Turbulence in the freeboard of a gas-fluidised bed: The significance of ghost bubbles

The turbulence in the upward gas flow above a gas-fluidised bed was measured by hot wire anemometry. In this region above the bed—defined as the free is the fluidising velocity. The irregularity of the motion is caused by bursting bubbles at the surface of the bed. It appears that the gas within a bu are termed “ghost bubbles”.Ghost bubble mechanics were studied by releasing single bubbles from: (i) stagnant liquid; and (ii) an incipiently fluidised bed. Tle velocity field wa The velocity of a ghost bubble diminishes as it rises, due to fluid entrainment caused by turbulent circulatory flow within the bubble.From the freeboard turbulence measurements for a continuously bubbling fluidised bed, it is clear that the turbulence is due to ghost bubbles, but the ghost bubble.