Bubble wake solids content in three-phase fluidized beds

It is shown that existing equations for predicting the holdups of wakes behind bubbles in three-phase fluidized beds are not entirely satisfactory. A new model is then developed whereby the wake is treated as the sphere-completing volume of a spherical cap bubble, due allowance being made for hydrodynamic interactions between bubbles. The generalized wake equations of Bhatia & Epstein (1974) are applied to compute the ratio of solids holdup in the wakes to that in the remaining liquid of the bed. Using experimental data from the literature, a rational equation is then generated for predicting this ratio from measured variables, and a mechanism for wake solids entrainment is proposed which is consistent with this equation.