A new definition of bed expansion index and voidage for fluidized biofilm-coated particles

Mehran Andalib, Jesse Zhu, George Nakhla

Research output: Journal PublicationArticlepeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Experimental data available in the literature for bed voidage and bed expansion index of biofilm-coated particles in a fluidized bed was extracted, sorted and used to study the validation of the proposed bed expansion index equations in the literature. Drag coefficients of biofilm-coated particles for all the aforementioned data were calculated using a new proposed equation . [1] that describes drag forces as a function of Archimedes numbers. Archimedes number was proposed to be superior to Reynolds number for bed expansion definition. New equations based on Archimedes number and physical properties of biofilm-coated particles were proposed to calculate the bed expansion index of fluidized biofilm-coated particles as well as bed voidage in fluidized bed bioreactors. The new equations predicted the existing experimental bed expansion index and voidage with less standard average error than all other literature equations that related bed expansion to Reynolds number.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)244-249
Number of pages6
JournalChemical Engineering Journal
Volume189-190
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2012
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Archimedes number
  • Bed expansion index
  • Biofilm-coated particles
  • Fluidized bed
  • Reynolds number

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • Environmental Chemistry
  • General Chemical Engineering
  • Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

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