RECENT PROGRESS IN HYDRODYNAMICS OF INVERSE FLUIDIZED BED REACTORS: A REVIEW

Hydrodynamic characteristics of the inverse fluidized bed reactor such as phase holdup, pressure drop, minimum fluidization velocity, liquid circulation velocity, friction factor, bubble size and bubble rise velocity, and mass-transfer coefficient along with heat transfer studies, RTD studies, and the influence of these parameters on the extent of inverse fluidization are reviewed in this work. The importance of each of these is presented, and certain correlations developed on some hydrodynamic characteristics are provided. Our work has shown that the majority of investigations focused on phase holdup, pressure drop, and minimum fluidization velocity, and studies related to other characteristics such as friction factor, mass-transfer coefficient, and residence time distribution are generally scarce. This review also projects some of the areas on which future research work can concentrate.