CM3110: Lecture Notes 10

February 2,2004

Fluidization
See McCabe et al., 6th, pp. 171-182

Fluidization

Packed Bed No movement of Particles

Batch Fluidization Particles stay in bed

Increasing Fluid Velocity

Particles Entrained Continuous Fluidization Particles carried off with gas.

Fluidization
A B C D

Fluidization
Uses for fluidization: 1. Chemical reactors 2. Heat exchange

log P
A: Pressure drop = gravitational force. Particles begin to move B: Bed in loosest position with grains in contact. B-C: Grains separate and true fluidization begins C-D: Random travel of particles, particles begin to act singly, no entrainment of particles batch fluidization D: Particles entrained in fluid continuous fluidization Min. Fluidization Velocity

3. Drying 4. Coating 5. Solidification / granulation 6. Growth of particles 7. Adsorption / desorption 8. Others

uFluid

Fluidization
Advantages of fluidization: 1. Liquid like behavior easy to control and automate 2. Rapid mixing, uniform temperature and concentrations. 3. Slow to respond to rapid temperature changes. 4. Useful for large and small operations. 5. Heat and mass transfer rates are high, requiring smaller surfaces. Disadvantages of fluidization:

Fluidization
1. Bubbling beds of fine particles are difficult to predict. 2. Rapid mixing of solids causes non-uniform residence times for continuous flow reactors. 3. Particle break-up. 4. Pipe and wall vessels erode due to particle collision.

CM3110: Lecture Notes 10

February 2,2004

Fluidization
Behavior of fluidized beds: 1. Lighter objects float on top of the bed, i.e., objects less dense than the bulk density of the bed. 2. The surface stays horizontal even in tilted fluidized beds. 3. The solids can flow thru and opening in the vessel just like a liquid. 4. The beds have a static pressure head due to gravity, given by

Fluidization
Questions we wish to ask about fluidized beds: 1. At what fluid velocity does the bed become fluidized? 2. What is the pressure drop across the bed? 3. How much does the bed expand on fluidization?

gh

Bed Height and Porosity

A

Minimum Bed Porosity for Fluidization

The minimum bed porosity for fluidization is obtained from experiment data as close to your actual situation as possible.

Volume of Fluidized Bed =LA Fraction of volume which is solid = (1 ) Total volume if the solids were all one piece = LA(1 ) Since the solids volume must be conserved, it follows that L1 A(1 1 ) = L2 A(1 2 )

And it follows that: L1 (1 2 ) = L2 (1 1 )

Procedure for Estimating Bed Height Pressure Drop and Minimum Fluid Velocity
The bed height is needed in order to size the vessel! Given: total mass of solids, cross-sectional area of bed, density of solids. 1. Estimate height of bed if all solids were one piece. This is at a porosity of 0. Height of bed = (mass of solids)/(density of solids)*(area of bed) 2. Determine minimum porosity from table. 3. Use Equation for bed height:

The pressure drop across the bed and the minimum fluid velocity must be determined in order to size the pumps, fans or compressors that run this process. At equilibrium for batch fluidization, the pressure drop across the bed times the cross sectional area (force up) must equal the force of gravity (force down), minus the buoyancy force (force up).

L1 (1 2 ) (1 m ) = = Lm (1 1 ) (1 0) Lm = L1 (1 m )

CM3110: Lecture Notes 10

February 2,2004

Pressure Drop Across Bed

At minimum fluidization (denoted by "m") Volume of solid if it were one piece =Lm A(1 m ) Mass of solid = Lm A(1 m ) P g Gravitational force downward = Lm A(1 m ) P gc g Buoyancy force upward = Lm A(1 m ) gc Thus, g PA = Lm A(1 m )( P ) gc Note that this does not include P g viscous drag on the particles. This = (1 m )( P ) is included implicitly in the pressure Lm gc
drop.
2

Minimum Fluid Velocity

The Ergun equation for pressure drop across a packed bed can be rearranged to: Pgc 150Vo (1 ) 1.75Vo (1 ) = 2 2 + L S DP 3 S DP 3
2

This is combined with the equation on the previous page to give a quadratic equation for the minimum velocity for fluidization: 150V om (1 m ) 1.75V om + = g ( P ) 2 3 3 2 m S DP m S DP
The Ergun equation does include viscous drag on the particles in the bed!
2

Minimum Fluid Velocity

If we define a minimum fluidization Reynolds number: N Re, mf = DPVOM

Minimum Fluid Velocity

If the terms m and/or S are not known, then a reasonable estimate is: 1 3 S m 14 1 m 11 3 2 S m Substituting into the equation and simplifying, D3 ( P ) g 2 N Re,mf = ( 33.7 ) + 0.0408 P 2
1/ 2

Then the equation on the previous slide can be changed to: 1.75(N Re,mf ) 2 S
3 m

150(1 m )( N Re,mf )
2 S 3 m

3 DP (P ) g

=0

If the Reynolds number is less than 20 (small particles), then the first term in the equation is negligible. If the Reynolds number is greater than 1000, then the second term is negligible.

33.7