The Phenomenon of Fluidization

If a fluid is passed upward through a bed of fine particles, as shown in Fig. 1(a), at a low flow
rate, the fluid merely percolates through the void spaces between stationary particles. This is
a fixed bed. With an increase in flow rate, particles move apart and a few vibrate and move
in restricted regions. This is the expanded bed.
At a still higher velocity, a point is reached where all the particles are just suspended by the
upward-flowing gas or liquid. At this point the frictional force between particle and fluid just
counterbalances the weight of the particles, the vertical component of the compressive force
between adjacent particles disappears, and the pressure drop through any section of the bed
about equals the weight of fluid and particles in that section. The bed is considered to be just
fluidized and is referred to as an incipiently fluidized bed or a bed at minimum
fluidization; see Fig. 1(b).
In liquid-solid systems, an increase in flow rate above minimum fluidization usually results in
a smooth, progressive expansion of the bed. Gross flow instabilities are damped and remain
small, and heterogeneity, or large-scale voids of liquid, are not observed under normal
conditions. A bed such as this is called a particulately fluidized bed, a homogeneously
fluidized bed, or a smoothly fluidized bed; see Fig. 1(c). In gas-solid systems, such beds
can be observed only under special conditions of fine light particles with dense gas at high
pressure. Generally, gas-solid systems behave quite differently. With an increase in flow rate
beyond minimum fluidization, large instabilities with bubbling and channeling of gas are
observed. At higher flow rates, agitation becomes more violent and the movement of solids
becomes more vigorous. In addition, the bed does not expand much beyond its volume at
minimum fluidization. Such a bed is called an aggregative fluidized bed, a heterogeneous
fluidized bed, or a bubbling fluidized bed; see Fig. 1(d). In a few rare cases, liquid-solid
systems also behave as bubbling beds. This occurs only with very dense solids fluidized by
lowdensity liquids.
Both gas and liquid fluidized beds are considered to be dense-phase fluidized beds as long as
there is a fairly clearly defined upper limit or surface to the bed.
In gas-solid systems, gas bubbles coalesce and grow as they rise, and in a deep enough bed of
small diameter they may eventually become large enough to spread across the vessel. In the
case of fine particles, they flow smoothly down by the wall around the rising void of gas.
This is called slugging, with axial slugs, as shown in Fig. 1(e). For coarse particles, the
portion of the bed above the bubble is pushed upward, as by a piston. Particles rain down
from the slug, which finally disintegrates. At about this time another slug forms, and this
unstable oscillatory motion is repeated. This is called a flat slug; see Fig. 1(f). Slugging is
especially serious in long, narrow fluidized beds.
When fine particles are fluidized at a sufficiently high gas flow rate, the terminal velocity of
the solids is exceeded, the upper surface of the bed disappears, entrainment becomes
appreciable, and, instead of bubbles, one observes a turbulent motion of solid clusters and
voids of gas of various sizes and shapes. This is the turbulent fluidized bed, shown in Fig.
1(g). With a further increase in gas velocity, solids are carried out of the bed with the gas. In
this state we have a disperse-, dilute-, or lean-phase fluidized bed with pneumatic transport of
solids; see Fig. 1(h).
Advantages and Disadvantages of
Fluidized Beds for Industrial Operations
The fluidized bed has desirable and undesirable characteristics. Table 1
compares its behavior as a chemical reactor with other reactors. Its
advantages are
1. The smooth, liquidlike flow of particles allows continuous automatically
controlled operations with easy handling.
2. The rapid mixing of solids leads to close to isothermal conditions
throughout the reactor; hence the operation can be controlled simply and
reliably.
3. In addition, the whole vessel of well-mixed solids represents a large
thermal flywheel that resists rapid temperature changes, responds slowly
to abrupt changes in operating conditions, and gives a large margin of
safety in avoiding temperature runaways for highly exothermic reactions.
4. The circulation of solids between two fluidized beds makes it possible to
remove (or add) the vast quantities of heat produced (or needed) in large
reactors.
5. It is suitable for large-scale operations.
6. Heat and mass transfer rates between gas and particles are high when
compared with other modes of contacting.
7. The rate of heat transfer between a fluidized bed and an immersed
object is high; hence heat exchangers within fluidized beds require
relatively small surface areas.
Its disadvantages are
1. For bubbling beds of fine particles, the difficult-to-describe flow of gas,
with its large deviations from plug flow, represents inefficient contacting.
This becomes especially serious when high conversion of gaseous
reactant or high selectivity of a reaction intermediate is required.
2. The rapid mixing of solids in the bed leads to nonuniform residence
times of solids in the reactor. For continuous treatment of solids, this
gives a nonuniform product and poorer performance, especially at high
conversion levels. For catalytic reactions, the movement of porous
catalyst particles, which continually capture and release reactant gas
molecules, contributes to the backmixing of gaseous reactant, thereby
reducing yield and performance.
3. Friable solids are pulverized and entrained by the gas and must be
replaced.
4. Erosion of pipes and vessels from abrasion by particles can be serious.
5. For noncatalytic operations at high temperature, the agglomeration and
sintering of fine particles can require a lowering in temperature of
operations, thereby reducing the reaction rate considerably.

Application of Fludization Engineering:

 Physical Opertation
 Synthesis Reactions
 Cracking of Hydrocarobon
 Combustion and incineration
 Carbonization and gasification
 Calcination
Reactions involving solids
 Waste water treatment

Coal Gasification:
Winkler's coal gasifier represents the first large-scale, commercially significant use of the fluidized
bed. This unit was fed powdered coal, was 13 m high and 12 m 2 in cross section, and went into
smooth operation in 1926. The desired reaction, simply represented, is as follows :

Coal CO +H2 (Synthesis Gas)

A number of such units were constructed, primarily in Germany and Japan, to supply raw gas for
the synthetic chemicals industries. A typical Winkler gas producer (Fig. 1(a)) shows that
considerable space is needed for secondary injection of oxygen above the bed. The resulting
temperature rise furthers the decomposition of produced methane to the desired CO and H 2.
Compared to modern technology, the Winkler gas producer is inefficient because of its high oxygen
consumption and its large (over 20%) carbon loss by entrainment. With the increased use of
petroleum throughout the world, Winkler generators have gradually been replaced by generators
that use petroleum feedstocks.
Fluidized bed reactors: (a) the Winkler gas generator; (b) the first large-scale pilot plant for fluid
catalytic cracking.

Gasoline from Other Petroleum Fractions:

At this middle stage of development of FCC units, an amorphous silica-alumina catalyst was being
used. However, in 1962, Socony-Mobil Company (now Mobil) developed a new type of catalyst,
high-activity zeolite. First tried in FCC units in 1964, zeolite gave higher gasoline yields and better
selectivity, and as a result has been widely used in catalytic cracking ever since. Taking advantage
of this remarkable catalyst, reactor designers promptly introduced the riser cracker in which feed is
introduced into the upflow pneumatic transport line that carries catalyst from regenerator to
reactor. Because of the high activity of the catalyst, close to 90% of the feed is cracked within the
transport line itself, resulting in a higher gasoline yield, higher C3-C5 olefin content, and less
carbon formation.
Heat Exchange:

Fluidized beds have been used extensively for heat exchange because of their unique ability to
rapidly transport heat and maintain a uniform temperature. (a) illustrates a fluidized bed for the
rapid quenching and tempering of hot metalware to a definite temperature so as to obtain the
desired properties of an alloy. This kind of operation requires a high heat transfer rate, which is
provided by a fluidized bed of fine solids. An example of a practical noncontacting gas-solid heat
exchanger is shown in (b). Here the thermal energy of hot solids is recovered by coolant gas. (c) is
a sketch of a heat exchanger used for heat recovery and steam generation from hot particles
coming from a fluidized bed reactor.

Drying of Solids
The fluidized bed dryer is used extensively in a wide variety of industries because of its large
capacity, low construction cost, easy operability, and high thermal efficiency. It is suited to any
kind of wet solid as long as the solid can be fluidized by hot gas. Iron and steel companies are
using huge driers to dry coal before feeding it to their coke ovens, whereas tiny but efficient driers
serve the pharmaceutical and other fine chemical industries. Figure shows several designs of
conventional fluidized bed driers. Inorganic materials, such as dolomite or blast furnace slag, are
usually dried in single-bed driers illustrated in (a), because the residence time characteristics of the
particles to be dried are not important. Since the water in the particles vaporizes in the bed, the
bed temperature need not be high, and 60°-90°C is usually sufficient. Thus, the energy content of
hot air or flue gas, often wasted, can be efficiently used in this type of operation. When the
particles require nearly equal drying times, the residence time characteristics of solids in the
fluidized beds must be considered. Single-stage operations, as in Fig (a), approximate mixed flow,
wherein a large fraction of the solids stay only a short time in the vessel, in effect bypassing it.
Multistaging for the flowing solid greatly narrows its residence time distribution and eliminates
bypassing. Figures (b) and (c) show multistage driers that are formed from vertical partition plates
placed in the bed. Figure (d) illustrates a simple design wherein counterflow contacting of gas and
solid is achieved. Perforated plates or large screens act as gas redistributors and stage separators,
thus eliminating overflow pipes and downcomers.
Adsorption
When very dilute components are to be removed from large flows of carrier gas, then continuous
multistage fluidized adsorption processes can become superior to conventional fixed bed processes
in which the components are periodically adsorbed onto activated carbon particles and then
stripped by steam. This is the case for the separation and concentration of solvents such as carbon
disulfide, acetone, methylene chloride, ethanol, and ethyl acetate and for the removal of trace
pollutants from flue gas.
Geldart Groupings
In 1973, Professor D. Geldart proposed the grouping of powders in to four so-called "Geldart
Groups. The groups are defined by their locations on a diagram of solid-fluid density
difference and particle size. Design methods for fluidised beds can be tailored based upon the
particle's Geldart grouping

Group A For this group the particle size is between 20 and 100 µm, and the particle density
is typically less than 1.4g/cm 3. Prior to the initiation of a bubbling bed phase, beds from these
particles will expand by a factor of 2 to 3 at incipient fluidisation, due to a decreased bulk
density. Most powder-catalyzed beds utilize this group.

Group B The particle size lies between 40 and 500 µm and the particle density between 1.4-
4g/cm3. Bubbling typically forms directly at incipient fluidisation.

Group C This group contains extremely fine and consequently the most cohesive particles.
With a size of 20 to 30 µm, these particles fluidise under very difficult to achieve conditions,
and may require the application of an external force, such as mechanical agitation.

Group D The particles in this region are above 600 µm and typically have high particle
densities. Fluidisation of this group requires very high fluid energies and is typically
associated with high levels of abrasion. Drying grains and peas, roasting coffee beans,
gasifying coals, and some roasting metal ores are such solids, and they are usually processed
in shallow beds or in the spouting mode.
Distributor Type: Ideal Distributors
Most small-scale studies in fluidization use ceramic or sintered metal porous plate
distributors, because they have a sufficiently high flow resistance to give a uniform
distribution of gas across the bed. This situation is ideal. Many other materials can do this—
for instance, filter cloth, compressed fibers, compacted wire plate.
For industrial operations they have several drawbacks:
High-pressure drop leads to increased pumping power
requirements,
often a major operating cost factor.
• Low construction strength, hence impractical for large-scale
use.
• High cost for some materials.
• Low resistivity against thermal stresses.
• Possible gradual clogging by fine particles or by products of
corrosion

Despite these disadvantages, compacted wire plates or sandwiched beds

of small particles are sometimes used.
Perforated plate distributors are widely used in industry because they are
cheap and easy to fabricate.

Plate and grate distributors are cheap and easy to construct: (a) sandwiching perforated plates; (b)
staggered perforated plates; (c) dished perforated plate; (d) grate bars

Type (a) consists of two perforated plates sandwiching a metal screen that
prevents solids from raining through the orifices when the gas flow is
stopped. A variation of this, type (b), uses two staggered perforated plates
and no screen.
One problem with this design is lack of rigidity. Large perforated plates deflect unpredictably
under heavy load; hence, they need reinforcing for support. In addition, during thermal
expansion gas leakage at the bed perimeter is possible.
However, Curved plates (c) will withstand heavy loads and thermal stresses. Distributor
plates
curved upward achieve good contacting only with more orifices near the perimeter and
fewer near the center, a disadvantage for fabrication. Alternatively, parallel grate bars, type
(d), may be used. These bars may be considered as two-dimensional versions of perforated
plates, and they have only seen limited use;
In some operations, large amounts of solids enter the bed with the inlet
gases, for example in Exxon's model IV FCC reactor, or in the multistage
fluidized limestone calciner. In these situations, perforated plates without
screens are recommended.
The diameter of orifices in perforated plate distributors may range from 1
to 2 mm in small experimental beds to as much as 50 mm in large FCC
units with their solid-entrained gases.
Perforated plate distributors cannot be used under severe operating conditions, such as
high temperature or a highly reactive environment.

Tuyeres and Caps

Tuyere designs (Fig. 2) are used in these situations. The multiple porous plate, type (a), gives
good gas distribution above each filter, but particles will settle between adjacent tuyeres.
Also, special precautions must be taken to ensure that the incoming gas is free of filter-
clogging material.
Types (b), (c), and (d) are frequently used and prevent solids from falling through the
distributor. However, with all these designs, particles are apt to settle, sinter, and stick on the
distributor plate itself.
Because of their complicated construction, tuyeretype distributors are much more expensive
than perforated plate distributors. instead, the orifices around the cap are designed to create a
sufficient pressure drop for uniform fluidization. A disadvantage of this design involves the
jetting effect of the high-velocity gas issuing from the orifices. This can cause considerable
particle attrition

Above a Porous Plate. For a uniform gas flow, U0 > Umf a highly expanded gas-solid
dispersion forms directly above the distributor. This is unstable, and a few millimeters above
the plate the dispersion divides into many little bubbles plus an emulsion phase. On rising
upward, these bubbles grow very rapidly by coalescence, as shown in Fig. above
It is important, therefore, to know the minimum ΔPd that would ensure uniform fluidization
in the required range of operations. From orifice theory and fixed bed equations, we can show
that
 B U B B L E FORMATION A B O V E A DISTRIBUTOR

Low Gas Flow Rate. If the number of orifices per unit area is Nor [cm 2] and all the gas in
excess of umf forms bubbles of equal size, the volumetric flow rate of gas from each of the
orifices, Vor , is found from the expression:
Pyrolysis
 Lurgi Dry-Ash Gasifier

Operation
Lurgi GmbH first developed Lurgi dry-ash gasification technology in the early 1930s
to produce what was still known as town gas, in one of the first practical applications
of gasification.
The Lurgi gasifier is a pressurized, dry-ash, moving bed gasifier that produces syngas
from lump coal, steam, and oxygen as an oxidant. A high ratio of steam to oxygen
helps moderate the temperature such that the ash does not melt, but rather is
removed as dry ash. More reactive feedstocks are preferred due to the relatively low-
temperature operation.

Coal enters the top of the gasifier through a lock hopper and is handled by a rotary
distributor as it begins its descent through the gasifier. Steam and oxygen enter from
the bottom, while ash is removed at the bottom by a rotating grate and lock hopper.
A top temperature of about 1,000°F and bottom temperature of about 1,800°F
creates a temperature gradient in the gasifier. Exiting raw syngas at up to 1,000°F is
cooled and quenched using recycle water to condense tars and oils. A water jacket
cools the gasifier vessel and generates part of the steam needed by the gasifier.