Particle technology

CE510
chapter 6: FLUIDIZATION

Musango Lungu, D Eng

School of Mines and Mineral Sciences

Chemical engineering department
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FLUIDIZATION
What is fluidization ?
• Fluidization is the operation by which solid particles are transformed into a fluid-like
state through suspension in a gas or liquid.
The phenomenon of fluidization
• A fluid passed upward through a bed of fine particles at a low flow rate
merely percolates through the void spaces between stationary particles. This is
a fixed bed; Fig (a).
• 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 bed is considered to be just fluidized and is referred to as an
incipiently fluidized bed or a bed at minimum fluidization; Fig(b).
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Fig. 6.1 Various forms of2022@copyright
contacting M.L.
of a batch of solids by fluid
FLUIDIZATION
• In liquid-solid systems, an increase in flow rate above minimum
fluidization usually results in a smooth, progressive expansion of the bed.
• A bed such as this is called a particulately fluidized bed, a homogeneously
fluidized bed, or a smoothly fluidized bed; Fig (c).
• For gas-solid systems, 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; Fig (d).
• In a few rare cases, liquid-solid systems also behave as bubbling beds.
This occurs only with very dense solids fluidized by low-density liquids.
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FLUIDIZATION
• 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.
• The slug flow regime is only encountered for H/D > 2. For fine particles, they
flow smoothly down by the wall around the rising void of gas; i.e. axial
slugs Fig (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 flat slug; Fig (f).
• 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; Fig (g).
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FLUIDIZATION
• 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; Fig (h).
• In both turbulent and lean-phase fluidization, large amounts of particles are
entrained. Cyclones are employed to capture and return entrained particles to the
bed.
Advantages of Fluidized beds
• Smooth, liquid-like flow of particles allows continuous automatically controlled
operations with easy handling.
• Rapid mixing of solids leads to close to isothermal conditions throughout
the reactor; hence the operation can be controlled simply and reliably.
• 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 e.g. Fluid catalytic cracking ( FCC) and Chemical Looping Combustion (CLC)
operations.
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FLUIDIZATION
• Suitable for large-scale operations.
• Heat and mass transfer rates between gas and particles are high when
compared with other modes of contacting. Heat transfer rates in a fluidized bed
can be five to ten times greater than that say in a packed bed reactor.
Disadvantages
• Scaling up of fluidized beds can be difficult.
• Bubbles need to be managed as large bubbles travel faster than smaller bubbles
reducing the mass transfer between phases.
• The rapid mixing of solids in the bed leads to non-uniform residence times of
solids in the reactor.
• Fluidized beds are prone to erosion and particle attrition caused by moving
particles.
• Solids losses can result is significant operating costs, especially when the solids are
expensive catalysts.
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FLUIDIZATION
Industrial applications of fluidized beds
• (i) Fluidized bed processes have operated commercially since 1920s
beginning with Winkler coal gasifier in Germany.
• (ii) Fluidized catalytic cracking units (FCCUs) for the production of high
octane gasoline debuted in the 1940s.
• (iii) Polyolefin production ( i.e. polyethylene, polypropylene etc. etc. ).
• (iv) For Chemical Looping Combustion ( CLC) process.
• (v) Acrylonitrile production.
NB: Read in details on these and other processes from Fluidization
Engineering textbook by Kunii and Levenspiel and the journal articles
provided.
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FLUIDIZATION
Mechanics of fluidization
• Consider uniform up flow of gas through a bed of particles in a column. The
onset of fluidization occurs when:
(drag force by upward moving gas ) = (weight of solids) (1)
or
 fraction  specific 
 pressure drop  cross section   volume
(2)   
  =  consisting weight  
 across bed  area of column   of bed   of solids  of solids 
  
p. Ac  W  Ac Lmf 1   mf   s   f g
(3)

Rearranging equation 3 gives :

p (4)
 1   mf   s  f g
Lmf 2022@copyright M.L.
FLUIDIZATION
• Equation 4 gives the pressure gradient at minimum fluidization
conditions.
• At the onset of fluidization, the voidage is a little larger than in a
packed bed, actually corresponding to the loosest state of a packed
bed of hardly any weight.
• can thus be estimated from random packing data, or, better still,
measured experimentally.
• The superficial velocity at minimum fluidization condition, Umf can be
estimated using several methods including the pressure drop versus
superficial velocity curve, visual observations, standard deviations of
pressure fluctuations and literature correlations.

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Fluidization

Fig. 6.2 Typical pressure drop versus superficial velocity curve

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FLUIDIZATION
• In this method the bed is first fluidized by progressively increasing the
superficial gas velocity and recording the average pressure drop for each
gas velocity.
• Secondly the bed is then defluidized by progressively reducing the
superficial gas velocity.
• There is very likely to be hysteresis, with a greater peak pressure for the
increasing pressure curve, depending on the particle packing, than for
decreasing-velocity curve.
• In the fluidized state, the bed is expanded in comparison to the fixed state
and the average expanded bed height can be determined by making use of
equation 4 as follows:
H 1   mf

H mf 1  (5)
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 FLUIDIZATION
• In the fixed bed state, the pressure drop through the bed is given by the
familiar Ergun equation :
p 150umf  1   mf  1.75  umf2 1   mf 
2

  (6)
Lmf  2s d p2 3
 mf sd p 3
 mf

• An expression for the minimum fluidization velocity can be derived by

equating the pressure loss across a fluidized bed and the pressure loss
across a packed or fixed bed i.e. equations 4 and 6:
150umf  1   mf  1.75  f umf2 1   mf 
2

1    
mf s  f g 
 d 2 2
 3 (7)  d  mf3
s p mf s p

• Multiplying throughout by  f d /  1   mf
3
p
2
  yields :
150 1   mf  1.75 2
Ar  2 3
Re p , mf  3
Re p , mf (8)
 s  mf  s mf 2022@copyright M.L.
FLUIDIZATION d 3p   s   f   f g
• Where Ar is the Archimedes number given by Ar  2
and


Rep,mf is particle Reynolds number at minimum fluidization condition

d p umf  f
expressed as Re p ,mf   .
• For typical spherical particles = 1 and = 0.4 and equation 8 reduces to :
2
(9)
Ar  1406 Re  27.3
• Wen & Yu derived a similar
p , mf Re p , mf equation to equation 9 from a large volume

of experimental data given as :

(10)
Ar  1652 Re p ,mf  24.51Re 2p ,mf

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FLUIDIZATION
• The review article by Anantharaman et al. (Powder Technology, Volume
323, 2018, Pages 454-485) gives a comprehensive evaluation and review of
different literature correlations for the minimum fluidization velocity.
Geldart Classification
• Derek Geldart (1973) classified powders into four groups according to their
fluidization properties at ambient conditions.
• The Geldart classification of powders is now used widely in all fields of
powder technology.
• Group A (aeratable): Inter-particle forces play an appreciable, but not
dominant, role for group A particles. When the upward gas flow through a
bed of a group A material is sufficient to fluidize the particles, additional flow
leads to bed expansion, initially without the formation of bubbles. Eventually
a minimum bubbling velocity (Umb) is reached. Group A materials generally
fluidize smoothly. Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalyst is an example of a
Geldart group A material. 2022@copyright M.L.
FLUIDIZATION
• Group B (bubble readily): In the case of group B materials, inter-particle
forces play a negligible role. Bubbles form immediately when the gas
superficial velocity exceeds the minimum fluidization velocity. Fluidization
is generally of good quality, though less so than for group A powders. Most
beach sands are excellent examples of group B particulate materials.
• Group C (cohesive): Group C powders are dominated by inter-particle
cohesive forces so that they do not fluidize readily, but instead tend to
form fissures through which gas flows. An example of a group C powder is
flour.
• Group D ( predominantly turbulent ): Group D materials are composed of
coarser particles that can be fluidized, but less readily and less smoothly
than for group A and B powders. Cereal grains and peas are examples of
group D materials. These coarse particulate materials are often treated in
spouted beds. 2022@copyright M.L.
 FlUIDIZATION

• Geldart proposed
graphical boundaries
between each
successive pair of the
four groups above for
gas fluidization at
room temperature
and atmospheric
pressure as shown.

Fig. 6.3 Geldart powder classification group boundaries for fluidization in air at 20 OC and 1 atmosphere
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FLUIDIZATION
• Various modifications of the Geldart boundaries have been proposed for
example to account for elevated temperatures and pressures, inter-
particle forces etc . Read further from journal articles provided.
• None of the transitions corresponding to the Geldart group boundaries is
abrupt.
• Instead, the transitions are diffuse, with gradual changes as particle
properties or operating pressure and temperature are adjusted.
• The CA and AB boundaries depend on properties other than those that
are solely hydrodynamic, in particular on properties that affect inter-
particle forces.
• The BD boundary is the only one of the three Geldart boundaries that is
solely dependent on hydrodynamic considerations.
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FLUIDIZATION
Fluidization with carryover of particles
• At higher gas flows, more and more particles are projected into the
freeboard above the bed, some to return to the bed, others to be
carried out of the bed.
• Recirculation of solids is needed when carryover is significant, for if
this is not done there soon will be no bed left.
Terminal velocity of particles, ut
• From equation 13 in chapter 4 , the terminal free-fall velocity can be
estimated from fluid mechanics by the expression :
 4d p   s   g  g 
1/2

ut    (11)
 3 g C D 
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FLUIDIZATION
• Here CD is the experimentally determined drag coefficient given by Haider
and Levenspiel as:
24 0.3471
0.4607 Re p
CD   3.3643Re p  , s  1
Re p Re p  2682.5 (12)
• Alternatively a graphical approach can be used which allows a direct
evaluation of ut given dp and the physical properties of the system.
• This chart introduces a dimensionless particle size d* and a
dimensionless gas velocity u* where :
  g  s   g  g 
1/3
1/3
 1/3 3 2 
d  dp  2
  Ar   CD Rep 
    4(13) 
1/3 1/3
  2
g
 Re p  3 Re p 

u u     (14) 
    s   g  g  Ar1/3  4 CD M.L.
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 FLUIDIZATION

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Fig 6.4 Chart for determining the terminal velocity of particles falling through fluids; from Haider and
FLUIDIZATION
Fluidized bed design
• A typical fluidized bed reactor contains a plenum, a gas distributor ( grid
plate or sparger), the particle bed region, a freeboard region above the
particle bed, heating and cooling coils if needed, and cyclones.
• Some fluidized beds may have a dual feed
system consisting of a grid plate and sparger
above it.
• The acrylonitrile process uses this
configuration, in which air is fed through a
plenum and distributed by a grid plate while
ammonia and propylene are fed through
spargers.
• Propylene ammoxidation is highly
exothermic so heat is removed by heating
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coils above the spargers.
FLUIDIZATION
• Several constraints need to be addressed in the design of fluidized beds to
ensure reliable operation:
• (i) The grid plate and sparger are subject to pressure drop and spacing limits.
• (ii) Entrainment rates need to be measured or estimated.
• (iii) Also cyclones need to be designed for high collection efficiency and low
pressure drop.
Gas distributor design
• Small scale studies in fluidization use ceramic or sintered metal porous
plates distributors.
• They have a sufficiently high flow resistance for uniform distribution of gas
across the bed.
• Alternative materials include filter cloth, compressed fibres, compacted wire
plates or even a thin bed of small particles.
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 FLUIDIZATION
• Although gas-solid contacting is superior with such distributors, for
industrial operations they have several drawbacks:
(i) High pressure drop leading to increased pumping power requirements
(ii) Low construction strength, impractical for large scale use
(iii) High cost for some materials
(iv) Low resistivity against thermal stresses
(v) 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.

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FLUIDIZATION
Perforated or multi-orifice plates
• Perforated plates are widely used because they are cheap and easy to
fabricate.

Fig. 6.5 (a) sandwiching perforated plates, (b) staggered perforated plates, (c)
dished perforated plates; (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 is stopped.

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FLUIDIZATION
• A variation of this type, type (b) uses two staggered perforated plates and
no screen.
• Curved plates, i.e. are used alternatively to withstand heavy loads and
thermal stresses.
• Parallel bars, type (d) considered as two dimensional version of perforated
plates are also used.
Tuyeres and Caps
• Perforated distributors cannot be used under severe operating conditions
such as high temperature or highly reactive environment.
• Tuyere designs are used in these circumstances.

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FLUIDIZATION

Fig. 6.6 Tuyere distributors: (a) porous plate type; (b) nozzle type; (c) bubble
cap type; (d) slit nozzle type
• Type (a) gives good gas distribution above each filter, but particles 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.

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 FLUIDIZATION
• 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.
Pressure drop requirements across distributors
• Distributors should have a sufficient pressure drop Δ ρ d to achieve
equal flows over the   0.2 
pdentire 0.4  section
cross pb of the bed.
• As a rule of thumb where Δ p b is the pressure drop
across the bed given by equation 4.
• Increased Δ ρd ensures more even distribution of entering gas.
• This has drawbacks including high power consumption and erosion and
breakage of particles in the case of tuyere distributors without inlet orifices.
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 FLUIDIZATION
• From orifice theory and fixed bed equations, the minimum Δ ρd that
ensures uniform fluidization in the required range of operations is :
pd  u0 porous plates
pd  u02 perforated plates and tuyere distributors

Design of gas distributors

• Perforated plates and Tuyeres can be designed directly from orifice theory
as follows:
(i) Determine the necessary pressure drop across the distributor Δ ρd on
the basis of the rule of thumb.

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FLUIDIZATION
(ii) Calculate the vessel Reynolds number,Ret  dt u0  g /  for the total
flow approaching the distributor and select the corresponding value
for the orifice coefficient, Cd,or
Ret 100 300 500 1000 2000 > 3000

Cd,or 0.68 0.70 0.68 0.64 0.61 0.6

(iii) Determine
 2pd  gas velocity through the orifice, measured at
the
1/2

the
uor approach
 Cd ,or  density
 and temperature:
  
 g 
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(15)
FLUIDIZATION
• The ratio uo /uor gives the fraction of open area in the distributor
plate. See that this is less than 10%.
(iv) Decide on Nor, the number of orifices per unit area of distributor , and
find the corresponding orifice diameter from the equation:
 2
uo  d or uor N or
4 (16)
For tuyere with an inlet orifice i.e. Fig. 6.6(a) Nor , should be the
number of tuyeres per unit area. On the other hand, for tuyeres as
in Fig. 6.5 (b) but without an inlet orifice i.e. Fig. 6.6 (b), Nor is given by:
 tuyeres   number of holes 
N or    
 area  tuyere 
(17)
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FLUIDIZATION
Worked example 1
(i) Calculate the Umf for nylon beads fluidized by air at ambient conditions using the
Wen & Yu correlation and find the percentage error. The physical properties of the
beads are given in the table below:
Property Value Units
Experimental Umf 1.05 m/s
Bulk density 635 kg/m3
Particle density 1131 Kg/m3
Sauter mean diameter 3256 μm
Sphericity 0.94 -

(ii) Repeat part i using correlations of Grace, Wu and Baeyens and Kozanoglu et al. from
Table 1 of the review article by Anantharaman et al. i.e. Powder Technology 323 (2018)
454–485.
(iii) Calculate the pressure gradient at minimum fluidization.
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FLUIDIZATION
Solution
2
• (i) Wen & Yu correlation given as Ar  1652 Re p , mf  24.51Re p , mf can be

1/2
Re p ,mf  33.7   0.0408 Ar 
2
 33.7
rearranged in terms of Rep,mf as   .
d 3  s     g
Ar 
• Where 2 ; For air at ambient conditions , μ = Pa.s

and =1.2 kg/m3 . Inserting other quantities gives Ar = 1 271 738.48.

• Solving for Rep,mf gives 196.

d p umf  g
 196; umf  0.953 m/s
• Thus 
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FLUIDIZATION
From the table the experimental umf = 1.05 m/s.

approximate value - exact value 0.953  1.05

Therefore % error = 100  100  9.24%
exact value 1.05

• (ii) This part is left as an exercise to the reader.

p
• (iii) Pressure gradient is given by  1   mf   s  f g .
Lmf
= 1-635/1131 = 0.44

p
 1  0.44 1131  1.2  9.81  6206.67 Pa/m
Lmf 2022@copyright M.L.
FLUIDIZATION
Worked example 2
Estimate the terminal velocity using the graphical procedure for the granular
material given in worked example 1.
Solution
Dimensionless particle diameter:
1/3
 g  s  g  g 
1/3
1.2 1131  1.2 9.81 
d  dp    3256  10 6      108.34
 
2 2
    1.9  10 5 
 

• From the chart, = 108.34 gives dimensionless velocity

1/3
 1.2 2

• 15  ut   ; ut  7.903 m/s or approximately 7.5umf
1.9 10 1131  1.2  9.81  2022@copyright M.L.
5
Fluidization
Worked example 3
Design a perforated plate distributor for use in a commercial
fluidized bed reactor. Data is as follows:
dt  4, Lmf  2m,  mf  0.48,
 s  1500 kg/m3 ,  g  3.6 kg/m 3 ,  =2 10 5 kg/m.s
Pressure and superficial inlet velocity of gas:
po  3 bar (absolute) uo  0.4 m/s
To avoid unnecessary attrition of bed solids: maximum allowable jet
velocity from the holes, uor = 40 m/s

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FLUIDIZATION
Solution
Step 1: Determine the minimum allowable pressure drop through the
distributor.
p  1   mf   s   f  gLmf  1  0.48 1500  3.6   9.81  2
 15266.87 Pa
Using the rule of thumb and taking an average value :
pd  0.3pb  0.3(15266.87)  4580.06 Pa

Step 2. Determine the orifice coefficient. For flow approaching the plate

d t uo  g 4  0.4 3.6 
Ret   5
 288 000  3000
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FLUIDIZATION 1/2
 2  4575  
Hence Cd,or = 0.6 and uor  0.6  3.6   30.2 m/s
 

This value is satisfactory since it does not exceed the maximum

allowable jet velocity.
The fraction of open area in the perforated plate is then given by
uo 0.4
  0.01325 or 1.3%
uor 30.2
The relationship between the number and size of orifices that will
meet the above requirement is found from Eq. 16 . Solving, we find
the following possible combinations:
dor (m) 0.001 0.002 0.004

Nor 16900 4200

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FLUIDIZATION
Orifices that are too small are liable to clog, whereas those that are too large may
cause uneven distribution of gas.
2
In light of these considerations, choose d or  2 mm and N or  4200 / m
This means one orifice in a square of side 1.54 cm.
Practice questions
• Test yourself questions 7.1 to 7.5, Introduction to particle technology text by Martin
Rhodes, page 205.

• Exercise 7.1 to 7.6, Introduction to particle technology text by Martin Rhodes, page 206
to 207.

• Problems 6.1, 6.6 and 6.7 , Coulson and Richardson’s Chemical Engineering volume 2,
pages 1155 t0 1156.
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 END OF
CHAPTER 6
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