Bed height and material density effects on fluidized bed hydrodynamics

Characterizing the hydrodynamics of a fluidized bed is of vital importance to understanding the behavior of this multiphase flow system. Minimum fluidization velocity and gas holdup are two of these key characteristics. Experimental studies addressing the effects of bed height and material density on the minimum fluidization velocity and gas holdup were carried out in this study using a 10.2 cm diameter cylindrical fluidized bed. Three different Geldart type-B particles were tested: glass beads, ground walnut shell, and ground corncob, with material densities of 2600, 1300, and 1000 kg/m³, respectively. The particle size range was selected to be the same for all three materials and corresponded to 500–600 μm. In this study, five different bed height-to-diameter ratios were investigated: H/D=0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, and 3. Minimum fluidization velocity was determined for each H/D ratio using pressure drop measurements. Local time-average gas holdup was determined using non-invasive X-ray computed tomography imaging. Results show that minimum fluidization velocity is not affected by the change in bed height. However, as the material density increased, the minimum fluidization velocity increased. Finally, local time-average gas holdup values revealed that bed hydrodynamics were similar for all bed heights, but differed when the material density was changed.     

Improving the interpretation of mercury porosimetry data using computerised X-ray tomography and mean-field DFT

Despite widespread use of the technique for a long time, the proper interpretation of mercury porosimetry data, particularly retraction curves, remains uncertain. In this work, the usefulness of two complementary techniques, mean-field density functional theory (MF-DFT) and micro-computerized X-ray tomography (micro-CXT), for aiding interpretation of ambiguous mercury porosimetry data has been explored. MF-DFT has been used to show that a specific, idiosyncratic form for the top of the mercury intrusion and extrusion curves is probably associated with a particular network structure where the smallest pores only form through connections between larger pores. CXT has been used to study the pore potential theory of hysteresis and entrapment directly using a model porous material with spatially varying pore wetting properties. CXT has also been used to directly study the percolation properties, and entrapment of mercury, within a macroporous pellet. Particular percolation pathways across the heart of the pellet have been directly mapped. The forms of entrapped mercury ganglia have been directly observed and related to retraction mechanisms. A combination of CXT and mercury porosimetry can be used to map spatial variation in pore neck sizes below the spatial resolution of imaging.     

Flow structure of gas-liquid two-phase flow in an annulus

The flow structure of gas-liquid two-phase flow in vertical annulus channel has been investigated. The inner and outer diameters of the annular channel were 19.1 and 38.1 mm, respectively. The total height of the test section was 4.37 m. Nineteen inlet flow conditions were selected, which cover bubbly, cap-slug, and churn-turbulent flows. The local flow parameters, such as void fraction, interfacial area concentration (IAC), and bubble interface velocity, were measured at nine radial positions within the gap of the annulus at z/D_h=230 of the test section. The flow regimes of the flow conditions, which were based on visual observations, were compared with several flow regime maps. In addition, the local measurements were used to calculate distribution parameter, C₀ in drift-flux model, and area-averaged IAC. A new correlation of C₀ was proposed based on the experimentally obtained C₀ values. This correlation was tested in the drift-flux model successfully along with Ishii's drift velocity correlations. The area-averaged IAC values were compared with the most widely used models. The advantages and drawbacks of these models were highlighted.     

带翼阀旋风分离器料腿内静压分布试验研究

在φ800mm×12000mm流化床试验装置上,用多点压力测量仪测量料腿内的静压分布。试验结果表明,二级料腿内气固两相流的流态一般由入口旋转段、稀相下落段和下部密相段3部分组成,料腿内的料封高度随料腿两端负压差的增大而升高,颗粒质量流率对轴向空隙率影响明显,翼阀浸没在密相床时颗粒流动稳定性和流动失流化的机会都增加。     

EFFECT OF PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION ON LOCAL VOIDAGE IN A BENCH-SCALE CONICAL FLUIDIZED BED DRYER

The effect of particle size distribution (PSD) on local voidage has been investigated in a conical fluidized bed containing dried placebo pharmaceutical granule. For each of the five PSDs examined, the static bed height was varied between 0.12 and 0.17 m and the superficial gas velocity was varied between 0.05 and 0.75 m/s. The local voidage was measured using a twin-plane electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) system. A wide PSD containing 12 wt% solids with a diameter of 2 mm or larger resulted in two different types of gas flow: an annular gas flow up to a gas velocity of 0.50 m/s and a centrally concentrated gas flow above 0.50 m/s. The mixtures containing less coarse material exhibited a centrally concentrated gas flow surrounded by a dense phase at the walls of the bed over the entire range of gas velocities and bed heights examined. Consideration of previous work by other researchers suggests that the behavior of the wide PSD mixture is due to segregation at the lower velocities. The local voidage was sensitive to small changes in static bed height. For the wide PSD mixture at a fixed gas velocity, the gas tended to spread more uniformly over the bed cross-section as static bed height increased. The opposite was true of the other mixtures, i.e., the gas flow became more centralized with increasing bed height.     

快速流化床截面平均空隙率轴向分布及其影响因素

根据在直径0.186m、高8m和直径0.14m、高12m两台快速流化床装置的实验结果，并综合文献研究报道，研究了操作气速、颗粒循环速率、颗粒物性、床层直径以及进口、出口结构等因素对床层截面平均空隙率轴向分布的影响。表明一般情况下，快速流化床截面平均空隙率轴向分布的基本形式是上部空隙率高、下部空隙率低的单调指数函数。在特定的床结构条件下，快速流化床截面平均空隙率轴向分布曲线可能发生变异，即在出口结构有强约束作用时，可能呈反C，在入口结构有弱约束作用时，可能呈S型。     

手性固定相色谱柱空隙率的测定研究

利用高效液相色谱法对硅胶表面涂敷多聚物手性色谱柱空隙率进行测定,并探讨了进样浓度和柱温对测定手性色谱柱死时间的影响.实验以V(正己烷)/V(乙醇)/V(三氟乙酸)=80∶20∶0.01作为流动相,在流速为1.00 mL/min,柱温为25℃,检测波长为254nm,进样量为20 μL的条件下,利用不同浓度1,3,5-三叔丁基苯(TTBB)对半制备型手性色谱柱(Chiralpak AD柱)和分析型(ChimlpakAD-H柱)的空隙率进行了测定,结果分别为0.660和0.683.     

Origins of tertiary creep in microalloyed 25Cr–35Ni centrifugally cast alloy tubes

Abstract

Constant stress tensile creep tests have been undertaken in air on as cast 25Cr35Ni austenitic steel at temperatures of 880, 900 and 950°C. The creep curves were found to consist of a relatively short primary stage, a minimum strain rate and an extended tertiary stage. There was no convincing evidence of a period of steady-state creep but the minimum creep rate was found to be highly dependent on applied stress through a power law with a stress exponent of ～10. The early occurrence of tertiary creep, after strains of only ～0·01, was shown not to be caused by a loss of section associated with necking, internal void development nor with the formation of surface cracks. It is concluded that the most likely cause of the early onset of tertiary creep in this alloy is the coarsening of strengthening precipitates.     

Studies of the entrapment of non-wetting fluid within nanoporous media using a synergistic combination of MRI and micro-computed X-ray tomography

Three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and micro-computed X-ray tomography (micro-CXT) have been combined to study the entrapment of mercury within nanoporous silica materials following porosimetry. MR images have been used to construct structural models of particular porous media within which several simulations of mercury intrusion and retraction have been performed with variations in the mechanism for the ‘snap-off’ of the mercury menisci. The simulations gave rise to different predictions for the pattern of the macroscopic spatial distribution of entrapped mercury, depending on ‘snap-off’ mechanism, which were then compared with corresponding experimental data obtained from micro-CXT images of real pellets containing entrapped mercury. The information obtained from the micro-CXT images, and also from the porosimetry curves themselves, was then used to constrain a model for the microscopic mercury retraction mechanism. Additional predictions of the retraction model were then subsequently confirmed using scanning loop experiments. The simulations showed that the overall level of entrapment of mercury was determined by the close interaction between the pellet macroscopic structure (particularly pore size spatial correlation), and the microscopic mercury retraction mechanism. Hence, it was subsequently possible to explain fully why high mercury entrapment occurred within one particular type of sol-gel silica material, while only low entrapment occurred in another batch of superficially similar material.     

Local porosity in conical spouted beds consisting of solids of varying density

Local bed voidage has been measured in conical spouted beds by means of an optical fibre, for different geometric factors of the contactor (angle and inlet diameter) and under different experimental conditions (height of the stagnant bed, particle diameter and air velocity). The study has been carried out with glass beads and materials of lower density (high- and low-density polyethylene, polypropylene and extruded and expanded polystyrene). From the results, a correlation has been proposed for calculation of the local bed voidage in the spout and annular zones. The effect of the experimental conditions on the bed voidage in the solid ascent (core) and descent (periphery) regions of the fountain has been studied and the fountain has been proven to be of greater importance in the design of conical spouted beds, as solid density and shape factor are lower.