The effect of interparticle forces on fluidization regimes in the magnetized fluidized beds

This paper investigated the influence of interparticle forces on the quality of fluidization in a magnetically stabilized fluidized bed (MSFB), where we can “artificially” create interparticle forces (F_attr) of any magnitude by applying an external magnetic field to ferromagnetic particles. A theoretical model was proposed which predicts the transition point from a homogeneous to a heterogeneous fluidization as a function of the magnitude of the interparticle force and other physical characteristics of both particles and fluids that are usually observed in fluidizationρ _p, ρ_f,μ, d_p, ε). The concept of the elastic wave velocity, U_e, and the continuity wave velocity, U_ε, was introduced. In particular, the interparticle force manipulated by an externally applied magnetic field was taken into account in addition to a general consideration of a conventional fluidized bed. Bubbles form in a bed when the continuity wave velocity becomes faster than the elastic wave velocity. The simulation demonstrated the proposed model could predict the transition point of fluidization regime with reasonable accuracy.