Hydrodynamic characteristics of a rectangular gas-driven inverse liquid-solid fluidized bed

Yicheng Deng, Keying Ma, Jiaqi Huang, Yuanyuan Shao, Jesse Zhu

Research output: Journal PublicationArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The hydrodynamic characteristics of a rectangular gas-driven inverse liquid-solid fluidized bed (GDFB) using particles of different diameters and densities were investigated in detail. Rising gas bubbles cause a liquid upflow in the riser portion, enabling a liquid downflow that causes an inverse fluidization in the downer portion. Four flow regimes (fixed bed regime, initial fluidization regime, complete fluidization regime, and circulating fluidization regime) and three transition gas velocities (initial fluidization gas velocity, minimum fluidization gas velocity, and circulating fluidization gas velocity) were identified via visual observation and by monitoring the variations in the pressure drop. The axial local bed voidage (ε) of the downer first decreases and then increases with the increase of the gas velocity. Both the liquid circulation velocity and the average particle velocity inside the downer increase with the increase of the gas velocity in the riser, but decrease with the particle loading. An empirical formula was proposed to successfully predict the Richardson-Zaki index “n”, and the predicted ε obtained from this formula has a ±5% relative error when compared with the experimental ε.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)86-96
Number of pages11
JournalParticuology
Volume78
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2023

Keywords

  • Average particle velocity
  • Bed voidage
  • Flow regime
  • Gas-driven
  • Inverse fluidized bed
  • Liquid circulation velocity

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemical Engineering
  • General Materials Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Hydrodynamic characteristics of a rectangular gas-driven inverse liquid-solid fluidized bed'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this