Effect of promoters on dynamics of gas-solid fluidized bed Statistical and ANN approaches

In this study, a bubbling fluidized bed column, 99 mm in inside diameter and 960 mm in height, was used to investigate the effect of rod and disc promoters on fluctuation and expansion ratios. Factorial design （statistical approach） and artificial neural network （ANN） models were developed to predict the fluctuation and expansion ratios in this gas-solid fluidized bed with varying gas flow rates, bed heights, particle sizes and densities. The fluctuation and expansion predicted using these statistical and ANN models, for beds with and without promoters, were found to agree well with corresponding experiments. The statistical model was found to be superior to the ANN model due to its ability to take into account both individual and interactive effects. The rod promoters were found to be more effective in reducing bed fluctuation, and in increasing bed expansion at high gas mass velocities.     

Removal of dust from flue gas in magnetically stabilized fluidized bed

A magnetically stabilized fluidized bed （MSFB,Ф 500mm×2100mm） was designed to study dust removal from flue gas. Based on the mechanism of dust removal in a fixed bed, the effects on collection efficiency of magnetic field intensity, ratio of flue gas velocity to minimum fluidization velocity, bed height, and particle average diameter, were investigated. Then feasible methods for MSFB to better remove dust were proposed. Over 95 % of dust removal with MSFB can be achieved, when stable fluidization is maintained and when magnetic particles are frequently renewed.     

PRESSURE FLUCTUATIONS IN GAS-SOLIDS FLUIDIZED BEDS

Pressure fluctuation data measured in a series of fluidized beds with diameters of 0.05, 0.1, 0.29, 0.60 and 1.56 m showed that the maximum amplitude or standard deviation increased with increasing the superficial gas velocity and static bed height for relatively shallow beds and became insensitive to the increase in static bed height in relatively deep beds. The amplitude appeared to be less dependent on the measurement location in the dense bed. Predictions based on bubble passage, bubble eruption at the upper bed surface and bed oscillation all failed to explain all observed trends and underestimated the amplitude of pressure fluctuations, suggesting that the global pressure fluctuations in gas-solids bubbling fluidized beds are the superposition of local pressure variations, bed oscillations and pressure waves generated from the bubble formation in the distributor region, bubble coalescence during their rise and bubble eruption at the upper bed surface.     

Segregation characteristics of irregular binaries in gas solid fluidized beds—An ANN-approach

Binary mixtures of irregular materials of different particle sizes and/or particle densities are fluidized in a 15-cm diameter column with a perforated plate distributor. An attempt has been made in this work to determine the segregation characteristics of jetsam particles for both the homogeneous and heterogeneous binary mixtures in terms of segregation distance by correlating it to the various system parameters, viz. initial static bed height, height of a layer of particles above the bottom grid, superficial gas velocity and average particle size and/or particle densities of the mixture through the dimensional analysis. Correlation on the basis of Artificial Neural Network approach has also been developed with the above system parameters thereby authenticating the development of correlation by the former approach. The calculated values of the segregation distance obtained for both the homogeneous and heterogeneous binary mixtures from both the types of ftuidized beds （i.e. under the static bed condition and the ftuidized bed condition） have also been compared with each other.     

Effect of static bed height in the upper fluidized bed on flow behavior in the lower riser section of a coupled reactor

To study olefin reduction by using an auxiliary reactor for FCC naphtha upgrading, a large-scale cold model of a riser-bed coupled to an upper fluidized bed was established. The effect of static bed height in the upper fluidized bed on narticle flow behavior in the lower riser was investigated experimentally. A restriction index of solids holdup was used to evaluate quantitatively the restrictive effect of the upper fluidized bed. Experimental results show that, under the restrictive effect of the upper fluidized bed, the riser could be divided into three regions in the longitudinal direction： accelerating, fully developed and restriction. The axial distribution of solids holdup in the riser is characterized by large solids holdup in the top and bottom sections and small solids holdup in the middle section. Overall solids holdup increased with increasing static bed height in the upper fluidized bed, while particle velocity decreased. Such restrictive effect of the upper fluidized bed could extend from the middle and top sections to the whole riser volume when riser outlet resistance is increased, which increases with increasing static bed height in the upper fluidized bed. The upper bed exerts the strongest restriction on the area close to the riser outlet.     

Flow structures inside a large-scale turbulent fluidized bed of FCC particles： Eulerian simulation with an EMMS-based sub-grid scale model

Turbulent fluidized bed reactors are widely used in industry. However, CFD simulations of the hydrody- namic characteristics of these reactors are relatively sparse, despite the urgent demand from industry. To address this problem, Eulerian simulations with an EMMS-based sub-grid scale model, accounting for the effect of sub-grid scale structures on the inter-phase friction, are performed to study the hydrodynamics inside a large-scale turbulent fluidized bed of FCC particles. It is shown that the simulated axial and radial solid concentration profiles, entrained solid fluxes and standard deviation of the solid concentration fluc- tuation agreed well with experimental data available in the literature. In-depth analysis of time-averaged particle velocity and solid concentration shows that a dense-suspension upflow regime coexists with fast fluidization regime in this bed, which is reminiscent of the hydrodynamic characteristics in high-density circulating fluidized bed （CFB） risers, even though they are operated in different fluidization regimes. The Reynolds stresses in turbulent fluidized beds are anisotropic, but the degree of anisotropy is far less pro- nounced than the reported values in CFB risers. It was also found that the solid concentration fluctuation and axial particle velocity fluctuation are strongly correlated. 2009 Chinese Society of Particuology and Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.     

Charge transfer and bipolar charging of particles in a bubbling fluidized bed

Particle-particle and particle-wall collisions in gas-solid fluidized beds lead to charge accumulation on particles.This work evaluated the effect of fluidization time on charge transfer and bipolar charging(charge separation)and their influence on hydrodynamic structures in a fluidized bed.Experiments were performed with glass beads and polyethylene particles in a glass column.The pressure fluctuations and net electrostatic charge of particles were measured during fluidization.Wavelet and short-time Fourier transforms were used to analyze pressure fluctuations.The results revealed that bipolar charging is the dominant tribocharging mechanism in a bed of glass beads.Bipolar charging in a bed of particles with a narrow size distribution does not affect either hydrodynamic structures or the transition velocity to the turbulent regime.A large difference between the work functions of the wall and particle in the bed of polyethylene particles leads to high charge transfer.Formation of a stagnant particle layer on the wall eventually causes the energy of macro-structures to increase to its maximum.At longer fluidization times,the macro-structural energy decreases and bubbles shrink until the electrostatic charge reaches the equilibrium level.These results well describe the effect of fluidization time on hydrodynamic structures.     

A model for expansion ratio in liquid-solid fluidized beds

Liquid-solid fluidized beds are used in mineral processing industries to separate particles based on parti- cle size, density, and shape. Understanding the expanded fluidized bed is vital for accurately assessing its performance. Expansion characteristics of the fluidized bed were studied by performing several experi- ments with iron ore, chromite, quartz, and coal samples. Using water as liquid medium, experiments were conducted to study the effects of particle size, particle density, and superficial velocity on fluidized bed expansion. The experimental data were utilized to develop an empirical mathematical model based on dimensional analysis to estimate the expansion ratio of the fluidized bed in terms of particle character- istics, operating and design parameters. The predicted expansion ratio obtained from the mathematical model is in good agreement with the experimental data.     

Effect of magnetic field orientation on fluidized beds of magnetic particles： Theory and experiment

Geldart-A fluidized beds of fine particles experience a jamming transition between a fluid-like state and a solid-like state at a certain superficial gas velocity, that depends on the relative strength of interparticle attractive forces with respect to particle weight, lnterparticle forces provide the bed with a certain tensile strength in the jammed state. In the work presented here we analyze the behavior of a fluidized bed of magnetic particles subjected to an externally applied magnetic field, which contributes to enhance interparticle forces. The importance of the magnetic contribution to interparticle forces is measured by the changes in the tensile strength and the superficial gas velocity at the jamming transition. The link of the field orientation with the microstructure of the bed is discussed,     

Flow regimes in wet conical spouted beds using glass bead mixtures

Using a high-viscosity Newtonian fluid, glycerol, an experimental investigation was carried out to evaluate the stable spouting regime in conical spouted beds using four particle mixtures： a reference （monoparticles）, a binary mixture, two ternary mixtures with flat and Gaussian distributions respectively. The mixtures were selected for particle diameters （dp） ranging from 1.09 to 4.98 mm and particle diameter ratios （dpL/dps） ranging from 1.98 to 4.0. Experimental data show that pressure fluctuation signals of the bed, as indicated by changes in their standard deviations, provide suitable information to identify the range of operational conditions for stable spouting. However, the analysis of skewness of curves of pressure fluctuation as a function of air velocity appears not sufficient to identify a particular flow regime. For glycerol in the spouting regime, the standard deviation is noted to increase with increasing glycerol concentration due to the growth of interparticle forces. The implications of these research findings on the drying of suspensions in conical spouted beds using glass bead mixtures are also discussed.     

Statistical and frequency analysis of the pressure fluctuation in a fluidized bed of non-spherical particles

In this paper, the pressure fluctuation in a fluidized bed was measured and processed via standard devia- tion and power spectrum analysis to investigate the dynamic behavior of the transition from the bubbling to turbulent regime. Two types （Geldart B and D） of non-spherical particles, screened from real bed materials, and their mixture were used as the bed materials. The experiments were conducted in a semi- industrial testing apparatus. The experimental results indicated that the fluidization characteristics of the non-spherical Geldart D particles differed from that of the spherical particles at gas velocities beyond the transition velocity Uo The standard deviation of the pressure fluctuation measured in the bed increased with the gas velocity, while that measured in the plenum remained constant. Compared to the coarse particles, the fine particles exerted a stronger influence on the dynamic behavior of the fluidized bed and promoted the fluidization regime transition from bubbling toward turbulent. The power spectrum of the pressure fluctuation was calculated using the auto-regressive （AR） model; the hydrodynamics of the flu- idized bed were characterized by the major frequency of the power spectrum of the pressure fluctuation. By combining the standard deviation analysis, a new method was proposed to determine the transition velocity Uk via the analysis of the change in the major frequency. The first major frequency was observed to vary within the range of 1.5 to 3 Hz.     

EFFECTS OF GAS TYPE AND TEMPERATURE ON FINE PARTICLE FLUIDIZATION

The influence of gas type (helium and argon) and bed temperature (77-473 K) on the fluidization behaviour of Geldart groups C and A particles was investigated. For both types of particles tested, i.e., Al2O3 (4.8 μm) and glass beads (39 μm), the fluidization quality in different gases shows the following priority sequence: Ar＞He. In the same gaseous atmosphere, the particles when fluidized at an elevated temperature usually show larger bed voidages, higher bed pressure drops, and a lower umf for the group A powder, all indicating an enhancement in fluidization quality. Possible mechanisms governing the operations of gas type and temperature in influencing the fluidization behaviours of fine particles have been discussed with respect to the changes in both gas properties and interparticle forces (on the basis of the London-van der Waals theory). Gas viscosity (varying significantly with gas-type and temperature) proves to be the key parameter that influences the bed pressure drops and umf in fluidization of fine particles, while the interparticle forces (also varying with gas-type and temperature) may play an important role in fine-particle fluidization by affecting the expansion behaviour of the particle-bed.     

EFFECTS OF GAS TYPE AND TEMPERATURE ON FINE PARTICLE FLUIDIZATION

The influence of gas type （helium and argon） and bed temperature （77-473 K） on the fluidization behaviour of Geldart groups C and A particles was investigated. For both types of particles tested, i.e., Al2O3 （4.8μm） and glass beads （39 μm）, the fluidization quality in different gases shows the following priority sequence： Ar 〉 He. In the same gaseous atmosphere, the particles when fluidized at an elevated temperature usually show larger bed voidages, higher bed pressure drops, and a lower Umf for the group A powder, all indicating an enhancement in fluidization quality. Possible mechanisms governing the operations of gas type and temperature in influencing the fluidization behaviours of fine particles have been discussed with respect to the changes in both gas properties and interparticle forces （on the basis of the London-van der Waals theory）. Gas viscosity （varying significantly with gas-type and temperature） proves to be the key parameter that influences the bed pressure drops and Umf in fluidization of fine particles, while the interparticle forces （also varying with gas-type and temperature） may play an important role in fine-particle fluidization by affecting the expansion behaviour of the particle-bed.     

Behavior of mixed ZnO and SiO2 nano-particles in magnetic field assisted fluidization

The fluidization behavior of ZnO nano-particles in magnetic fluidized bed （MFB） by adding coarse magnetic particles was investigated, followed by the co-fluidization of mixtures of ZnO and SiO2 nano-particles. For such co-fluidization, bed expansion was found to change smoothly with gas velocity through a range of stable operation. By measuring the bed expansion ratio and pressure drop, a stability diagram for the mixture in MFB was obtained. Within this stable operation range, with increasing gas velocity the pressure drop hardly changes as the bed expands, up to an expansion ratio of more than 4.     

Segregation behavior of a ternary mixture of titanium dioxide particles in a pseudo two-dimensional fluidized bed

The segregation behavior of a mixture of silica-coated titanium dioxide(TiO2)particles of three different sizes in a pseudo two-dimensional fluidized bed was studied experimentally by the freeze-sieving method and numerically by the multi-fluid model(MFM).Three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics(CFD)simulations were carried out to evaluate the effects of the solid wall boundary conditions on particle segregation in terms of specularity and particle-wall restitution coefficients.The quantitative indexes of segregation tendency and segregation degree were used to determine the axial segregation of the mixture in triangular coordinates.The simulation results revealed that the axial segregation increased with the specularity coefficient,whereas the particle-wall restitution coefficient had a minor effect on axial segregation.Comparison of the simulation results with experimental data showed that the appropriate value of the specularity coefficient used in the CFD model depended on superficial gas velocity.The study of the effects of superficial gas velocity on segregation behavior demonstrated that the greatest segregation was obtained at minimum fluidization velocity and the segregation decreased as the gas velocity gradually increased.     

Two and three dimensional modeling of fluidized bed with multiple jets in a DEM-CFD framework

Fluidized beds with multiple jets have widespread industrial applications. The objective of this paper is to investigate the jet interactions and hydrodynamics of a fluidized bed with multiple jets. Discrete element modeling coupled with in-house CFD code GenlDLEST has been used to simulate a bed with nine jets. The results are compared with published experiments. Mono dispersed particles of size 550 ~m are used with 1.4 times the minimum fluidization velocity of the particles. Both two and three dimensional computations have been performed. To the best of our knowledge, the results presented in this paper are the first full 3D simulations of a fluidized bed performed with multiple jets. Discrepancies between the experiment and simulations are discussed in the context of the dimensionality of the simulations. The 2D solid fraction profile compares well with the experiment close to the distributor plate. At higher heights, the 2D simulation over-predicts the solid fraction profiles near the walls. The 3D simulation on the other hand is better able to capture the solid fraction profile higher up in the bed compared to that near the distributor plate. Similarly, the normalized particle velocities and the particle fluxes compare well with the experiment closer to the distributor plate for the 2D simulation and the freeboard for the 3D simulation, respectively. A lower expanded bed height is predicted in the 2D simulation compared to the 3D simulation and the experiment. The results obtained from DEM computations show that a 2D simulation can be used to capture essential jetting trends near the distributor plate regions, whereas a full scale 3D simulation is needed to capture the bubbles near the freeboard regions. These serve as validations for the experiment and help us understand the complex jet interaction and solid circulation patterns in a multiple jet fluidized bed system.     

Optimization of multi-stage velocity gradients in a cylindrical fluidized bed flocculator

Flocculation time is conventionally believed to be proportional to the flocculation efficiency of a cylindrical fluidized bed flocculator.However,in a single-stage velocity gradient situation,the flocculation efficiency decreases when the optimal flocculation time is exceeded.A multi-stage velocity gradient was established in a cylindrical fluidized bed flocculator,based on the hydraulic classification theory.This multi-stage velocity gradient fluidized bed flocculator(MGF) created a more suitable environment for floc growth and protection,which was confirmed by the size distribution of flocs along the bed height.Correspondingly,the abatement efficiencies for Kaolin slurry and dyed wastewater treatment in the MGF were enhanced by5-10%,and by 7-20%,respectively,compared with those in the single-stage velocity gradient fluidized bed flocculators(SGFs).The initial bed height distribution ratio along the velocity gradients was an important factor for MGF optimization.     

Experimental and computational studies on flow behavior of gas–solid fluidized bed with disparately sized binary particles

This paper presents experimental and computational studies on the flow behavior of a gas-solid fluidized bed with disparately sized binary particle mixtures. The mixing/segregation behavior and segregation efficiency of the small and large particles are investigated experimentally. Particle composition and operating conditions that influence the fluidization behavior of mixing/segregation are examined. Based on the granular kinetics theory, a multi-fluid CFD model has been developed and verified against the experimental results. The simulation results are in reasonable agreement with experimental data. The results showed that the smaller particles are found near the bed surface while the larger particles tend to settle down to the bed bottom in turbulent fluidized bed. However, complete segregation of the binary particles does not occur in the gas velocity range of 0.695-0.904 m/s. Segregation efficiency increases with increasing gas velocity and mean residence time of the binary particles, but decreases with increasing the small particle concentration. The calculated results also show that the small particles move downward in the wall region and upward in the core. Due to the effect of large particles on the movement of small particles, the small particles present a more turbulent velocity profile in the dense phase than that in the dilute phase.     

Fluidization of micro-interconnected fluidized beds for chemical looping

The micro-interconnected fluidized bed(MIFB)was designed to improve the evaluation condition of oxygen carrier,which is difficult to perform in a lab-scale interconnected fluidized bed because of the large demand for bed inventory.The reduction of bed inventory in the MIFB was mainly achieved by the appropriate miniaturization of the reactor size,in which the wall effect and operating flexibility should be taken into consideration.With hematite serving as the oxygen carrier,stable and flexible fluidization could be realized with 342.9 g of bed inventory.Internal perforated plates were arranged in the middle of the reactor to improve gas-solid distribution,which also could restrain the slugging formation and increase the particle residence time by 28.9%.A different fluidization phenomenon was observed in this two-stage reactor in which the particle fluidization was reconstructed in the upper chamber.Throughout 48 h of cold operation,the hematite oxygen carrier attrition rate was evaluated as 0.151 wt.%/h corresponding to 660 h lifetime,where 12.5%of particle attrition was contributed by internal perforated plates.An excellent fitting performance was found between the pressure difference in the risers and the upward particle flow,but the correction factor should be adjusted according to the fluidization flow.     

DISCRETE PARTICLE SIMULATION OF SIZE SEGREGATION OF PARTICLE MIXTURES IN A GAS FLUIDIZED BED

This paper presents a study of the mixing/segregation behaviour of particle mixtures in a gas fluidized bed by use of the discrete particle simulation. Spherical particles with diameters 2 mm （jetsam） and 1 mm （flotsam） and density 2 500 kg.m^-3 are used as solid mixtures with different volume fractions. The particles are initially packed uniformly in a rectangular bed and then fluidized by gas uniformly injected at the bottom of the bed. The gas injection velocities vary to cover fixed, partially and fully fluidized bed conditions. Segregation/mixing behaviour is discussed in terms of flow patterns, solid concentration profile and mixing kinetics. The results show that segregation, as a transient fluidization process, is strongly affected by gas injection velocities for a given particle mixture. With the increase of the volume fraction of flotsam, size segregation appears at lower velocities.