Newton's equation of motion. The effect of bubble–bubble interactions was taken into account via a modification of the bubble velocity. The emulsion phase velocity was obtained as a superposition of the motion induced by individual bubbles, taking into account bubble–bubble interaction. This novel model predicts the bubble size evolution and the pattern of emulsion phase circulation satisfactorily. Moreover, the effects of the superficial gas velocity, bubble–bubble interactions, initial bubble diameter, and the bed aspect ratio have been carefully investigated. The simulation results indicate that bubble–bubble interactions have profound influence on both the bubble and emulsion phase characteristics. Furthermore, this novel model may become a valuable tool in the design and optimization of fluidized‐bed reactors. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2012     

双组分颗粒鼓泡流化床内气泡形状参数

在二维双组分鼓泡床实验装置上,采用高速摄像技术,对床内气泡的形状特性进行了研究,考察了不同形状气泡在床内的轴径向分布,探索了颗粒组成和操作气速对气泡形状的影响。结果表明:不同形状的气泡在鼓泡床内呈正态分布,球形度较好的气泡主要分布于床层底部和壁面附近,而细长的气泡则主要集中于床层中心区域。随着气体速率的增加,气泡的球形度和宽纵比降低,气泡形状趋于细长和不规则;随着重组分增加,气泡的球形度增大而宽纵比减小。双组分颗粒鼓泡流化床内气泡球形度的概率密度较单组分的分布更宽,而宽纵比的概率密度分布与添加的颗粒密度有关。     

CALIBRATION OF THE METHOD TO MEASURE BUBBLE PROPERTIES IN 2D FLUIDIZED BEDS

The purpose of the present work is to demonstrate the reliability of a digital image processing technique. A CCD (Charge Coupled Device) is used to perform an investigation on the bubble properties of a 2D gas-solid fluidized bed, and the aim of this study is to establish a criterion in order to reject all images that could not be interpreted as bubbles. This may lead to an alteration of the information obtained. The two-dimensional fluidized bed is 20 cm wide and at least 20 cm high, and the field of view of the camera is 12.54 cm wide and 12.99 cm high. In this way, bubbles could be totally or partially placed into this field of view so that a partial image of a bubble could be analyzed as a whole bubble. With this calibration, a geometric decision criterion for the rejection of nonbubble images was developed.     

基于图像处理的气固流化床中气泡行为的分析

以数字图像处理为基础,实现对流化床中气泡的成长、聚合和分裂行为的分析.利用高速摄像机拍摄气固两相流的气泡运动图像,从中选取气泡上升、聚舍和分裂三种典型图像序列.经过图像处理后,分别对其进行气泡识别和参数的获取.然后根据获取的数据,首先分析了气泡上升过程中面积、形心、等效直径等参数的变化趋势和变化规律,接着对聚合中的聚合...     

Modelling and simulation of an oxychlorination reactor in a fluidized bed

Taking 1,2‐dichloroethane from the oxychlorination reaction is a commercially very important process due to the large application of the 1,2‐dichloroethane in the chemical industry of PVC production. This work presents the modeling and simulation of an oxychlorination reactor with a fluidized bed. The pseudo‐homogeneous model with one‐dimensional flow in steady state was applied based on the theory of fluidized bed in two phases. It allows the sensitivity analysis of the operational and project parameters of the reactor. The ordinary differential equations system that represents the mathematical model of the reactor was solved through the application of the numerical method of Newton–Raphson's. The results obtained have proved that the developed model represents the system suitably, in spite of the one‐dimensional model. The effect of different parameters was investigated through the sensitivity analysis, and the results show that the parameters that have the largest influence on the reactor performances are: fluidized bed height, bubble diameter, residence time, cupric chloride weight in the catalyst, and emulsion phase temperature.     

EXPERIMENTAL OBSERVATIONS OF FLUIDIZED BEDS AT ELEVATED PRESSURES

The object of the work described here was to elucidate the effects of operation under pressure on the physical behaviour of gas fluidized beds. Extensive measurements of various bubble properties such as size, shape and rise velocity in beds of coarse powders (mean particle diameters of 184 μm and 450μm) operated at pressures of up to 81 bar were made by photographing the images created by irradiation of the bed with X-rays, and analysing the bubble silhouettes thereby obtained. Most of the results presented here are averages of some 200 individual measurements.

Experimental evidence to support the following picture of the effect of pressurization on the behaviour of freely bubbling gas fluidized beds is presented. Both bubble interaction (tendency to coalesce) and the incidence of bubble splitting increase with increasing pressure; the two are intimately connected. The nett results are a decrease in bubble size with increasing pressure over most of the pressure range and an increase in the tendency for bubbles to distribute non-uniformly in a radial direction. This latter tendency probably causes gross solids circulation in the bed, and this in turn leads to higher bubble rise velocities than those observed for single bubbles under similar conditions. The splitting mechanism accounting for the decrease in bubble size was found to be intrusion of the wake into the bubble void by the flow of gas through the wake region of a leading bubble during pair coalescence.

An updated review of other published work relating to the subject of experimental observations of the effects of pressure on gas fluidized beds is included in the form of a table.     

Bubble behavior in corrugated‐wall bubbling fluidized beds—Experiments and CFD simulations

A new concept to harness bubble dynamics in bubbling fluidization of Geldart D particles was proposed. Various geometrical declinations of a cold‐prototype corrugated‐wall bubbling fluidized bed were compared at different flow rates (U_g) to conventional flat‐wall fluidized bed using high‐speed digital image analysis. Hydrodynamic studies were carried out to appraise the effect of triangular‐shaped wall corrugation on incipient fluidization, bubble coalescence (size and frequency), bubble rise velocity, and pressure drop. Bubble size and rise velocity in corrugated‐wall beds were appreciably lower, at given U_g/U_mb, than in flat‐wall beds with equal flow cross‐sectional areas and initial bed heights. The decrease (increase) in size (frequency) of bubbles during their rise was sustained by their periodic breakups while protruding through the necks between corrugated plates. Euler‐Euler transient full three‐dimensional computational fluid dynamic simulations helped shape an understanding of the impact of corrugation geometry on lowering the minimum bubbling fluidization and improving gas distribution. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2012     

Evolution of the Population of Bubbles in 2D Fluidized Beds

The size of the bubbles in a solid‐gas 2D fluidized bed was estimated by image capture and digitalization using a CCD camera. It was confirmed that the size distribution for the bubbles in a slice of the bed was skewed, varying with the location of the slice. The results were analyzed using the Agarwal (1985) model, which is based on a population balance. For this model, four adjustable parameters are required, as well as the knowledge of bubble size just above the distributor. Experimental data were compared with values predicted by the model. The parameters that the model needs were obtained by three procedures: i) the constants supplied by Agarwal (1985) and Rowe and Everett (1972); ii) the parameters obtained from experimental data for a 1 cm wide slice bed; and iii) the parameters obtained by fitting the bubble diameter to all the bubbles in the bed. The second and third methods provided the best results.     

Bubbles in a fluidized bed: A fast X‐ray scanner

We present experiments on a bubble train in a 23‐cm‐diameter fluidized bed of a Geldart B powder. The bubbles are injected via a single capillary inserted in the bed. We use our double X‐ray tomographic scanner to measure the solids distribution in two parallel cross sections of the bed. We report data for four different heights of the measuring planes above the capillary outlet. The velocity of individual bubbles is found from the time of flight from the lower to the upper plane. We have done separate calibration experiments for the velocity. In this article, we present data for the size and velocity of individual bubbles. From the bubble velocity, we could obtain the vertical dimension of the bubbles. This makes it possible to measure the volume of each bubble. The results show that our scanner is capable of measuring properties of bubbles with a size of 2.5 cm and above. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2011     

气-固流化床的气泡参数测定——直射式光纤探头在流化床研究中的应用

在鼓泡域中,从直射式光纤探头在二维床的测试与图像分析的结果得到气泡的平均直径与平均刺穿长度的关系为:d_b=1.6E[l]气泡的球形度为0.96。通过反射式和直射式光纤探头信号的比较表明,直射式探头的信号便于处理,并可用来测定气泡内的粒子含量。直射式光纤探头在二维床和三维床的测定结果对比表明,两种塔内的气泡行为规律一致但有明显的差异。     

Numerical and experimental study on spout elevation in spout‐fluidized beds

The effect of elevating the spout on the dynamics of a spout‐fluidized bed, both numerically and experimentally is studied. The experiments were conducted in a pseudo‐two‐dimensional (2‐D) and a cylindrical three dimensional (3‐D) spout‐fluidized bed, where positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) and particle image velocimetry (PIV) were applied to the pseudo‐2‐D bed, and PEPT and electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) to the cylindrical 3‐D bed. A discrete particle model (DPM) was used to perform full 3‐D simulations of the bed dynamics. Several cases were studied, that is, beds with spout heights of 0, 2, and 4 cm. In the pseudo‐2‐D bed, the spout‐fluidization and jet‐in‐fluidized‐bed regime, were considered first, and it was shown that in the spout–fluidization regime, the expected dead zones appear in the annulus near the bottom of the bed as the spout is elevated. However, in the jet‐in‐fluidized‐bed regime, the circulation pattern of the particles is affected, without the development of stagnant zones. The jet‐in‐fluidized‐bed regime was further investigated, and additionally the experimental results obtained with PIV and PEPT were compared with the DPM simulation results. The experimental results obtained with PIV and PEPT agreed mutually very well, and in addition agreed well wtih the DPM results, although the velocities in the annulus region were slightly over predicted. The latter is probably due to the particle‐wall effects that are more dominant in pseudo‐2‐D systems compared with 3‐D systems. In the jet‐in‐fluidized‐bed regime, the background gas velocity is relatively high, producing bubbles in the annulus that interact with the spout channel. In the case of a non elevated spout, this interaction occurs near the bottom of the bed. As the spout is elevated, this interaction is shifted upwards in the bed, which allows the bubbles to remain undisturbed providing the motion of the particles in the annulus near the bottom of the bed. As a result, no dead zones are created and additionally, circulation patterns are vertically stretched. These findings were also obtained for the cylindrical 3‐D bed; although, the effects were less pronounced. In the cylindrical 3‐D bed the PEPT results show that the effect on the bed dynamics starts at h_spout =1 4 cm, which is confirmed by the ECT results. Additionally, ECT measurements were conducted for h_spout =1 6 cm to verify if indeed the effect happens at larger spout heights. The root mean square of the particle volume fraction slightly increased at h_spout =1 2 cm, whereas a larger increase is found at h_spout = 4 and 6 cm, showing that indeed more bubbles are formed. The presented results have not been reported so far and form valuable input information for improving industrial granulators. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 58: 2524–2535, 2012     

The motion mechanism and characteristic of bubble in a pseudo-2D tapered fluidized bed

The different carbon nanotube (CNT) particles (^@A and ^@V) were bed materials in the pseudo-2D tapered fluidized bed (TFB) with/without a distributor. A detailed investigation of the motion mechanism of bubbles was carried out. The high-speed photography and image analysis techniques were used to study bubble characteristic and mixing behavior in the tapered angle of TFB without a distributor. The fractal analysis method was used to analyze the degree of particles movement. Results showed that an S-shaped motion trajectory of bubbles was captured in the bed of ^@V particles. The population of observational bubbles in the bed of ^@V particles was more than that of ^@A particles, and the bubble size was smaller in the bed of ^@V particles than that of ^@A particles. The motion mechanism of bubbles had been shown to be related to bed materials and initial bed height in terms of analysis and comparison of bubble diameter, bubble aspect ratio and bubble shape factor. Importantly, compared to the TFB with a distributor, the TFB without a distributor had been proved to be beneficial to the CNT fluidization according to the study of bubble characteristic and the degree of the particle movement. Additionally, it was found that the mixing behavior of ^@V particles was better than ^@A particles in the tapered angle of TFB without a distributor.     

Comparison of decoupling methods for analyzing pressure fluctuations in gas‐fluidized beds

Two methods of decoupling pressure fluctuations in fluidized beds by using the incoherent part (IOP) of absolute pressure (AP) and differential pressure (DP) fluctuations are evaluated in this study. Analysis is conducted first to demonstrate their similarities, differences, and drawbacks. Then, amplitudes, power spectral densities, mean frequencies, coherence functions, and filtering indices of the IOP of AP and DP fluctuations are calculated and compared based on experimental data from a two‐dimensional fluidized column of FCC particles. Derived bubble sizes are also compared with the sizes of bubbles viewed in the two‐dimensional bed. The results demonstrate the similarity of these two methods in filtering out global compression wave components from absolute pressure fluctuations, especially those generated from oscillations of fluidized particles and gas flow rate fluctuations. However, both methods are imperfect. Neither can filter out all the compression wave components and retain all the useful bubble‐related wave components. Their amplitudes can be used to characterize global bubble property and quality of gas–solids contacting in bed, but they do not give accurate measurement of bubble sizes. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2010     

Gas transfer from bubbles in a fluidized bed to the dense phase — II. Experiments

An experimental check was made upon the theory given in Part I. Cracking catalyst was used as a solid and differently adsorbed tracer gases were used. In a two-dimensional fluidized bed bubbles were formed underneath a gauze cap, while solid flowed along the bubble at the corresponding bubble velocity. Tracer injections provided the value for the transfer coefficient. In three-dimensional beds of 18 and 90 cm dia. large traced gas bubbles were injected. Tracer concentration was detected at certain heights. From the decrease the transfer coefficient was calculated. In the 90 cm bed the transfer coefficient was also calculated from residence time distribution measurements when the dense phase was perfectly mixed.It shows, that the two-dimensional bubble confirms the theory. For three-dimensional bubbles the transfer is higher than theoretically predicted, especially when the dense phase is expanded.     

Effect of mixing state of binary particles on bubble behavior in 2D fluidized bed

In this study, a thin 2D fluidized bed was used to investigate the effect of mixing state of the binary particles on bubble behavior through the analysis of images captured by a high-speed digital camera. Experimental results show that the mixing index increases gradually with increasing gas velocity and the binary particles are in different mixing states though they are in the steady fluidization state. The maximal bubble number is near the interface of the bed when the binary particles are in the segregation state, whereas the maximal bubble number is at the bottom when the binary particles are in the well mixing state. The small bubbles are position at the bottom and are adjacent to the bed wall, while the large bubbles are mainly located in the central regions of the bed. The average bubble diameter shows the different variation trends with the different mixing states of the binary particles. The correlations estimating bubble diameter according to the mixing state of the binary particles are developed, and the computing value agrees well with the experimental data.     

Distribution of bubble properties in a gas-liquid-solid fluidized bed

The behavior of bubbles in a cocurrent gas-liquid-solid fluidized bed was investigated in a column of 76.2 mm ID in this study. The particles used were glass beads of 3 and 6 mm and a binary mixture of these particles. A novel dual electrical resistivity probe system was developed and utilized to obtain bubble properties including bubble size and rise velocity. The distributions of the bubble properties in the gas-liquid-solid fluidized bed were evaluated for three flow regimes: the dispersed bubble flow regime; the coalesced bubble flow regime; and the slug flow regime.     

Modelling Gas Holdup in Flotation Column Froths

A one‐dimensional steady‐state model is developed for the prediction of axial variation of the gas holdup in flotation column froths. Froth is considered as an inverse fluidized bed of bubbles and hence the frictional pressure gradient is obtained based on the energy balance. Pressure gradient can also be obtained from the Ergun equation with adjustable constants. The model correctly captures the effect of superficial gas velocity, superficial liquid velocity and bubble diameter on the variation of the gas holdup along the froth height. The predictions of the model are in agreement with the experimental data from the literature.     

The Effect of Bed Temperature on Mass Transfer between the Bubble and Emulsion Phases in a Fluidized Bed

The rate of interphase mass transfer between the bubble and emulsion phases of a bubbling fluidized bed is of primary importance in all models for fluidized bed reactors. Many experimental studies have been reported, however, all these investigations have been carried out in fluidized beds operated at room temperature. In this work, the effect of the bed temperature on the interphase mass transfer is reported. Single bubbles containing argon – used as a tracer – were injected into an incipiently fluidized bed maintained at the required temperature. The change in argon concentration in the bubble was measured using a suction probe connected to a mass spectrometer. The effects of bed particle type and size, bubble size, and bed temperature on the mass transfer coefficient were examined experimentally. The interphase mass transfer coefficient was found to decrease with the increase in bed temperature and bubble size, and increase slightly with increase in particle size. Experimental data obtained in this study were compared with some frequently used correlations for estimation of the mass transfer coefficient.