Experimental study of the effect of friction phenomena on actual and calculated inventory in a small-scale CFB riser

Accurate information concerning riser inventory in a fluidized bed is required in some applications such as the calcium looping process,because it is related to the CO_2 capture efficiency of the system.In a circulating fluidized bed(CFB),the riser inventory is normally calculated from the riser pressure drop;however,the friction and the acceleration phenomena may have a significant influence on the total riser pressure drop.Therefore,deviation may occur in the calculation from the actual mass.For this reason the magnitude of the friction and the acceleration pressure drop in the entire riser is studied in small-scale risers.Two series of studies were performed:the first one in a scaled cold model riser of the 10 kW_(th)facility,and the second one in the 10kW_(th) fluidized bed riser under process conditions.The velocities were chosen to comply with the fluidization regimes suitable for the calcium looping process,namely,the turbulent and the fast.In cold-model experiments in a low-velocity turbulent fluidization regime,the actual weight(static pressure drop) of the particles is observed more than the weight calculated from a recorded pressure drop.This phenomenon is also repeated in pilot plant conditions.In the cold-model setup,the friction and acceleration pressure drop became apparent in the fast fluidization regime,and increased as the gas velocity rose.Within calcium looping conditions in the pilot plant operation,the static pressure drop was observed more than the recorded pressure drop.Therefore,as a conservative approach,the influence of friction pressure drop may be neglected while calculating the solid inventory of the riser.The concept of transit inventory is introduced as a fraction of total inventory,which lies in freefall zones of the CFB system.This fraction increases as gas velocity rises.     

Minimum fluidization velocities for supercritical water fluidized bed within the range of 633–693 K and 23–27 MPa

Supercritical water fluidized bed is a new reactor concept for biomass gasification. In this paper, an experimental study on the hydrodynamics of a supercritical water fluidized bed was conducted. The frictional pressure drops of a fixed bed and a fluidized bed were measured for a temperature ranging from 633 to 693 K and pressure ranging from 23 to 27 MPa. The results show that the Ergun formula for calculating the frictional pressure drop of a fixed bed can still be applied in supercritical water conditions. The average deviation between Ergun formula and experiment results is 13.3%. A predicting correlation for the minimum fluidization velocity in a supercritical water fluidized bed was obtained based on the experimental results of a fixed bed and the fluidized bed pressure drop. The average error between the correlation and experiment results was about 3.1%. The results in this paper are useful for the design of SCW fluidized bed.     

Direct reduction of hematite powders in a fluidized bed reactor

Ultrafine hematite powder was reduced to produce ultrafine iron powder in a 50%Ar–50%H₂ atmosphere at 450–550 °C in a fluidized bed reactor. The ultrafine hematite powder shows the typical agglomerating fluidization behavior with large agglomerates fluidized at the bottom of the bed and small agglomerates fluidized at the upper part of the bed. It was found that defluidization occurred even at the low temperature of 450 °C with low metallization rate. Defluidization was attributed mainly to the sintering of the newly formed iron particles. Granuation was employed to improve the fluidization quality and to tackle the defluidization problem, where granules fluidized like a Geldart's group A powder. Granulation was found to effectively reduce defluidization during reduction, without however sacrificing reduction speed. The as-reduced iron powders from both the ultrafine and the granulated hematite exhibited excellent sintering activity, that is, fast sintering at temperature of as low as ～580 °C, which is much superior as compared to that of nano/ultrafine iron powders made by other processes.     

Experimental investigation on flow asymmetry in solid entrance region of a square circulating fluidized bed

To study the influence of back feeding particles on gas-solid flow in the riser, this paper investigated the flow asymmetry in the solid entrance region of a fluidized bed by particle concentration/velocity measurements in a cold square circulating fluidized beds （CFB）. The pressure drop distribution along the riser and the saturation carrying capacity of gas for Geldart-B type particles were first analyzed. Under the condition of u0 = 4 m/s and Gs = 21 kg/（m^2 s）, the back feeding particles were found to penetrate the lean gas-solid flow near the entrance （rear） wall before reaching the opposite （front） wall, thus leading to a relatively denser region near the front wall in the bottom bed. Higher solid circulation rate （u0 =4 m/s, Gs = 33 kg/（m^2 s）） resulted in a higher particle concentration in the riser. However the back feeding particles with higher momentum increased the asymmetry of the particle concentration/velocity profile in the solid entrance region. Lower air velocity （u0 =3.2 m/s） and Gs =21 kg/（m2 s）, beyond the saturation carrying capacity of gas, induced an S-shaped axial solid distribution with a denser bottom zone. This limited the penetration of the back feeding particles and forced the flnidizing air to flow in the central region, thus leading to a higher solid holdup near the rear wall. Under the conditions of uo = 4 m/s and Gs = 21 kg/（m^2 s）, addition of coarse particles （dp= 1145 μm） into the bed made the radial distribution of solids more symmetrical.     

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 deviation 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 U_c. 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 fluidized 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 U_k 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.     

Study of material agglomeration during nozzle injection of multiviscosity liquid into a fluidized bed reactor by the electric conductance method

Fluidized bed agglomeration is an important and challenging problem for thermal cracking in fluid cokers. A low coker temperature can be problematic because the bitumen is injected into the fluidized bed with a different viscosity, resulting in formation of agglomerates of varying sizes, which slows the cracking reactions. In the present study, the bed material agglomeration process during nozzle injection of multiviscosity liquid was investigated in a fluidized bed operated at different mass ratios of the atomization gas to the liquid jets (GLR = 1%–3.5%) and gas velocities (3.9U_mf and 5.9U_mf) based on a conductance method using a water–sand system to simulate the hot bitumen–coke system at room temperature. During the tests of liquid-jet dispersion throughout the bed, different agglomeration stages are observed at both gas velocities. The critical amount of tert-butanol in the liquid jets that could lead to severe agglomeration of the bed materials (poor fluidization) at GLR = 1% is about 10 wt% at the low fluidizing gas velocity (3.9U_mf) and 18 wt% at the high gas velocity (5.9U_mf). This study provides a new approach for on-line monitoring of bed agglomeration during liquid injection to guarantee perfect contact between the atomized liquid and the bed particles.     

The influence of temperature on limestone sulfation and attrition under fluidized bed combustion conditions

The influence of temperature on attrition of two limestones during desulfurization in a fluidized bed reactor was investigated. Differences in the microstructure of the two limestones were reflected by a different thickness of the sulfate shell formed upon sulfation and by a different value of the ultimate calcium conversion degree. Particle attrition and fragmentation were fairly small under moderately bubbling fluidization conditions for both limestones. An increase of temperature from 850 °C to 900 °C led to an increase of the attrition rate, most likely because of a particle weakening effect caused by a faster CO₂ evolution during calcination. This weakening effect, however, was not sufficiently strong to enhance particle fragmentation in the bed. The progress of sulfation, associated to the build-up of a hard sulfate shell around the particles, led in any case to a decrease of the extent of attrition. Sulfation at 900 °C was less effective than at 850 °C, and this was shown to be related to the porosimetric features of the different samples.     

CFD simulation of a gas–solid fluidized bed with two vertical jets

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is used to investigate the hydrodynamics of a gas–solid fluidized bed with two vertical jets. Sand particles with a density of 2660 kg/m³ and a diameter of 5.0 × 10^?4 m are employed as the solid phase. Numerical computation is carried out in a 0.57 m × 1.00 m two-dimensional bed using a commercial CFD code, CFX 4.4, together with user-defined Fortran subroutines. The applicability of the CFD model is validated by predicting the bed pressure drop in a bubbling fluidized bed, and the jet detachment time and equivalent bubble diameter in a fluidized bed with a single jet. Subsequently, the model is used to explore the hydrodynamics of two vertical jets in a fluidized bed. The computational results reveal three flow patterns, isolated, merged and transitional jets, depending on the nozzle separation distance and jet gas velocity and influencing significantly the solid circulation pattern. The jet penetration depth is found to increase with increasing jet gas velocity, and can be predicted reasonably well by the correlations of Hong et al. (2003) for isolated jets and of Yang and Keairns (1979) for interacting jets.     

Using S-statistic for investigating the effect of temperature on hydrodynamics of gas–solid fluidization

The influence of temperature on fluidization was investigated by a statistical chaotic attractor comparison test known as S-statistic. After calibration of the variables used in this method, the S-test was applied to the radioactive particle tracking (RPT) data obtained from a lab-scale fluidized bed. Experiments were performed with sand as fluidized particles and in temperatures from ambient up to 600 °C with superficial gas velocities of 0.29, 0.38 and 0.52 m/s. Considering the behavior of bubbles and comparing with frequency domain analysis, it was concluded that S-statistic is a reliable method for characterization of fluidization process behavior at different temperatures.     

Vibration time series analysis of bubbling and turbulent fluidization

A non-intrusive vibration monitoring technique was used to study the hydrodynamics of a gas–solid fluidized bed. Experiments were carried out in a 15 cm diameter fluidized bed using 226, 470 and 700 μm sand particles at various gas velocities, covering both bubbling and turbulent regimes. Auto correlation function, mutual information function, Hurst exponent analysis and power spectral density function were used to analyze the fluidized bed hydrodynamics near the transition point from bubbling to turbulent fluidization regimes. The first pass of the autocorrelation function from one half and the time delay at which it becomes zero, and also the first minimum of the mutual information, occur at a higher time delay in comparison to stochastic systems, and the values of time delays were maximum at the bubbling to turbulent transition gas velocity. The maximum value of Hurst exponent of macro structure occurred at the onset of regime transition from bubbling to turbulent. Further increase in gas velocity after that regime transition velocity causes a decrease in the Hurst exponent of macro structure because of breakage of large bubbles to small ones. The results showed these methods are capable of detecting the regime transition from bubbling to turbulent fluidization conditions using vibration signals.     

Solids behavior in dilute zone of a CFB riser under turbulent conditions

The behavior of the solid phase in the upper zone of a circulating fluidized bed riser was studied using a phase Doppler anemometer. Glass particles of mean diameter 107 μm and superficial gas velocities U_g covering the turbulent and the beginning of the fast fluidization regime were investigated. Three static bed heights were tested. Ascending and descending particles were found co-existing under all operating conditions tested, and at all measurement locations. Superficial gas velocity proved/happened to have a larger effect on descending particles at the wall and on ascending particles in the central region. Transversal particle velocities in both directions (toward the center and toward the wall) behaved relatively equivalently, with only slight difference observed at the wall. However, observation of the number of particles moving in either transversal direction showed a change in bed structure when increasing U_g. Furthermore, a balance was constantly observed between the core zone and the annulus zone where the mutual mass transfer between these two zones occurred continuously. Transition from a slow to a fast particle motion was accompanied by a transition to high levels of velocity fluctuations, and was found corresponding to the appearance of significant solid particle flow rate.     

Constraint strength and axial/radial particle velocity profiles for an integrated riser outlet

To study axial/radial profiles of particle velocity in the affected region of an integrated riser outlet, a cold model was developed for the integrated riser reactor combining the gas–solid distributor with the fluidized bed. Constraints, related to the gas–solid distributor and the upper fluidized bed, imposed on the particle flow in the riser outlet region, were investigated experimentally. The experimental results showed that with increasing superficial gas velocity, these constraints have strong influences on particle flow behavior, the particle circulation flux in the riser, and the height of the static bed material of the upper fluidized bed. When the constraints have greater prominence, the axial profile of the cross-sectionally averaged particle velocity in the outlet region initially increases and then decreases, the rate of decrease being proportional to the constraint strength. Along the radial direction of the outlet section, the region where the local particle velocity profile tends to decrease appears near the dimensionless radius r/R = 0.30 initially and then, with increasing constraint strength, gradually extends to the whole section from the inner wall. Based on the experimental data, an empirical model describing the constraint strength was established. The average relative error of the model is within 7.69%.     

Effects of various parameters on the attrition of bed material in a recirculating fluidized bed with a draft tube

We performed an experimental study to investigate the effects of various parameters on the attrition of bed material and its size distribution with increasing operation time in a recirculating fluidized bed (RCFB). The studied parameters included superficial velocity of fluidizing air, bed inventory, and spacing between the jet top and draft tube bottom (spacer height). The bed material was prepared from Indian Standard (IS) Grade I sand from sieves with a size range of 2.20–1.00 mm. Experiments were performed at ambient conditions, with the superficial air velocity ranging from 7.13–9.16 m/s, a bed inventory of 7–10 kg, spacing of 0.085 and 0.045 m between the jet top and draft tube bottom, and an operating time of 40 h. We investigated the influence of these parameters in terms of changes in the size distribution of particles, changes in the %-weight of particles of different size ranges, generation of particles with smaller diameters, the decrease of the downcomer bed height, variations in the coefficient of uniformity and coefficient of curvature, and material loss from entrainment of fines with increasing operation time. The mode of attrition was abrasion in all experiments. We found that with increasing operation time and other parameters (bed inventory, superficial air velocity, and spacer height) attrition of the bed material also increased. Generation and elutriation of fines were more pronounced at higher superficial air velocity, bed inventory, and spacer height.     

Separation performance of fine low-rank coal by vibrated gas–solid fluidized bed for dry coal beneficiation

Vibrational energy was introduced to a dense medium gas–solid fluidized bed to improve the separation performance of 1–6 mm fine low-rank coal. The setup was termed a vibrated gas–solid fluidized bed and could provide a stable fluidization state and uniform density distribution for dry coal beneficiation by the transfer of vibrational energy and the interaction between vibrations and the gas phase. Favorable segregation of the ash content of the 1–6-mm-sized lignite samples is achieved under suitable operating conditions. Higher yields of cleaning coal were acquired when the ash content was reduced. The probable error values were 0.065 and 0.055 at separating densities of 1.68 and 1.75 g/cm³ for the 1–3- and 3–6-mm-sized lignite samples, respectively. Effective beneficiation of 1–6-mm-sized fine lignite could be achieved using the vibrated gas–solid fluidized bed, which provides an alternative technique for the separation of fine low-rank coal in arid areas.     

Hydrodynamics and energy consumption studies in a three-phase liquid circulating three-phase fluid bed contactor

The hydrodynamics and energy consumption have been studied in a cold flow, bubbling and turbulent, pressurized gas–liquid–solid three-phase fluidized bed (0.15 m ID × 1 m height) with concurrent gas–liquid up flow is proposed with the intention of increasing the gas hold up. The hydrodynamic behaviour is described and characterised by some specific gas and liquid velocities. Particles are easily fluidized and can be uniformly distributed over the whole height of the column. The effect of parameters like liquid flow rate, gas flow rate, particle loading, particle size, and solid density on gas hold up and effect of gas flow rate, solid density and particle size on solid hold up, energy consumption and minimum fluidization velocity has been studied. At the elevated pressures a superior method for better prediction of minimum fluidization velocity and terminal settling velocities has been adopted. The results have been interpreted with Bernoulli’s theorem and Richardson–Zaki equation. Based on the assumption of the gas and liquid as a pretend fluid, a simplification has been made to predict the particle terminal settling velocities. The Richardson–Zaki parameter n′ was compared with Renzo’s results. A correlation has been proposed with the experimental results for the three-phase fluidization.     

Rotational asymmetry of reactant concentration and its evolution in a circulating fluidized bed riser

Rotational asymmetric distribution of reactant (ozone) concentration and its evolution along with the gas-solid reactive flow were studied in a 76 mm i.d., 10.2 m high circulating fluidized bed (CFB) riser reactor. The superficial gas velocity ranged from 3 to 5 m/s and the solids circulation rates were 50 and 100 kg/(m² s). Experimental results show that the asymmetry of reactant distribution can extend to a height close to the length of flow developing zone of the CFB riser reactor and then disappears. Based on the hydrodynamics of the gas and solid phases in the solids entrance region, this asymmetry can be attributed to the effect of the solids entrance structure.     

Hydrodynamic characteristics of a rectangular gas-driven inverse liquid-solid fluidized bed

The hydrodynamic characteristics of a rectangular gas-driven inverse liquid-solid fluidized bed (GDFB) using particles of different diameters and densities were investigated in detail. Rising gas bubbles cause a liquid upflow in the riser portion, enabling a liquid downflow that causes an inverse fluidization in the downer portion. Four flow regimes (fixed bed regime, initial fluidization regime, complete fluidization regime, and circulating fluidization regime) and three transition gas velocities (initial fluidization gas velocity, minimum fluidization gas velocity, and circulating fluidization gas velocity) were identified via visual observation and by monitoring the variations in the pressure drop. The axial local bed voidage (ε) of the downer first decreases and then increases with the increase of the gas velocity. Both the liquid circulation velocity and the average particle velocity inside the downer increase with the increase of the gas velocity in the riser, but decrease with the particle loading. An empirical formula was proposed to successfully predict the Richardson-Zaki index “n”, and the predicted ε obtained from this formula has a ±5% relative error when compared with the experimental ε.     

Statistical diagnosis of a gas–solid fluidized bed using Electrical Capacitance Tomography

Fluidization experiments were performed using several particle size distributions of spherical glass particles, ranging from Geldart B to D. An Electrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT) tomograph was utilized in the present study and its usefulness as a diagnostic tool is illustrated. During the experiments a 10.4 cm diameter column was utilized and the column was operated at atmospheric pressure and room temperature (cold fluidized bed). Statistical analyses were performed on the average solid fraction data obtained using the ECT tomograph. Using the time domain skewness and kurtosis the time series could be characterised and the quality of fluidization is determined at different superficial gas velocities (Azizpour, H., Sotudeh-Gharebagh, R., Zarghami, R., Abbasi, M., Mostoufi, N., Mahjoob, M., 2011. Characterization of gas–solid fluidized bed hydrodynamics by vibration signal analysis. International Journal of Multiphase Flow, 37, 788–793). Statistical analysis is also used to characterise the influence of small particles on the bed hydrodynamics.     

STUDY ON THE OVERALL PRESSURE BALANCE OF A DOWNFLOW CIRCULATING FLUIDIZED BED SYSTEM

A pressure balance model for a circulating fluidized bed unit that incorporates a downer has been proposed. The model predictions were validated with the experimental data obtained from a special cold-model circulating fluidized bed. Comparison of the operation stability between a CFB downer and a CFB riser has been carried out. Only one critical gas velocity exists in the CFB-riser for a given riser solids flux, while there can be many critical gas velocities for the operation of a CFB downer. Therefore, it is possible to achieve high solids concentration in a CFB downer if appropriate operating conditions are used.     

Effect of coal particle swarm properties on the fluidization characteristics and coal beneficiation in a dense-phase gas–solid fluidized bed

This paper analyzes the influence of different coal mass fraction in an air dense medium fluidized bed (ADMFB). The effect of the low density particles layer on heavy sedimentation increased with increasing material layer thickness. The thickness of the low density particles layer also affected the final settling time of the high density particles. Increasing the thickness of the low density particles layer by Δh provoked an increase in the settling of high density particles that was related to their diameter (Δh/D). The pressure gradient across the bed was lower than that observed for the control experiment, which had only the dense material, owing to a decrease in the pressure gradient in Zones 1 and 5 (at the top and bottom of the bed, respectively). Introducing different coal sizes resulted in different fluidization environments, particle accumulation layers, and changes to the surrounding zone. However, the influence of the coal particles on the local bed characteristics was related to its concentration. The feeding mass fraction of 6–13 mm size and 13–25 mm size coal should be limited to10% and 13%, respectively. The ranges of possible deviation were found to be 0.08–0.15 and 0.07–0.10 for the respective samples.