Use of pulsations to enhance the distribution of liquid injected into fluidized particles with commercial‐scale nozzles

Gas‐atomized liquid injections into fluidized beds are commonly used in industrial processes such as fluid coking, fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), and pharmaceutical granulation, where it is important to optimize the distribution of the injected liquid to prevent the formation of unwanted liquid–solid agglomerates and maximize product yields. This injection is typically a two‐phase, gas‐atomized liquid injection. One issue with such a liquid injection is that most of the liquid is deposited at the end of the jet tip within the reactor. This study proposes introducing artificial fluctuations into the injection flow, which causes the jet penetration to vary, allowing for a more even spread of liquid throughout a fluidized bed reactor. The effect of artificial pulsations in the atomized injection, of various frequency and amplitude, was investigated in this study. Using pulsations, greatly enhanced the liquid distribution on the bed particles. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 719–728, 2013