| Abstract: | The overall expansion of two dissimilar solid particle species with over a tenfold difference in their size and substantial density difference is investigated here for different compositions of the fluidized bed. Contrary to the widely held notion that the total bed height would be the sum of the heights of the two segregated mono‐component beds, the actual bed heights were, in fact, found to be lower. This volume contraction is found to strongly depend upon the mixing behavior prevailing in the binary‐solid fluidized bed. At the complete mixing of the two solid species, the bed‐contraction versus liquid velocity profile shows a global maximum. As a result, the overall bulk density profiles are similarly affected. Moreover, it is found here that correlations meant for predicting the porosity of the packing of binary particle mixtures can be satisfactorily extended to binary‐solid fluidized beds where solid species differ significantly in size. |
