Fluidized Bed Reactor Technology

Fluidized-Bed Reactors
Joachim Werther, Hamburg University of Technology, Hamburg, Germany
Related Articles For other industrial reactors and their applications, see Stirred-Tank and Loop Reactors,
Tubular Reactors, Fixed-Bed Reactors, Bubble Columns, Three-Phase Trickle-Bed Reactors,
Reaction Columns, Thin-Film Reactors, Metallurgical Furnaces, and Biochemical Engineering.
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Fluidization Principle . . . . . .
Forms of Fluidized Beds . . . . . . .
Advantages and Disadvantages of
the Fluidized-Bed Reactor . . . . . .
2.
Fluid-Mechanical Principles . . . . .
2.1.
Minimum Fluidization Velocity . . .
2.2.
Expansion of LiquidSolid
Fluidized Beds . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3.
Fluidization Properties of Typical
Bed Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.4.
State Diagram of Fluidized Bed . . .
2.5.
Gas Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.6.
Gas Jets in Fluidized Beds . . . . . .
2.7.
Bubble Development . . . . . . . . . .
2.8.
Elutriation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.9.
Circulating Fluidized Beds . . . . . .
2.9.1. Hydrodynamic Principles . . . . . . . .
2.9.2. Local Flow Structure in Circulating
Fluidized Beds . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.9.3. Design of Solids Recycle System . . .
2.10. Cocurrent Downow Circulating
Fluidized Beds (Downers) . . . . . .
2.11. Attrition of Solids . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.
Solids Mixing in Fluidized-Bed
Reactors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.1.
Mechanisms of Solids Mixing . . . .
3.2.
Vertical Mixing of Solids . . . . . . .
3.3.
Horizontal Mixing of Solids . . . . .
3.4.
Solids Residence-Time Properties .
3.5.
Solids Mixing in Circulating
Fluidized Beds . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.
1.1.
1.2.
1.3.
3
3
3
4.
4
5
5
4.2.
6.
7.
6
7
8
10
10
12
13
13
15
16
16
17
20
20
21
22
22
22
The article gives an overview on fundamentals and applications of uidized-bed technology. Some basic uid-mechanical principles
minimum uidization velocity, status diagram,
gas distribution, bubble development, and solids
entrainment and elutriationare presented at
the beginning, followed by a detailed discussion of circulating uidized beds, downers,
and attrition effects in uidized-bed systems.
Sections on solids mixing, gas mixing, and
c 2007 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

10.1002/14356007.b04 239.pub2
4.1.
5.
8.
8.1.
8.2.
8.3.
8.4.
8.5.
9.
9.1.
9.2.
9.2.1.
9.2.2.
9.3.
9.3.1.
9.3.2.
10.
11.
Gas Mixing in Fluidized-Bed

Reactors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Gas Mixing in Bubbling Fluidized
Beds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Gas Mixing in Circulating Fluidized
Beds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Heat and Mass Transfer in
Fluidized-Bed Reactors . . . . . . . .
Gas-Solid Separation . . . . . . . . . .
Injection of Liquid Reactants into
Fluidized Beds . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Industrial Applications . . . . . . . .
Heterogeneous Catalytic Gas-Phase
Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Polymerization of Olens . . . . . . .
Homogeneous Gas-Phase Reactions
GasSolid Reactions . . . . . . . . . .
Applications in Biotechnology . . . .
Modeling of Fluidized-Bed Reactors
Modeling of LiquidSolid FluidizedBed Reactors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Modeling of GasSolid FluidizedBed Reactors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bubbling Fluidized-Bed Reactors . . .
Circulating Fluidized-Bed Reactors .
New Developments in Modeling
Fluidized-Bed Reactors . . . . . . . .
Computational Fluid Dynamics . . . .
Modeling of Fluidized-Bed Systems .
Scale-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
23
23
23
24
25
26
26
27
29
30
30
36
37
37
37
37
38
40
40
41
42
43
heat and mass transfer in uidized beds complete the fundamentals section, which is followed by an overview on industrial applications.
Fluidized-bed processes for heterogeneous catalytic gas-phase reactions, for the polymerization of olens, for homogenous gas-phase reactions, gassolid reactions and applications in
biotechnology are described in detail. A nal
chapter is devoted to the modeling of uidizedbed reactors.
2
a
A0
Ar
At
b
cv
cb
cc
cj
Cb
Cd
do
dp
d pi
dt
dv
dv 0
D
Dsh
Dsv
Fr p
Gs
h
ho
hgs
hwb
H
H mf
kG
L
m. a
matt
mb
Symbols
volume-specic mass-transfer area between bubble and suspension phases,
m1
cross-sectional area of orice, m2
Archimedes number, dened by Equation (5)
cross-sectional area of reactor, m2
parameter def. by Equation (54)
solids volume concentration
bubble attrition rate constant, dened
by Equation (50), s2 /m4
cyclone attrition rate constant dened
by Equation (51), s2 /m3
jet attrition rate constant, dened by
Equation (52),s2 /m3
concentration in bubble phase,
kmol/m3
concentration in suspension phase,
kmol/m3
orice diameter, m
Sauter diameter, dened by Equation
(6), m
diameter of particle size class i, m
bed diameter, m
local bubble volume equivalent sphere
diameter, m
initial bubble diameter, m
coefcient of molecular diffusion, m2 /s
lateral solids dispersion coefcient,
m2 /s
vertical solids dispersion coefcient,
m2 /s
Froude number, dened by Equation
(29)
solids mass ow rate, based on reactor
cross-sectional area, kg m2 s1
height above distributor level, m
height above distributor where bubbles
are forming, m
gas-to-solid heat transfer coefcient, W
m2 K1
wall-to-bed heat transfer coefcient, W
m2 K
expanded bed height, m
bed height at minimum uidization, m
mass-transfer coefcient, m/s
jet length, m
mass of elutriated solids, kg
mass ow due to attrition, kg/s
bed mass, kg
ms
np
p
Per, c
Q3
ra
rj
Re
Sv
t
TDH
u
ub
uc
umf
uo
usl
u.t
Vb
.
V. mf
Vo
xi
pd
b
i
mf
*
ij
f
s
solids mass ow, g/s

number of passages through cyclone
pressure, Pa
Peclet number, dened by Equation
(43)
cumulative mass distribution
attrition rate, dened by Equation (33),
s1
reaction rate, based on catalyst mass,
kmol kg1 s1
Reynolds number
volume-specic surface area of particles, m1
time, s
transport disengaging height, m
supercial uidizing velocity, m/s
local bubble rise velocity, m/s
velocity at cyclone inlet, m/s
supercial minimum uidizing velocity, m/s
jet velocity at orice, m/s
slip velocity, dened by Equation (27),
m/s
single particle terminal velocity, m/s
visible bubble ow, based on bed area,
m3 m2 s1
minimum uidizing ow rate, m3 /s
ow rate of gas issuing from orice,
m3 /s
mass fraction of particle size fraction i
in bed material
velocity ratio, dened by Equation (14)
pressure drop of the gas distributor, Pa
bed porosity
local bubble gas holdup
porosity of catalyst particle
bed porosity at minimum uidization
elutriation rate constant, kg m2 s1
average life time of a bubble, s
solid-to-gas mass ow ratio
kinematic viscosity, m2 /s
stoichiometric number of species i in
reaction j
uid density, kg/m3
solids density, kg/m3
stress history parameter, dened by
Equation (54)
parameter, dened by Equation (23)
pressure ratio, dened by Equation (28)
1. Introduction
1.1. The Fluidization Principle
In uidization an initially stationary bed of solid
particles is brought to a uidized state by an
upward stream of gas or liquid as soon as the
volume ow rate
. of the uid exceeds a certain
limiting value V mf (where mf denotes minimum
uidization). In the uidized bed, the particles
are held suspended by the uid stream; the pressure drop pfb of the uid on passing through
the uidized bed is equal to the weight of the
solids minus the buoyancy, divided by the crosssectional area At of the uidized-bed vessel (Fig.
1):
pfb =
At H (1) (s f ) g
At
(1)
In Equation (1), the porosity of the uidized

bed is the void volume of the uidized bed (volume in interstices between grains, not including
any pore volume in the interior of the particles)
divided by the total bed volume; s is the solids
apparent density; and H is the height of the uidized bed.
In many respects, the uidized bed behaves
like a liquid. The bed can be stirred like a liquid;
objects of greater specic gravity sink, whereas
those of lower specic gravity oat; if the vessel is tilted, the bed surface resumes a horizontal
position; if two adjacent uidized beds with different bed heights are connected to each other,
the heights become equal; and the uidized bed
ows out like a liquid through a lateral opening. Particularly advantageous features of the
uidized bed for use as a reactor are excellent

gassolid contact in the bed, good gasparticle
heat and mass transfer, and high bedwall and
bedinternals heat-transfer coefcients.
The uidization principle was rst used on
an industrial scale in 1922 for the gasication of
ne-grained coal [1]. Since then, uidized beds
have been applied in many industrially important
processes. The present spectrum of applications
extends from a number of physical processes,
such as coolingheating, drying, sublimation
desublimation, adsorptiondesorption, coating,
and granulation, to many heterogeneous catalytic gas-phase reactions as well as noncatalytic
reactions.
What follows is a survey of the uid mechanical principles of uidization technology, gas
and solid mixing, gassolid contact in the uidized bed, typical industrial applications, and
approaches to modeling uidized-bed reactors.
Further information is given in textbooks (e.g.,
[2]) and monographs (e.g., [3 8]). Summary
treatments can also be found in [9 19]. Other
useful literature includes reports of the Engineering Foundation Conferences on Fluidization
[20 22], the Circulating Fluidized Bed Conferences (e.g., [23 25], andfor use of the uidized bed in energy technologythe Fluidized
Bed Combustion Conferences (e.g., [26 28]).
1.2. Forms of Fluidized Beds

.
As the volume
ow rate V or the supercial ve.
locity u = V /At of the uid increases beyond
Figure 1. Pressure drop in ow through packed and uidized beds
Figure 2. Forms of gassolids uidized beds

.
the value V mf or umf (Fig. 2 A) corresponding to the minimum uidization point, one of
two things happens: in uidization with a liquid, the bed begins to expand uniformly; in uidization with a gasa process of greater industrial importance and the one discussed almost
exclusively in the following materialvirtually
solids-free gas bubbles begin to form (Fig. 2 B).
The local mean bubble size increases rapidly
with increasing height above the grid because
of coalescence of the bubbles. If the bed vessel is sufciently narrow and high, the bubbles
ultimately ll the entire cross section and pass
through the bed as a series of gas slugs (Fig. 2
C). As the gas velocity increases further, more
and more solids are carried out of the bed, the
original, sharply dened surface of the bed disappears, and the solids concentration comes to
decrease continuously with increasing height.
To achieve steady-state operation of such a turbulent uidized bed (Fig. 2 D), solids entrained
in the uidizing gas must be collected and returned to the bed. The simplest way to do this
is with a cyclone integrated into the bed vessel
and a standpipe dipping into the bed. A further
increase in gas velocity nally leads to the circulating uidized bed (Fig. 2 E), which is characterized by a much lower average solids concentration than the previous systems. The high
solids entrainment requires an efcient external
solids recycle system with a specially designed

pressure seal (shown as a siphon in Fig. 2 E).
1.3. Advantages and Disadvantages of

the Fluidized-Bed Reactor
The major advantages of the (gassolid) uidized bed as a reaction system include
1) Easy handling and transport of solids due to
liquid-like behavior of the uidized bed
2) Uniform temperature distribution due to intensive solids mixing (no hot spots even with
strongly exothermic reactions)
3) Large solidgas exchange area by virtue of
small solids grain size
4) High heat-transfer coefcients between bed
and immersed heating or cooling surfaces
5) Uniform (solid) product in batchwise process
because of intensive solids mixing
Set against these advantages are the following disadvantages:
1) Expensive solids separation or gas purication equipment required because of solids entrainment by uidizing gas
2) As a consequence of high solids mixing rate,
nonuniform residence time of solids, backmixing of gas, and resulting lower conversion
3) In catalytic reactions, undesired bypass or
broadening of residence-time distribution for
reaction gas due to bubble development
4) Erosion of internals and attrition of solids (especially signicant with catalysts), resulting
from high solids velocities
5) Possibility of deuidization due to agglomeration of solids
6) Gassolid countercurrent motion possible
only in multistage equipment
7) Difculty in scaling-up
Table 1 compares the uidized-bed reactor with alternative gassolid reaction systems:
xed-bed, moving-bed, and entrained-ow reactors.
Table 1. Comparison of gassolid reaction systems [2, 18]
2. Fluid-Mechanical Principles
2.1. Minimum Fluidization Velocity
The minimum uidization point, which marks
the boundary between the xed- and the
uidized-bed conditions, can be determined by
measuring the pressure drop p across
the bed
.
as a function of volume ow rate V (Fig. 1).
Measurement should always be performed with
decreasing gas velocity, by starting in the uidized condition.
Only for very narrow particle-size distributions, however, does a sharply dened minimum
uidization point occur. The broad size distributions commonly encountered in practice exhibit
a blurred range; conventionally, the minimum

uidization point is dened as the intersection
of the extrapolated xed-bed characteristic with
the line of constant bed pressure drop typical of
the uidized bed (Fig. 1).
The measurement technique already contains
the possibility of calculating the minimum uidization velocity umf : The pressure drop in ow
through the polydisperse xed bed at the point u
= umf , given, for example, by the Ergun relation
[29] ( Fluid Mechanics), is set equal to the
uidized-bed pressure drop given by Equation
(1). From the Ergun relation
p
(1)2
1
u+0.29Sv 3 f u2
= 4.17Sv2
h
3
it follows
umf = 7.14 (1mf ) Sv
1+0.067
3
( )g
mf
s 2f S13 1
(1mf )2
f
v
(2)
Accordingly, to calculate umf , the characteristics

of the gas (f , ), the density s of the particles,
the porosity mf of the bed at minimum uidization, and the volume-specic surface area S v of
the solids must be known. The specic surface
area dened by
Sv =
surface area of all particles in the bed

volume of all particles in the bed
(this takes into account only the external area,

which governs hydraulic resistance, not the pore
surface area as in porous catalysts) cannot be
determined very exactly in practice. Hence umf
should not be calculated on the basis of the
measured particle-size distribution of a representative sample of the bed solids; instead, it
is better measured directly. Equation (2) can be
employed advantageously to calculate umf in an
industrial-scale process on the basis of minimum
uidization velocities measured in the laboratory under ambient conditions [30].
An equation from Wen and Yu [31] can be
used for approximate calculations:
Remf

= 33.7
1+3.6105 Ar1
(3)
where
umf dp
(4)
gd3p s f
f
2
(5)
Remf =
Ar =
Here the surface mean or Sauter diameter calculated from the massdensity distribution q3 (d)
of the particle diameters
dp =
1
dmax

dmin
d1 q
(6)
(d) d (d)
should be used for the characteristic particle diameter d p .

Both the Ergun approach and the Wen and
Yu simplication have been conrmed experimentally over a wide range of parameters. More
recently, Vogt et al. [32] found that Equations
(2) and (3) are also applicable to high-pressure
uidized beds in which the uid is under supercritical conditions
2.2. Expansion of LiquidSolid

Fluidized Beds
The uniform expansion of a bed on uidization
with a liquid can be described by
u
= n
ut
(7)
according to Richardson and Zaki [33]. Here ut

is the terminal velocity of isolated single particles; the exponent n is given as follows, provided
the particle diameter is much smaller than that
of the vessel:
4.65
4.4Re0.03
t
n=
0.1
4.4Ret
2.4
0<Ret 0.2
0.2<Ret 1
1<Ret 500
500<Ret
(8)
The Reynolds number used above is calculated

via the single-particle terminal velocity ut :
Ret =
ut dp
(9)
2.3. Fluidization Properties of Typical

Bed Solids
In uidization with gases, solids display characteristic differences in behavior that can also
affect the operating characteristics of uidizedbed reactors. Geldart has proposed an empirically based classication of solids into four
groups (A to D) by uidization behavior [34].
The parameters employed are those crucial for
uidization properties: the mean particle diameter (d p ) and the density difference (s f ) between solid and uid. Figure 3 shows the Geldart
diagram with the interclass boundaries theoretically established by Molerus [35].
Figure 3. Geldart diagram (boundaries according to

Molerus [35])
For explanation see text
uidized suspension causes the bed to collapse

rather slowly.
Group B solids have moderate particle sizes
and densities. Typical representatives of this
group are sands with mean particle diameters
between ca. 0.06 and 0.5 mm. Bubble formation begins immediately above the minimum
uidization point. The bubbles grow by coalescence, and growth is not limited by bubble splitting. When the gas ow is cut off abruptly, the
bed collapses quickly.
Group D includes solids with large particle diameters or high bulk densities; examples
are sands with average particle diameters > 0.5
mm. Bubbles begin to form just above the minimum uidization point, but the character of bubble ow is markedly different from that in group
B solids: group D solids are characterized by the
formation of slow bubbles (Section 2.7). On
sudden stoppage of the gas ow, the bed also
collapses suddenly.
Solids of group C are very ne-grained, cohesive powders (e.g., our, nes from cyclones
and electrostatic lters) that virtually cannot be
uidized without uidization aids. The adhesion
forces between particles are stronger than the
forces that the uid can exert on the particles.
Gas ow through the bed forms channels extending from the grid to the top of the bed, and
the pressure drop across the bed is lower than
the value from Equation (1). Fluidization properties can be improved by the use of mechanical equipment (agitators, vibrators) or owability additives, e.g., Aerosil.
2.4. State Diagram of Fluidized Bed
Solids of group A have small particle diameters (ca. 0.1 mm) or low bulk densities;
this class includes catalysts used e.g., in the
uidized-bed catalytic cracker. As the gas velocity u increases beyond the minimum uidization
point, the bed of such a solid rst expands uniformly until bubble formation sets in at u = umb
> umf . The bubbles grow by coalescence but
break up again after passing a certain size. At
a considerable height above the gas distributor
grid, a dynamic equilibrium is formed between
bubble growth and breakup. If the gas ow is
cut off abruptly, the gas storage capacity of the
and the abscissa is the Reynolds number Rep

formed with the uidization velocity u and the
particle diameter d p . The state parameter in the
uidized-bed region is the mean bed porosity
. The use of the diagram is facilitated by an
auxiliary grid with lines of constant M and constant Archimedes number. While the dimensionless groups plotted as ordinate and abscissa each
contain both the particle diameter and the uidization velocity, this is not the case with the
parameters Ar and M dened by
Whereas the onset of the uidized state can be

described by the minimum uidization velocity, the bed operating range and the gas velocity
needed to create a given uidized state can be estimated with the help of the uidized-bed state
diagram (Fig. 4) devised by Reh [36]. This plot
shows the uid mechanical resistance characteristics of the xed bed, uidized bed, and pneumatic transport. The ordinate is the quantity
3 u2
f
4 gdp (s f )
Ar =
gd3p (s f )
2
f
(10)
8
M =
f
u3
g (s f )
(11)
The Reh status diagram can answer a number of

practical questions. If, for example, the properties of the gas (f , v) and the solid (dp , s ) and
the uidization velocity u are given, the calculation of Ar and Rep yields, via the status point
S in the diagram (Fig. 4), the average voidage
in the uidized bed. Taking the line M = const.
through S at the intersection with the line 1
at S1 gives information on the particle size which
is just elutriated when a particles with a size distribution are uidized, and the intersection of the
same line with the xed-bed limit = 0.4 (S2 )
indicates the particle size at which uidization
will break down if agglomeration occurs. The
line Ar = const. through S can be used to nd
the minimum uidization velocity at S3 oras
a measure of the upper limit of uidizationthe
maximum uidizing velocity at S4 .
lated uidized-bed systems with potentially similar operating problems.
2.5. Gas Distribution

The gas distribution device must satisfy the following requirements:
1) Ensure uniform uidization over the entire
cross section of the bed (especially important
for shallow beds)
2) Provide complete uidization of the bed without dead spots where, for example, deposits
can form
3) Maintain a constant pressure drop over long
operation periods (outlet holes must not become clogged)
Often, the gas distributor design must also prevent solids from raining through the grid both
during operation and after the bed has been shut
off.
Porous plates of glass, ceramics, metal, or
plastic are commonly used as gas distributors in
laboratory apparatus; a variety of designs are
used in pilot-plant and full-scale uidized-bed
reactors (see Fig. 6). Many more designs can be
found, for example, in [2] and [39].
The principal requirementuniform distribution of uidizing gas over the bed cross
sectioncan be met if the pressure drop pd
across the gas distribution grid is large enough.
Suggested values for the ratio pd /pfb are
0.10.3 (with a minimum pd of 3.5 kPa) [40],
0.20.4 [41], and > 0.3 [42].
For a given pressure drop pd the gas velocity in the nozzle uo can be calculated from
pd =
o
CD u2o
2
where o is the gas density in the orice and C D

is the drag coefcient. Applying the continuity
equation
.
Figure 4. Reh status diagram with status points S and S1 S4

(for explanation, see text)
V = No Ao uo
An important practical point is that the state

diagram implies a classication scheme that relates various uidized-bed systems to one another [37, 38] (Fig. 5). When a new uidizedbed process is being designed, the position of
the state point in the diagram will identify re-
either the number of nozzles N o or the crosssectional area of the individual nozzle. Ao can be
calculated for a given gas ow rate V .
Problems related to the design of gas distributors are attrition of solids (see Section 2.11),
erosion, and back-ow of solids. Erosion may
occur at the distributor plate and at neighboring
Figure 5. Rehs uidized-bed state diagram with operating regions of different reaction systems
a) Circulating uidized bed; b) Fluidized-bed roaster; c) Bubbling uidized bed; d) Shaft furnace; e) Moving bed
Figure 6. Industrial gas distributors

A) Perforated plate; B) Nozzle plate; C) Bubble-cap plate
10
nozzles or walls due to gas jets as well as at the

nozzle itself. Back-ow of solids into the windbox is caused by pressure uctuations. In order
to prevent this either the design pressure drop has
to be larger than the pressure uctuations or
if this is not feasible for economic reasonsa
design must be chosen which tolerates short periods of gas ow reversal without permitting the
solids to penetrate into the windbox. For the latter case the bubble cap design has turned out to
be advantageous [43].
In the operation of uidized-bed reactors, the
quadratic response (pd u2 ) of industrial gasdistributor designs must be kept in mind, because even if the uidization velocity is lowered only slightly, an unacceptably low pressure
drop across the gas distributor may occur. Industrial experience with different distributor designs, practical design rules, and a discussion of
distributor-related problems, such as weepage
into the windbox and erosion by grid jets and at
grid nozzles, has been compiled in [44].
2.6. Gas Jets in Fluidized Beds

Gas jets can form at the outlet openings of industrial gas distributors and also where gaseous
reactants are admitted directly into the uidized
bed. A knowledge of the geometry of such jets,
in particular the depth of penetration, is important for the implementation of chemical operations in uidized-bed reactors, and not just from
the standpoint of reaction engineering. It is also
vital for reasons of design: the strongly erosive
action of these jets means that internals, such as
heat-exchanger tubes, must not be located within
their range.
The literature contains many empirical correlations for estimating the mean depth of jet penetration L (e.g., [2 4]); these must, however,
be used with care and, whenever possible, only
within the range of parameter values for which
they were derived. By way of example, Merry
gives the following correlations for vertical gas
jets [45]:
L
= 5.2
do
f do
s dp
0.3
2 0.2
uo
1.3
1
gdo
and for horizontal jets [46]:
(12)
0.4

u2
f 0.2
= 5.25 (1)o og d
s
s
p
0.2
d
dp
4.5
L
do
(13)
Here d o is the diameter of the outlet opening, uo

is the outow velocity, and o is the density of
the jet gas.
2.7. Bubble Development

For many applications, especially physical operations and noncatalytic reactions, the state of
a uidized bed can adequately be described in
terms of a single quantity averaged over the entire bed, such as the mean bed porosity . In contrast, the design of uidized-bed catalytic reactors requires that local uid-ow conditions also
be taken into account.
The local uid mechanics of gassolid uidized beds are determined by the existence of
bubbles, which inuence the performance of
uidized-bed equipment in several ways: the
stirring action and convective solids transport
by the rising bubbles are helpful; the resulting
intensive solids motion produces a uniform temperature throughout the uidized bed and rapid
heat transfer between the bed and the heating or
cooling tubes submerged in it. The bubbles and
the motion of solids that they cause, however,
also have some drawbacks: attrition of solid particles, erosion of internals, and increased solids
entrainment by bubbles bursting at the bed surface. The existence of bubbles is particularly
detrimental in the case of a heterogeneous catalytic gas-phase reaction, because the bypass of
reactant gas in the bubble phase limits the conversion achieved in the uidized bed.
The ultimate cause of bubble formation is the
universal tendency of gassolid ows to segregate. Many studies on the theory of stability (e.g., [3, 4]) have shown that disturbances
induced in an initially homogeneous gassolid
suspension do not decay but always lead to the
formation of voids. The bubbles formed in this
way exhibit a characteristic ow pattern whose
basic properties can be calculated with the model
of Davidson and Harrison [47]. Figure 7 shows
the streamlines of the gas ow relative to a bubble rising in a uidized bed at minimum uidization conditions ( = mf ). The characteristic parameter is the ratio of the bubbles upward
velocity ub to the interstitial velocity of the gas
in the suspension surrounding the bubble:
ub
=
umf/ mf
(14)
dv0
=
m
1/3
0.008b
. 2 0.2
1.3 Vgo
porous plate
where ho is the height above the grid where the

bubbles form (for a porous plate, ho 0; for a
perforated plate, ho = L; for a nozzle plate, ho is
the height of the outlet opening above the plate;
and for a bubble-cap plate, ho is the height of the
0 is the
lower edge of the cap above the plate). V
volume ow rate of gas through the individual
grid opening.
The local volume fraction of bubble gas b is
given by
.
Figure 7. Gas ow for isolated rising bubbles in the

Davidson model [47]
(17)
.
and the visible bubble ow V b is

.
V b 0.8 (uumf )
The case > 1 is typical for solids of Geldart groups A and B. The gas rising in the bubble
ows downward again in a thin layer of suspension (cloud) surrounding the bubble. An
important point for heterogeneous catalytic gasphase reactions is that the presence of a boundary between bubble gas and suspension gas leads
to the existence of two distinct phases (bubble
phase and suspension phase) with drastically different gassolid contact.
If < 1, some of the gas in the suspension
phase undergoes short-circuit ow through the
bubble, while only part of the bubble gas recirculates through the suspension. This type of ow
is typical for uidized beds of coarse particles
(Geldart group D).
Under the real operating conditions of a
uidized-bed reactor, a number of interacting
bubbles occur in the interior of the uidized bed.
As a rule, the interaction leads to coalescence.
As detailed studies have shown, this process is
quite different from that between gas bubbles in
liquids because of the absence of surface-tension
effects in the uidized bed [48, 49].
For predicting mean bubble sizes in freely
bubbling uidized beds, a differential equation
for bubble growth should be used in the case of
Geldart group A and B solids [50]:

2b
9
(16)
industrial gas distributor
b = V b /ub
d
dv =
dh
11
1
3
dv
3 ub
(15)
with the following boundary condition at h = ho :
(18)
The upward velocity ub of bubbles depends

not only on the bubble size but also on the diameter d t of the uidized bed:
where
.
ub =V b +0.71b

b =

gdv
0.05dt 1 m, Geldart group A

3.2 d0.33
t
3.2 d0.5
t 0.1dt 1 m, Geldart group B
(19)
(20)
Outside these limits, b is taken as constant.

The differential equation (Eq. 15) describes
not only bubble growth by coalescence but also
the splitting of bubbles (second term on the righthand side [51]). The crucial parameter here is the
mean bubble lifetime :
280
umf
g
(21)
In practice, bubble growth is limited not only by

the splitting mechanism based on the particlesize distribution of the bed solids, but also by
internals (screens, tube bundles, and the like)
that cause bubbles to break up. Computational
techniques for estimating this process are given
in [52, 53].
Hilligardt and Werther have derived a corresponding bubble-growth model for coarseparticle uidized beds (Geldart group D) [50].
An example of a measured and calculated
bubble-growth curve is presented in Figure 8.
12
the size d v of bubbles bursting at the bed surface
[56]:
T DH = 18.2dv
(22)
Equation (25) was, however, derived for a

bench-scale unit and may not scale to plant-size
equipment.
Figure 8. Bubble growth in a uidized bed of ne particles

(Geldart group A; data points from [54], calculation from
[50])
2.8. Elutriation
When bubbles burst at the surface of the uidized
bed, solid material carried along in their wake is
ejected into the freeboard space above the bed.
The solids are classied in the freeboard; particles whose settling velocity ut is greater than
the gas velocity fall back into the bed, whereas
particles with ut < u are elutriated by the gas
stream. As a result, both the volume concentration of solids cv and the mass ow rate of entrained solids in the freeboard show a characteristic exponential decay (Fig. 9). With increasing
height above the bed surface, the transport disengaging height (TDH) is nally reached. Here
the increased local gas velocities due to bubble eruptions have decayed, and the gas stream
contains only particles with ut < u. When the
TDH can be reached in a uidized-bed reactor,
this is associated with minimum entrained mass
ow rates and solids concentrations, and hence
with minimum loading on downstream dust collection equipment. Design of the dust collection system requires knowledge of the entrained
mass ow rate Gs and the particle-size distribution of the entrained solids. For the design
of the uidized-bed reactor, the distribution cv
(h) of the solids volume concentration and, for
gassolid reactions, the local particle-size distribution as a function of height in the freeboard
must be known.
For solids of Geldart group A, the TDH can
be estimated with the diagram shown in Figure
10 [55]. The following relation is given for the
TDH of Geldart group B solids as a function of
Figure 9. Schematic drawing of uidized bed and freeboard
Figure 10. Estimation of transport disengaging height

(TDH), according to [55]
umb = Fluidization velocity at which bubble development
begins
The mass ow rate G s of entrained solids per

unit area leaving the uidized-bed reactor is the
sum of contributions from the entrainable particle size fractions (ut < u):
Gs =

i
xi i
(23)
Here x i is the mass fraction of particle-size

fraction i in the bed material and *i is the elutriation rate constant for this fraction. The literature contains a number of empirical correlations for estimating *i (e.g., [2 4]). More
physical-based are the elutriation models of Wen
and Chen [57] and of Kunii and Levenspiel [2,
58], which enable not only calculation of the exiting mass ow rate but also estimation of the
concentration versus height cv (h) in the freeboard. The model by Smolders and Baeyens additionally takes the effect of variable freeboard
geometry into account [59].
A literature survey on the factors affecting
elutriation and the available modeling tools is
given in [60].
2.9. Circulating Fluidized Beds

2.9.1. Hydrodynamic Principles
In Rehs state diagram of the uidized bed [36],
the circulating uidized bed (CFB) is located
above the single-particle suspension curve for
Re < 102 and porosities greater than about 0.8
(dashed line in Fig. 5). The shortcoming of this
diagram is that it does not show an important
parameter in the operation of a circulating uidized bed: the circulating solids mass ow rate
per unit area G s . The diagram of Figure 11 [61]
attempts to remedy this by plotting the mean slip
velocity usl between gas and solids
usl =
u (Gs /s )
13
(24)
versus the mean solids concentration cv = 1

, with Gs as the parameter. The limiting conditions are high solids concentration (bed at minimum uidization) and cv 0 with usl = ut (isolated single particle). In the circulating uidizedbed region, slip velocity increases with increasing Gs and can become much higher than the
single-particle settling velocity (the physical justication for this statement comes from the formation of strands or clusters of particles). In the
entrained-ow region the slip velocities again
decrease with decreasing solids concentration.
Figure 11. Fluidized-bed state diagram, according to [61]
The uidized-bed state diagrams discussed

thus far, as well as others (e.g., [62, 63]), are suitable mainly for the qualitative interpretation of
ow phenomena. A diagram proposed by Wirth
(e.g., [11, 64, 65]) also provides quantitative assistance in the design of circulating uidized
beds. The schematic in Figure 12 applies to a
given gassolid system described by a constant
value of the Archimedes number Ar. The ordinate is the dimensionless pressure drop of the
uidized bed
=
p
(s f ) (1mf ) g h
(25)
the abscissa is the particle Froude number

F rp =
u
(s f )
gdp
f
(26)
The dimensionless pressure drop is the ratio of

the pressure drop p along the ow path h to
the maximum possible value for ascending ow
(the value that would be attained if the pipe cross
section were lled with solids corresponding to
the concentration at the minimum uidization
point). The parameter of the family of curves is
a volume ow rate ratio
f
s (1mf )
(27)
where is the ratio of solid-to-gas mass ow

rates. The limiting curve bounds the region of
stable, vertically upward gassolid ow on the
low gas velocity side.
Figure 13 shows how the state diagram of
Figure 12 is constructed for a circulating uidized bed with siphon recycle. If solids holdup
in the recycle line and siphon is ignored, this
case represents operation with a constant bed
mass independent of velocity. At high gas velocities and if acceleration effects are neglected,
14
the bed material is distributed uniformly over the

total height H cfb of the uidized bed (Fig. 13 C).
The circulating uidized bed then exhibits a single steady-state section with a constant pressure
gradient (p/h). This pressure gradient can be
calculated from the bed mass as
hom =
(s f ) gHmf (1mf )

Hmf
=
(s f ) gHcfb (1mf )
Hcfb
(28)
where H mf is the bed height at minimum uidization.
Figure 12. State diagram for the circulating uidized bed

with siphon, according to Wirth [64]
Ar = const., parameter of family of curves is the volume ow
rate ratio f /(s (1 mf )); Fr p = particle Froude number for supercial minimum uidization velocity (pumf ),
single-particle terminal velocity (pt), and transport velocity
(pT), respectively.
The states identied by hom to the right of

the bounding curve in Figure 12 are accessible
by increasing the gas velocity (corresponding to
increasing Fr p ). With increasing Fr p the volume ow ratio increases; that is, relatively more
solids are elutriated (and thus circulated).
If Fr p is allowed to drop below the limit
F rpmax (Fig. 13 B, Fig. 12) two steady-state
sections appear in the riser tube: the one in the
lower part is marked by a high pressure gradient, that in the upper part by a lower gradient.
Figure 13 illustrates the physical signicance
of these two pressure gradients. In practice, the
transition between the two linear regions takes
place gradually. The height of the transition zone
corresponds to the transport disengaging height
(TDH).
The picture changes further if the gas velocity
declines to values lower than the settling velocity
ut of a single isolated particle. In this case (for
Fr p < Fr pt , Fig. 13 A, Fig. 12), no more solids
can be elutriated, and the pressure gradient in the
upper linear region vanishes. All the solid material is now in the form of a bubbling or turbulent
uidized bed.
The solids concentrations averaged over the
tube cross section (1 ) can be calculated from
the dimensionless pressure drop:
1 = (1mf )
(29)
Besides the pressure and solids concentration

prole, the circulating mass ow rate of solids
G s At is important for the design of the circulating uidized bed. In particular, the design of
the solids collection and recycle system depends
very much on this quantity. The mass ow rate
of solids depends on the ow regime. At gas velocities such that two steady-state sections are
Figure 13. Pressure prole in the circulating uidized bed with siphon, according to Wirth [64]
A) F rpumf <F rp <F rpt ; B) F rpt <F rpmax ; C) F rp >F rpmax
present in the bed vessel (i.e., F rpumf < Fr p
< Fr pT ), the mass ow rate of entrained solids
depends on the physics of the gassolid ow.
Figure 14 plots the dimensionless solids mass
ow rate versus Fr p , with the Archimedes number as parameter. For a given Ar, the ow rate
tends to zero as Fr p Fr pt and reaches a maximum at Fr p = Fr pT . The slope of the elutriation
curve becomes greater with increasing Ar; that
is, the coarser the particles, the greater is the relative change in the circulating mass ow rate of
solids with a change in gas velocity.
Figure 14. Elutriation diagram when the circulating

uidized bed contains two steady-state sections, according
to Wirth [64]
At high gas velocities in the circulating uidized bed (i.e., when a single steady-state section exists), the entrained mass ow rate depends
on the particle Froude number and the solids
holdup. More detailed information about the application of Wirths theory in practice may be
found in [11].
Whereas Wirths analysis of the circulating
uidized bed starts from the pneumatic transport
condition, the models of Rhodes and Geldart
[66], as well as Kunii and Levenspiel [2, 58],
are based on the bubbling uidized bed and describe the circulating uidized bed as a limiting
15
case of a bubbling bed with a very high rate of

solids entrainment.
2.9.2. Local Flow Structure in Circulating
Fluidized Beds
The Wirth state diagram, as a rst step toward the
local characterization of ow regimes in a circulating uidized bed, describes the vertical prole
of the solids concentration. In the lower section
of a circulating uidized bed a dense region exits near the gas distributor. It has been observed
that in this bottom zone bubble-like voids coexist with a surrounding dense suspension. The
solids volume concentration is higher at the wall
(cv 0.4) then in the center (cv 0.15) of the
bottom zone [67]. The splash zone which links
the bottom zone to the upper dilute zone is characterized by violent gassolid mixing. Many recent experimental studies with various measurement techniques (e.g., X-ray tomography [68],
capacitance tomography [69] and ber-optical
probes [70]) have shown that the upper section of
the circulating uidized bed exhibits characteristic horizontal proles, with the concentration
cv ,wall near the vessel wall always signicantly
higher than the value c v averaged over the vessel cross section; for example, cv , wall = 2.3 c v
[71].
Local measurements of the solids concentration and solids velocity show that upwardowing regions of low solids concentration and
downward-owing aggregates of high solids
concentration alternate in time at every point inside the uidized bed, with downward-moving
aggregates (strands, clusters) predominating
near the wall and upward-moving regions of low
suspension concentration predominating in the
central zone. However, no signicant downward
ow of solids near the wall was observed in highdensity circulating uidized beds, e.g., [72]. The
picture of the local ow structure in a circulating uidized bed, as derived from these observations, is shown schematically in Figure 15.
A modeling approach which is based on the
local ow structure of the CFB is the energyminimization multiscale (EMMS) model [73].
It considers the tendency of a uid in a gas
solid two-phase ow to pass through the particulate layer with least resistance and the tendency
of the solids to maintain least gravitational po-
16
tential. Least resistance means that the volumespecic energy consumption for suspending and
transporting solids is minimized, and minimization of the gravitational potential is equivalent
to the requirement that the local mean voidage
attains a minimum. The model has been applied as a description of uid-mechanical phenomena in CFB risers of different sizes [74, 75]
but also for the prediction of ow patterns of
gas and solids in industrial-scale units, such as a
CFB boiler [76] and a petrochemical processing
unit [77]. Another promising line of development is the introduction of the EMMS concept
into computational uid dynamical calculations
of multiphase ows; rst results obtained with
a drag model based on the EMMS model are
encouraging [78].
the mass ow rate of the solids can be regulated

by varying the gas supplied to the standpipe.
Figure 16. Design options for solids recycle

A) Siphon; B) L-valve
Because the solids path does not contain any

sort of mechanical closure, the characteristic
pressure distribution plotted in Figure 17 is obtained. The distribution of solids between the uidized bed and the recycle line is directly related
to this pressure distribution. Operating properties differ from one recycle design to another
[79].
2.10. Cocurrent Downow Circulating

Fluidized Beds (Downers)
Figure 15. Schematic diagram of ow structure in a circulating uidized bed
2.9.3. Design of Solids Recycle System

Solids carried over with the uidized gas are
generally collected in cyclones. In the case of
bubbling beds, the solids can easily be returned
to the bed through the standpipe of the cyclone,
which dips directly into the bed.
Due to the large amounts of circulating solids,
circulating uidized beds require very large cyclones arranged beside and outside the bed, with
special valves needed to connect the standpipe
to the bed vessel. Figure 16 shows two design
options, the siphon and the L-valve. With the
siphon, the solids are uidized (i.e., enabled to
ow back into the reactor). In the L-valve design,
A certain drawback of circulating and bubbling

uidized beds when applied for gas-phase reactions is the backmixing which inevitably occurs
in the gas phase. In bubbling uidized beds it
is the bubble-induced solids circulation, and in
circulating uidized beds the downow of solids
in the wall zone, which entrains gas in the upstream direction and thus lowers the yield of a
catalytic reaction or gives rise to undesired consecutive or side reactions. These disadvantages
caused by the hydrodynamic effects of both gas
and solids owing against gravity could be overcome in the so-called downer reactor, in which
the ow directions of both gas and solids are
downward, i.e., in the same direction as gravity
[80]. Another incentive is the possibility of realizing short contact times between gas and solids
of around or even below one second.
Downer systems have been intensely studied [80]. Hydrodynamics [81, 82], gas mixing
17
Figure 17. Pressure distribution in solids recycle system of a circulating uidized bed
a) Fluidized bed; b) Return leg
[83], and solids mixing [84, 85] have been investigated both experimentally and by numerical
simulation [86]. It has been found that the hydrodynamics of the downer are also characterized
by a wall zone of increased solids concentration. However, axial and radial gas-solids ow
structures are much more uniform than in conventional uidized beds. Another result is that
the length of the ow development zone is much
shorter for the downer than for the riser, which
means that reactions with very short contact
times can be carried out under near-plug-ow
conditions. However, the solids feeding process
and the geometry of the entrance region are critical points that deserve special attention [87].
The patent and open literature suggest various applications for downer reactors, e.g., residual oil cracking [88], coal pyrolysis [89], and
biomass pyrolysis [90]. The catalytic pyrolysis
of heavy feeds for the production of light olens
has been investigated on the laboratory scale
with promising results [88]. However, no largescale industrial process has emerged yet.
bed material needs to remain unaltered for the

longest possible time, as in uidized-bed reactors for heterogeneous catalytic gas-phase reactions. Catalyst attrition is important in the economics of such processes and may even become
the critical factor.
2.11. Attrition of Solids
Catalyst attrition in uidized-bed reactors

occurs normally as surface abrasion (Fig. 18)
which means that surface asperities are abraded
and edges of the catalyst particles are rounded
off. Fragmentation may also play a role, especially for some fresh catalyst particles which on
The attrition of solid particles is an unavoidable consequence of the intensive solids motion in the uidized bed. The attrition problem is especially critical in processes where the
Figure 18. Attrition modes and their effects on the particle

size distribution (q3 = mass density distribution of particle
sizes d p )
18
entering the reactor may simply be crushed into

pieces. If in an industrial process extraordinarily high catalyst losses are observed it is advisable to examine catalyst samples under the scanning electron microscope. If the sample contains
many fragments this could be an indication of a
wrong design (e.g., too high a velocity at the
cyclone inlet or at the distributor).
When designing catalytic uidized-bed processes, the attrition performance of candidate
catalysts should be tested under standardized
conditions in the process development stage.
This test can be performed in a small laboratory
apparatus; it consists essentially of an extended
uidization test in which the mass of solids carried out of the bed is recorded as a function of
time. Figure 19 presents a typical test result: during the rst hours of testing, both the attrited material and the ne fraction of the bed material are
elutriated. Only after a relatively long operating
period is a quasi-steady state attained. The attrition rate r a in this steady state can be dened
as
ra =
1 ma
mb t
(30)
where ma is the elutriated mass and mb the

bed mass. Usually r a is expressed as percentage per day; for relatively attrition-resistant,
uidized-bed catalysts, it is of the order of 0.2 %
per day [9].
Many standard test apparatuses have been

proposed for comparative attrition tests (e.g.,
[91, 92]), but all such equipment has been suitable only for comparative studies of different
catalysts under consideration for the same process. The attrition measured in large-scale equipment can be far different from the values measured in a test apparatus.
A number of sources can be identied for
catalyst attrition in industrial uidized-bed reactors:
1) Jet attrition at gas distribution grid openings
and nozzles where gaseous reactants are admitted to the bed
2) Bubble attrition in the bed due to solids motion caused by bubbles
3) Attrition in cyclones
4) Attrition in pneumatic conveying lines, such
as those between reactor and regenerator beds
Empirical correlations are available for the
attriting action of a gas jet in the uidized bed
[93] and for the size reduction effect of solids
motion in the bed [94, 95].
Werther and coworkers [96] employ the laboratory apparatus shown schematically in Figure
20 which enables separate study of the attrition
due to jets from nozzles of various diameters and
that due to bubbles.
Figure 19. Result of an attrition measurement

Figure 20. Experimental apparatus for attrition measurement
Under steady-state conditions the jetattrition-related mass production of nes per
unit time for a gas distributor with a number no
of orices from mother particles with diameter
d p,i which are present in the catalyst inventory
with a mass fraction Q3i is proportional to the
particle size d pi , the mass fraction Q3i , the
density o of the gas issuing from the orice,
the square of the orice diameter d o , and to the
cube of the jet exit velocity uo [97, 98]:
matt,jet,i =cj n0 dpi Q3i 0 d20 u30
(31)
Attrition due to the bubble induced solids

movement is given by [98]
matt,bubble,i =cb dpi Q3i mb (uumf )3
(32)
where mb denotes the bed mass which contains

bubbles (i.e., which is located outside the jetdominated grid region). Equation (32) also denotes the mass production of attrited nes which
is resulting from the size fraction d pi in the bed.
The stress on the catalyst particles will be different in contact with a gas jet, in the bulk of the
bubbling uidized bed, and during its passage
through a cyclone. Recent investigations of cyclone-induced catalyst attrition [99 101] have
shown that the mass ow of attrited nes which
is produced by attrition inside the cyclone when
a solids mass ow m
c Q3ci of particles of the
size fraction d pi enters the cyclone is given by
u2
matt,c,i =cc mc Q3ci dpi c

c
/ for jet induced attrition
tj
t
/t for in bed attrition
=
np/ for attrition in cyclones

np
19
(35)
where the denition of the characteristic parameters t j , t b , and np can be taken from Figure
21, np is the number of passages of a given particle through the cyclone, and t b and t j are the
time periods during which the particle is subjected to bubble and jet stress, respectively. If it
is assumed that the effects of the different stress
mechanisms on the catalyst particles are additive, a uniform treatment of the overall stress
history for all three attrition mechanisms is given
by
matt ()
matt,
1.1b
1/
b
1/
b
>1.1
1.1
(36)
The parameter b is characteristic of a given

catalyst. Figure 22 shows measurements with
FCC catalyst [103] which lead to b = 1.16.
Equation (36) allows the description of the
stress-history-dependent attrition rate and can be
used for the simulation of uidized bed reactors
(see Section 9.3.2).
(33)
where uc is the gas velocity at the cyclone

inlet, and c the solids loading of the incoming
gas ow
c =
mc
c uc Ac
(34)
where c is the density of the inowing gas,

and Ac the cross-sectional area of the cyclone
inlet.
Equations (31)(34) describe the catalyst attrition under conditions of steady state, i.e.,
when the particles are more or less rounded
off (Fig. 18). To describe also the initial breakage and attrition of fresh catalyst particles, it is
necessary to follow the fate of the particles on
their introduction into the reactor, which is possible with population balance models (cf. Section 9.3.2). Klett et al. [102] and Hartge et al.
[103] have dened a stress history parameter
Figure 21. Dependence of attrition on time (bubble- and

jet-induced attrition) and number of passages np through a
cyclone.
A variety of approaches exist for reducing

attrition in industrial uidized-bed reactors. The
jet attrition action can be controlled with special gas distributor designs ([9]; e.g., by the use
of bubble caps, Fig. 6) such that gas jets do not
issue directly into the bed at high velocity. Attrition due to bubbles can be lowered by limiting
bubble growth (avoiding high gas velocities and
large bed heights; use of ne catalysts with low
20
umf , as implied by Eqs. 18 and 24). Attrition in

cyclones can be prevented, in the simplest case,
by replacing the cyclones with devices such as
lters. Attrition can also be minimized by cutting back the load on the cyclone, for example,
by placing the cyclones above the TDH. Relatively high catalyst attrition also occurs in circulating uidized beds where very large quantities
of solids must be collected in the cyclones.
Figure 22. Dimensionless attrition rate of FCC catalyst as

a function of stress history.
3. Solids Mixing in Fluidized-Bed

Reactors
The intensive solids mixing typical of uidizedbed reactors has several effects on performance.
In catalytic reactions, the large-scale vertical
solids mixing results in a transport of the gas
components, adsorbed to the catalyst, so that the
gas phase is backmixed and the conversion and
selectivity are impaired. In noncatalytic gas
solid reactions, the mean solids residence time
and residence-time distribution, as well as the
propagation behavior of the solids from individual feed points, play a role. In general, fast
and strongly exothermic reactions require fairly
vigorous solids mixing to prevent temperature
peaks near the reactant inlet.
3.1. Mechanisms of Solids Mixing

The wake of the rising bubbles produces a rather
slight upward and lateral drift of the particles
(Fig. 23 A) [104]. In addition, solid particles are
drawn upward in the wake, portions of the wake
are shed at irregular intervals during bubble motion, and new portions of solids are taken into the
wake (Fig. 23 B). Solids transport in the wake is
essentially the reason that vertical solids mixing
is from one to two orders of magnitude better
than horizontal mixing.
Figure 23. Solids mixing in bubbling uidized beds due to

particle drift (A) and wake transport (B)
a) Cloud; b) Wake
For reasons of continuity, the upward transport of particles by bubbles is coupled with a
downward movement in the suspension phase
that surrounds the bubbles. Measurements of the
local bubble-gas ow have shown that the rising bubbles are not distributed evenly over the
bed cross section. As a typical example, Figure
24 A gives a plot of the radial distribution of
the bubble-gas ow at three heights above the
grid in a uidized bed 1 m in diameter. The prole is comparatively at in the bottom zone but
exhibits a steeper slope as the height increases,
with an annular zone of preferentially rising bubbles. The resulting circulation of the solids also
features an annular region of upward transport
in the wakes with predominantly downward motion of the solids in the center and at the periphery of the bed (Fig. 24 B).
The large-scale solids circulation can be reinforced by uneven distribution of the uidized gas
over the distributor cross section [106]. Figure
25 presents examples of industrial uidized-bed
furnaces in which forced circulation of the solids
is employed to improve coal burnup.
21
3.2. Vertical Mixing of Solids

The propagation behavior of the solids in a uidized bed can be described by a number of models (e.g., [2, 109]). Most commonly used is the
dispersion model, in which solids transport is described by a diffusion law. The numerical value
of the dispersion coefcient Dsv for solids mixing in the vertical direction increases with increasing gas velocity because of the growth in
the number and size of bubbles. The following
simple empirical correlation is given for ne particles (Geldart groups A and B) [2]:

Dsv
m2 /s

= 0.06+0.1
u
m/s

(37)
For a plant-scale uidized bed (0.9 1.26 m2

in plan, bed height 4 m) equipped with a bundle
of horizontal tubes, a very similar relation was
derived for a solid of Geldart group B [110]:

Figure 24. A) Radial distribution of bubble-gas ow;

B) Relationship between bubble distribution and solids circulation [105]
d t = 1 m, quartz sand, umf = 0.013 m/s, u = 0.2 m/s, H mf
.
= 0.5 m, V b = visible bubble ow
Dsv
m2 /s

= 0.056
uumf
m/s

(38)
Because solids circulation becomes more

marked in larger-diameter uidized beds, the
dispersion coefcient increases rapidly with increasing bed diameter d t (Fig. 26). For this case
the following expression is found [2]:
Figure 25. Fluidized-bed furnaces with forced circulation of solids

A) According to [107]; B) According to [108]
22

Dsv
m2 /s

= 0.030
dt
m
0.65
(39)
horizontal dispersion coefcient Dsh averaged

over the bed height H, given local bubble properties (bubble diameter d v , bubble-gas holdup
b ) [115]:
Dsh =0.67103 +0.023
1
H
H
0
1b

gd3v dh (40)
This correlation holds for solids of Geldart

groups B and D with Archimedes numbers between 8 600 and 58 000.
3.4. Solids Residence-Time Properties
Figure 26. Vertical solids dispersion in uidized beds of

ne particles (Geldart groups A and B) [2]
The above correlations can provide only

rough values. Other effects observed in practice include, in particular, a signicant effect of
particle-size range [111, 112].
Many applications of uidization technology

involve continuous processing of solids. Important considerations in such cases are not
only the mean solids residence time but also
the residence-time distribution. Whereas all elements have the same residence time in a plugow system, a stirred tank exhibits a broad distribution of residence times. To a good approximation, the residence-time properties of the uidized bed with respect to the solids are the same
as those of a stirred tank. The mean residence
time is the ratio of the solids mass
mb in the
.
reactor to the solids throughput ms :
=
3.3. Horizontal Mixing of Solids

In gassolid reactions, the propagation behavior
of the solids in the horizontal direction is important if, for example, the solid material is fed
into the bed at isolated feed points. Werther and
coworkers model the horizontal propagation of
coal in a uidized-bed furnace, describing the
carbon conversion in terms of a simple rstorder reaction (rate constant k with dimension
s1 ) [113]. The crucial parameter is the ratio
kd2t /Dsh between the rate of the chemical reaction and the rate of dispersive mass transport.
For high values of k (fast reaction), large reactor
diameters d t , and low values of the dispersion
coefcient Dsh , the local carbon concentration in
the bed exhibits a rather steep horizontal prole,
resulting in a signicantly nonuniform distribution of gas emissions over the bed cross section.
On the basis of Kunii and Levenspiels model
of bubble-induced solids mixing [114], an expression has been derived for calculating the
mb
.
ms
(41)
The mass fraction dms /mb of solids having a residence time between t and t + dt is
t
dms
1
= e dt
mb
(42)
Similarly, the fraction f of solids having a residence time less than t in the bed is calculated
as
f = 1et/
(43)
The residence-time distribution can be narrowed

by placing a number of uidized beds in series.
Multistage systems of this type are used, for example, in uidized-bed drying [18].
3.5. Solids Mixing in Circulating

Fluidized Beds
The circulating uidized bed exhibits a complex
gassolid ow pattern as discussed in Section
2.9. Different regions can be discriminated with
respect to the prevailing mechanisms of solids
motion and mixing. An extensive survey on experimental ndings in solids mixing is given in
[116]. In the upper diluted zone of the circulating uidized bed, clusters are formed with
mainly upward ow in the core and predominantly downwards motion near the wall. While
the wall region can be modeled by a plug-ow
approach, the core region exhibits radial gradients. The Peclet number characterizing radial
solids mixing in the core region
P er, s =
uc 2R
Dr, s
increases from 150 to 300 with increasing solids

volume concentrations [117]. A recent investigation of solids mixing in the bottom zone with
solid carbon dioxide as a tracer showed that in
this zone solids are almost ideally mixed in the
vertical direction but lateral mixing is limited
with dispersion coefcients of about 0.1 m2 /s
which corresponds to Peclet numbers of around
40, [118].
Counteracting to solids mixing, segregation
occurs in applications using particles of a broad
size distribution and/or different densities. Easily uidized particles tend to be elutriated while
others tend to sink. A dynamic equilibrium between solids mixing and segregation is established, causing a spatial distribution of particles
with signicantly different solids properties, as
was shown in an experimental study with a mixture of iron powder and quartz sand with a broad
particle size distribution [119].
4. Gas Mixing in Fluidized-Bed

Reactors
The mixing and residence-time distribution of
the gas are particularly important for catalytic
reactions but are also signicant for gassolid
reactions when gaseous reactants are to be converted to the greatest possible extent in uidized
beds (e.g., reduction of ne-grained iron ores to
sponge iron with gaseous reductants [18]). Gas
mixing is closely linked to the motion and mixing of the solids in the bed.
23
4.1. Gas Mixing in Bubbling Fluidized

Beds
If the ow and mixing of gas in the bubbling uidized bed are described by a simple one-phase
dispersion model, the coefcients Dgv and Dgh
of gas dispersion in the vertical and horizontal directions have similar numerical values and
follow trends similar to those of the solids dispersion coefcients. By way of example, Figure
27 shows the effect of uidized-bed diameter d t
on vertical gas dispersion. The increase in dispersion coefcient with vessel diameter might
be attributable to the formation of large-scale
solids circulation patterns, which becomes more
marked in larger equipment. As in the solids
case, the coefcients of horizontal gas dispersion are a factor of 10100 lower than those of
vertical gas dispersion.
Figure 27. Vertical gas dispersion in a uidized bed of

solids of Geldart group A (measurements by various
workers; [2])
A single-phase dispersion model gives only

a rough description of gas mixing in bubbling
uidized beds. A more exact description comes
from models that take account of local ow conditions in the bed, especially the presence of bubbles (see Chap. 9).
4.2. Gas Mixing in Circulating Fluidized

Beds
Only a few detailed studies of gas mixing in
circulating uidized beds have been published,
which are summarized in [120]. The bubbles
24
in a bubbling uidized bed inuence the gas

residence-time distribution and mixing directly
through the bypass action of the bubble-gas ow
and gas exchange between the bubbles and the
surrounding suspension phase, and also indirectly through the solids motion that they induce.
In the circulating uidized bed, on the other
hand, the gas-mixing properties are controlled
by segregation due to the formation of solid aggregates (jets, clusters) and the rapid downward
movement of solids strands predominantly near
the wall. Grace and coworkers, for example,
show that a single-phase dispersion model cannot describe the tracer gas residence-time distributions that they measured [121]. They propose
instead a two-phase model featuring exchange
between a wall zone with stagnant gas and a
core zone with plug ow.
For the case of horizontal gas mixing,
Werther and coworkers [122, 123] have shown
that, for the bed solids they used (quartz sand,
d p = 0.13 mm, Geldart group B), horizontal gas
mixing in the top part of the circulating uidized
bed in the core zone can be described by the
model of turbulent single-phase ow [124]. The
Peclet number
P er, c =
uc 2R
Dr, c
changes in the performance with changing operating conditions.

However, up to now there is no general theory
on heat and mass transfer in uidized beds. Numerous correlations for the calculation of heat
and mass transfer coefcients are reported in
the literature. Since these correlations are mainly
based on experimental investigations performed
under laboratory conditions, they may be different to the situation in large-scale reactors. Details on models of heat and mass transfer with
their respective range of application are given in
related surveys, e.g., [14 17, 126, 130].
Fluid-to-Particle Heat and Mass Transfer.
Since the particle surface area is very large, uidto-particle heat and mass transfer is rarely a
limiting factor in the design and operation of
uidized bed reactors. The heat-transfer coefcients of uidized-beds range between characteristic values for ow through a xed bed and
ow around a single particle [127].
Fixed bed (Rep > 80)
Nu =
hgs dp
0.33
= 2+1.8 Re0.5
p Pr
g
Single particle
(44)
(dened in terms of uc , the supercial velocity

in the core zone; R*, the radius of the core zone;
and Dr, c , the horizontal dispersion coefcient
in the core zone) has a value of 465, which is
in fairly good agreement with values measured
in single-phase ows [125]. This value is independent of the solids circulation rate G s . The
circulating uidized bed thus exhibits no especially intensive horizontal gas mixing, at least
in the upper section where solids concentrations
are relatively low.
Nu =
hgs dp
0.33
= 2+0.6 Re0.5
p Pr
g
5. Heat and Mass Transfer in

where hgs is the gassolid heat-transfer coefcient, d p the particle size, and g the thermal
conductivity of gas. The mass transfer coefcient can be determined applying the analogy of
heat and mass transfer by replacing in the above
formulas the Nusselt number Nu by the Sherwood number Sh and the Prandtl number Pr by
the Schmidt number Sc. For particle Reynolds
numbers below 100 and for ne particles, the
transfer coefcients are signicantly lower than
estimated by the above formulas. If necessary,
the effect of adsorption in mass transfer and of
radiation in heat transfer needs to be taken into
account additionally.
Fluidized-bed reactors exhibit a uniform temperature distribution even in case of highly exothermic or endothermic reactions. Approximations
of the heat transfer rates are necessary for the
design and control of uidized-bed reactors in
order to determine the appropriate design of internals for cooling or heating and to estimate the
Heat Transfer to Submerged Surfaces.

Heat-transfer coefcients between uidized bed
and submerged surfaces are one or two orders of
magnitude larger than for gases alone [126]. For
single phase ow a stagnant gas layer is established at the wall causing a hindered heat transfer. This layer is disrupted by solids transported
at the wall. The solids adsorb heat and are mixed
into the uidized bed [9].
An example of the time-averaged local heat
transfer along the circumference of a tube immersed horizontally in a uidized bed is given
in Figure 28. It exhibits lower values of the heattransfer coefcient below the tube due to a gas
gap caused by bubbles and lower values on top
of the tube because of solids being at rest. With
intensied mixing this effect becomes less signicant.
Figure 28. Local heat-transfer coefcient around a 35 mm

diameter tube immersed horizontally in a uidized bed of
0.37 mm alumina particles operated at a supercial gas velocity of 0.8 m/s and a temperature of 500 C, adapted from
[128]
The dependence of the heat-transfer coefcient on the supercial gas velocity is illustrated in Figure 29. Fluidized beds of ne particles yield a larger heat-transfer coefcient than
coarse particles. According to Molerus and
Wirth [126], different transfer mechanisms can
be identied. In case of ne particles, solids
act as agents transporting heat between walls
and bed, whereas gas convective transport is
the mechanism dominating the heat transfer of
coarse particles. The heat-transfer coefcient of
particles of intermediate sizes exhibits a maximum due to the superposition of these two transport mechanisms. Heat-transfer rates in circulating uidized beds are lower than in bubbling uidized beds due to reduced solids volume concentrations and are dominated by clusters and
strands [130].
25
The heat-transfer coefcient increases with

increasing pressure [131] and temperature. The
effect of radiation has to be considered for temperatures above 500 C, but opaque particles can
form an effective radiation shield [132].
6. Gas-Solid Separation
The uidizing gas inevitably carries ne catalyst
particles by entrainment to the reactor exit. Not
only for environmental reasons (i.e., to minimize
emissions) is it necessary to separate the solids
from the gas. It may also be necessary to stop the
main reaction and to avoid unwanted side or consecutive reactions or to protect following process
steps or machines from particle-laden streams.
In uidized-bed technology cyclones are mostly
used for this purpose. Knowlton [133] has given
a survey on the state of the art of cyclone design
and application in uidized-bed reactors.
The cyclone should not be considered as a
separate apparatus following the uidized bed
but should be seen as an integral part of the
uidized-bed process. The reason is that, not
only in circulating uidized beds but also in
bubbling or turbulent uidized beds, the catalyst particles which are recovered in the cyclone
are recycled to the uidized bed. The collection efciency of the cyclone is thus responsible
for maintaining the particle size distribution in
the bed inventory, which in turn determines the
uidized-bed uid mechanics and the chemical
performance of the bed as a reactor. The interrelation between uidized bed and cyclone is
discussed in Section 9.3.2.
The inuence of cyclone performance on the
overall process performance is increasingly considered. For example, Pulupula et al. [134] investigated the role of cyclones in the regenerator system of a commercial FCC unit. Arnold
et al. [135] were able to trace the deterioration
of plant performance in the ALMA maleic process back to problems with cyclone efciency. A
change of the cyclone design improved the particle size distribution of the bed inventory and
consequently bed hydrodynamics and chemical
conversion. Smit et al. [136] report on cyclone
performance in turbulent uidized-bed Synthol
reactors for FischerTropsch synthesis. Carbon
deposition on the catalyst particles inuences
the bed hydrodynamics, which in turn, via the
26
Figure 29. Heat-transfer coefcients determined with a tube immersed vertically in a uidized bed of glass beads of different
size operated at ambient conditions, adapted from [126, 129]
elutriation mechanism, inuence cyclone performance.
7. Injection of Liquid Reactants into

Fluidized Beds
The injection of reactants in liquid form into
the bed was already an essential part of the rst
uidized-bed catalytic process. In the FCC process (Section 8.1) crude oil is injected at the
base of the reactor and evaporated in contact
with the hot catalyst particles. The direct heat
transfer is very efcient and avoids a separate
evaporator for the feed. The cooling action of
the evaporating reactant is a further advantage in
the case of an exothermal reaction. Liquid-feed
injection is therefore practiced not only in the
FCC process but also, for example, in the syntheses of aniline ( Fluid Mechanics), caprolactam ( Fluid Mechanics), and melamine (
Fluid Mechanics) and in BP Chemicals Inovene
process [137] for the gas-phase production of
low-density polyethylene.
Despite its industrial signicance knowledge
about the mechanisms of liquid mixing and
evaporation in the uidized bed is relatively
scarce. Investigations with nonvaporizing horizontal gasliquid spray jets have shown that with
proper design of the injection nozzle it is possible to penetrate over several decimeters into
the bed before the jet breaks up [138, 139]. On
the other hand, it was found that under vaporizing conditions for atomizer nozzles with spray
angles between 20 and 120 the injected liquid wetted the bed particles and subsequently
evaporated from their surface while the particles were mixing in the bulk of the bed [140,
141]. This latter mechanism helps to transport
the reactant away from the location of the nozzle and thus contributes to equalization of the
feed distribution inside the reactor. The special case that a large oil droplet impinges on a
smaller hot catalyst particle was recently investigated in a 3D direct numerical simulation to analyze dropletparticle collisions in the Leidenfrost regime [142]. The calculations were carried
out for conditions prevailing near the feed nozzle
in an FCC riser. Vapor layer pressure induced by
evaporation and the droplet surface tension are
the driving forces for droplet recoiling and rebounding. The contact time for a FCC particle
and an oil droplet turned out to be about 140 s.
8. Industrial Applications
In this chapter the industrial uses of uidizedbed reactors are classied as follows:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Heterogeneous catalytic gas-phase reactions

Polymerization of olens
Homogeneous gas-phase reactions
Gassolid reactions
Biotechnology applications
In each of these areas, the most important

applications are listed and a few typical examples are analyzed in more detail. For further descriptions of processes, the reader is referred to
relevant articles in the A series. Complete descriptions of industrial uses of the uidized-bed
reactor can also be found in [2, 10, 18, 19].
8.1. Heterogeneous Catalytic Gas-Phase

Reactions
The uidized-bed reactor offers the following
principal advantages over the xed-bed reactor
for heterogeneous catalytic gas-phase reactions:
1) High temperature homogeneity, even with
strongly exothermic reactions.
2) Easy solids handling, permitting continuous
withdrawal of spent catalyst and addition of
fresh if the catalyst rapidly loses its activity.
3) Ability to operate in the explosion range, provided the reactants are not mixed until they
are inlet to the uidized bed. This is because
the high heat capacity of the bed solids, together with intensive solids mixing, prevents
the propagation of explosions.
27
(Fig. 30). The cracking reaction is endothermic

and involves the deposition of carbon on the
catalyst surface, which quickly renders the catalyst inactive. Accordingly, the catalyst must be
continuously discharged from the reactor and
regenerated in an air-uidized regenerator bed
(b), where its carbon loading is lowered from
12 to 0.40.8 wt %. The combustion in this
bed simultaneously furnishes the heat required
for the cracking reactor; the catalyst acts as a
heat carrier. The temperature in the regenerator
is 570590 C and in the reactor, 480540 C
[2]. In a stripper, steam is admitted to remove
hydrocarbons adhering to the catalyst before it
is forwarded to the regenerator.
With the advent of high-activity zeolite catalysts in the 1960s, the bubbling uidized bed,
operated at gas velocities between 0.31 and 0.76
m/s [2], was replaced by the riser cracker (Fig.
31), in which the oil fed in at the bottom of the
riser (c) is vaporized in contact with the hot catalyst and the mixture of oil vapors and cracking
gas transports the catalyst up through the riser.
In the reactor bed (a), solids are collected before
passing through the stripper (b) to the regenerator (f). By virtue of the short contact time of
the order of a few seconds and the narrow gas
residence-time distribution, the high activity of
the zeolite catalyst is optimally utilized and a
higher gasoline yield is achieved [2, 10].
Figure 30. Fluid catalytic cracking process (KelloggOrthoow system; according to [143, 144])
a) Reactor; b) Regenerator
Catalytic Cracking ( Oil

Rening,
Chap. 3.2). The ease of solids handling was the
basic reason for the success of catalytic cracking
of long-chain hydrocarbons in the uidized bed
Figure 31. Riser cracking process (UOP system), [2]

a) Reactor; b) Stripper; c) Riser; d) Slide valve; e) Air grid;
f) Regenerator
28
Synthesis of Acrylonitrile. The crucial factor in the successful use of the uidized-bed reactor for the synthesis of acrylonitrile by the
ammonoxidation of propene (Sohio process)
( Acrylonitrile) was reliable control of this
strongly exothermic reaction:
C3 H6 +NH3 +3/2 O2 C3 H3 N+3 H2 O Hr
= 515 kJ/mol of acrylonitrile.
from coal in Lurgi xed-bed gasiers enters the

Synthol reactor (Fig. 33), where it is reacted over
an iron catalyst at ca. 340 C. The reactor works
on the principle of the circulating uidized bed.
The mean porosity in the riser is 85 %, and the
gas velocity varies between 3 and 12 m/s [2]. Reaction heat is removed by way of heat-exchanger
tube bundles placed inside the riser.
The reaction is carried out at a bed temperature of 400500 C and gas contact time of 115
s [145] or 520 s [2]. Figure 32 is a schematic
of the reactor. Air is fed to the bottom of the
uidized-bed vessel. The reactants ammonia and
propene are fed in through a separate distributor (b). Catalyst regeneration by carbon burnoff
occurs in the space between the air distributor
and the feed-gas distributor. The heat of reaction is removed by bundles of vertical tubes (a)
inside the bed (horizontal tubes are used in other
designs [146]).
Figure 33. FischerTropsch synthesis in the Synthol reactor

[2, 147]
a) Hopper; b) Standpipe; c) Riser; d) Cooler (coil);
e) Reactor; f) Gooseneck
Figure 32. Synthesis of acrylonitrile (Sohio process) [2]

a) Cooler with internals; b) Distributor
FischerTropsch Synthesis. The Fischer

Tropsch synthesis of hydrocarbons is used on
a large scale for fuel production in the Republic
of South Africa [149]. Synthesis gas generated
However, experience has shown that this reactor is costly, relatively expensive to operate
and maintain, and scale-up to the size of the reactors in operation is probably close to the maximum achievable for operation at 350 C and 2.5
MPa. Therefore, in the 1990s the 16 circulating uidized-bed reactors operating at Sasols
Secunda site were replaced by eight turbulent
uidized-bed reactors each of 10.7 m diameter,
which achieve a higher per-pass syngas conversion [150].
Different process routes have been developed for the synthesis of maleic anhydride. The
Mitsubishi process [152, 153] used the naphtha
cracker C4 fraction. The ALMA process uses nbutane as feedstock [154, 155]. A more recent
development is the Du Pont process, which is
also based on n-butane but uses a circulating uidized bed as reactor (Fig. 34) [156]. It is based
on a vanadium phosphorus oxide (VPO) catalyst
which oxidizes n-butane to maleic anhydride by
a redox mechanism on its surface layers [157]. In
the riser n-butane is selectively oxidized by the
oxidized catalyst. In the uidized-bed regenerator the spent catalyst is reoxidized. Since 1996 a
commercial plant has been operating in Asturias,
Spain [158].
Figure 34. The Du Pont maleic anhydride process [158].
Other Processes. Other catalytic reactions

carried out in uidized-bed reactors are the oxidation of naphthalene to phthalic anhydride (
Phthalic Acid and Derivatives) [2, 10, 151];
the ammoxidation of isobutane to methacrylonitrile [2]; the reaction of acetylene with acetic
acid to vinyl acetate [2]; the oxychlorination
of ethylene to 1,2-dichloroethane ( Chlorinated Hydrocarbons) [2, 10, 159, 160]; the chlorination of methane [2]; the reaction of phenol with methanol to cresol and 2,6-xylenol [2,
161]; the reaction of methanol to gasoline [162,
29
163]; the synthesis of phthalonitrile by ammoxidation of o-xylene ( Phthalic Acid and Derivatives) [164]; the synthesis of aniline by gasphase hydrogenation of nitrobenzene ( Aniline, Chap. 3.2) [165]; and the low-pressure synthesis of melamine from urea ( Melamine and
Guanamines) [166].
An overview on the various uidized-bed catalytic processes has been given [167].
8.2. Polymerization of Olens

The gas-phase polymerization of ethylene in
the uidized bed was developed by Union Carbide (Unipol process [168]; see Fig. 35) (
Polyolens). The reaction gas (ethylene and its
comonomers butene or hexene) uidizes the bed
at 75115 C and 2030 bar. Extremely negrained catalyst is metered into the bed. Polymerization occurs on the catalyst surface and
yields a granular product with diameter ranging
from 0.25 to 1 mm. Ethylene conversion is comparatively low, 2 % per pass; so the reaction gas
is recycled. The heat of reaction is removed by
cooling the recirculating gas. The catalysts used
have such a high activity that more than 105 parts
by volume of polymer can be produced per unit
weight of active substance in the catalyst [2].
Because of the high degree of catalyst dilution
in the granular polymer, the catalyst need not
be removed from the product. In the process developed by BP Chemicals, prepolymers with a
diameter from 0.2 to 0.25 mm rather than catalyst particles are fed into the uidized bed [169].
Mitsui Petrochemical Industries has developed a process for the gas-phase uidized-bed
polymerization of propene ( Polyolens); a
plant using this process came on stream in 1984
[170]. The UnipolShell process was jointly developed by Union Carbide and Shell and commissioned in 1986.
Burdett et al. [171] have given a broad
overview on this still-developing technology,
which presents many challenges for the engineer. One of the biggest problems is the stickiness of the particles under the operating conditions of the process, which has often led to particle sintering with subsequent deuidization of
the bed. Seville et al. [172] monitored the motion
of particles in a scaled polymer reactor and studied the sintering kinetics in order to determine
30
a safe operating window. Cai and Burdett [173]

developed a model of single-particle polymerization in the uidized bed to simulate particle
growth and particle-temperature evolution with
the residence time of a catalyst particle in the
reactor.
tion in a classier connected to the heater. Fluid

coking is used, e.g., for rening bitumen from
the Athabasca tar sands in Canada. To make efcient use of the product coke, Exxon combined
the uid coking process with a uidized-bed
gasication reactor [2, 175]. This Flexi-Coking
process was rst implemented in 1976 in Japan;
the daily capacity of one plant is ca. 3400 t of
vacuum residue.
Figure 36. Fluid coking process [2, 18]

a) Slurry recycle; b) Stripper; c) Scrubber; d) Reactor;
e) Heater; f) Quench elutriator
Figure 35. Gas-phase polymerization of ethylene (Unipol
process) [2]
a) Compressor; b) Cooler; c) Catalyst feed hopper;
d) Reactor; e) Separator
8.3. Homogeneous Gas-Phase Reactions

The decisive advantage of the uidized bed for
homogeneous gas-phase reactions is the ability
to carry large quantities of heat into or out of
the reactor by using direct heat exchange via the
bed solids. An example is the Exxon uid coking
process (Fig. 36; [2, 18, 174, 175]), which converts heavy residual oils to petroleum coke and
gas-oil. The reactor (d) and heater (e) beds are
connected in a single solids loop. The bed material is coke generated in coking at 480570 C,
which grows to spherical particles 0.11 mm in
diameter in the reactor. The coke is discharged
continuously from the reactor and heated to 500
690 C by partial combustion in the heater. The
hot coke stream then transports the heat needed
for the endothermic coking reaction into the reactor. Excess coke is removed as a coarse frac-
The bed solids also nd use as heat-transfer

agents in the thermal cracking of naphtha, a process carried out in the Lurgi sand cracker [2, 18,
176]. The solids circulating between the reactor
and the heater consist of coarse sand particles
(ca. 1 mm in diameter). When the coke deposit
produced in cracking is burned off the particle
surface with air, the solids are heated to 800
850 C and can thus deliver the heat required
for endothermic cracking. The temperature in
the reactor is ca. 700750 C.
Other thermal cracking processes include the
BASF Wirbeliess process [2, 18, 177], and the
KuniiKunugi process [2].
8.4. GasSolid Reactions

Coal Combustion. The high heat capacity of
the uidized bed permits stable combustion at
low temperature (ca. 850 C), so that the formation of thermal and prompt nitrogen oxides [178]
can be suppressed and total nitrogen oxide emissions can be reduced. If limestone is added to the
bed, the calcination reaction
31
Figure 37. Power plant with circulating uidized-bed furnace (Lurgi process) [180]
a) Circulating uidized-bed reactor; b) Recycling cyclone; c) Siphon; d) Fluidized-bed heat exchanger; e) Convective pass;
f) Dust lter; g) Turbine; h) Stack
CaCO3 CaO+CO2
yields CaO, which can bind in situ the SO2 produced in combustion:
SO2 +CaO+1/2 O2 CaSO4
During the 1980s the uidized bed was established in power-plant engineering. The unit size
rapidly increased from 5 MWe in 1970 to about
350 MWe during this time [179]. Meanwhile (ca.
2006) some 500 power plants are in operation
worldwide. By far the majority of these plants
operate with circulating uidized beds. As an
example, Figure 37 shows a Lurgi design.
The staged admission of the combustion air
minimizes NO production from nitrogen in the
fuel in the lower part of the combustion chamber. The admission of secondary air completes
the combustion in the upper part of the chamber by oxidizing most of the CO. Some of the
circulating solids are led through the external
uidized-bed cooler, which enhances the exibility of control and permits load variation over
a wide range.
More recent developments aim at even larger
capacities with a further enlargement of the combustion chamber and making use of supercritical steam conditions and once-through boiler
design. One problem associated with the size
enlargement is the distribution of both the coal
and the secondary air from the sidewalls over

the cross section of the combustion chamber.
Since the lateral mixing of gas and solids in a
circulating uidized bed is quite slow, sufcient
numbers of feed ports for the coal and air injection nozzles have to be arranged on the sidewalls.
The pants-leg design shown in Figure 38 is one
possibility to provide sufcient lateral mixing at
the bottom of the combustion chamber. A rst
450 MWe unit is being built in Lagisza/Poland
[181] and 600 MWe CFB combustors are in the
design phase [182].
If a uidized-bed furnace running under a
pressure of 1216 bar is linked to a gas turbine,
the efciency of the power plant can be markedly
enhanced [183]. At the same time, however,
this concept imposes severe requirements on gas
cleaning [184]. Pressurized uidized-bed combustion has been tested in several large experimental plants (e.g., [186]). In the meantime several plants of the 80 MW range are in commercial operation. Recently, a pressurized uidizedbed combustor with an electrical power of 360
MW was erected by ABB Carbon [185] (Fig.
39); these units employ bubbling uidized beds
[187, 188]. Pressurized uidized-bed boilers
employing circulating uidized beds are still under development (e.g., [189]).
For further details on uidized-bed combustion systems see the proceedings of the Fluidized
32
Figure 38. Furnace cross section of a large CFB combustor (after [179])
Figure 39. Power plant with pressurized uidized-bed combustor (ABB design) [187]
a) Pressurized uidized-bed boiler; b) Cyclone; c) Gas turbine; d) Economizer; e) Ash removal; f) Fuel feed; g) Feed-water
tank; h) Steam turbine; i) Condenser; j) Bed material hopper
Bed Combustion Conferences [25] and a monograph [190].

Waste Incineration. The incineration of
municipal sewage sludge in uidized-bed fur-
naces is now practiced in many facilities [191].

The total amount of sludge thermally treated
in Germany in 1996 was 513 000 t (dry basis)
[192]. Figure 40 is a diagram of an incinerator.
Moist, centrifuged sludge is fed from above to
the uidized bed by means of piston pumps.
The uidizing air is preheated in an oil-red
mufe before reaching the furnace. Fuel oil,
used as a supplemental fuel, is metered directly
into the bed. Developments in sludge incineration have achieved energy autarky by recovering
waste heat and utilizing it to predry the sludge
so that self-sustaining combustion is possible
[194 196]. Later, the more stringent emission
limits set forth in the 17th Bundesimmissionschutzverordnung (BImSchV, regulation in the
Federal Republic of Germany concerning the
limitation of immissions) may necessitate staged
combustion (as in power generation), particularly to control NOx emissions [197, 198].
Figure 40. Fluidized-bed furnace for municipal sludge

incineration (Uhde system) [193]
For the incineration of municipal waste, a furnace with a rotating uidized bed has been
developed. The inclined distribution grid in this
design generates two rollerlike ows of circulating bed solids, leading to rapid and efcient
mixing of the waste in the bed [199].
Coal Gasication. A number of uidizedbed processes have been developed for gasifying
coal ( Gas Production; e.g., [2]). Interest in
these processes for cogeneration power plants
has recently become more intense. In the cogeneration system shown in Figure 41, highpressure gasication is combined with com-
33
bustion in a circulating uidized bed; efciencies of more than 40 % are expected, depending on the available gas turbine technology
[180]. The Rheinische Braunkohlenwerke company has developed a high-temperature Winkler
(HTW) process based on Winkler gasication
(Fig. 42) [200]. The pressure (ca. 10 bar) and
temperature (ca. 1100 C) are higher than in the
Winkler process; coal is gasied with oxygen
and steam. Recycling of solids from the cyclone
to the uidized bed results in a much higher carbon conversion than in the Winkler process.
Gasication of Solid Waste. In comparison
with incineration, the gasication of solid waste
offers the advantage of a smaller volume of offgas, so the cleaning system can be made smaller.
In the Japanese Pyrox process, heat required
by the gasication reactor is supplied by sand
heated in a uidized-bed furnace, so that a highBtu-gas can be generated [2].
A cement kiln plant at Ruedersdorf in Germany is operated with a biomass gasication reactor. This circulating uidized-bed reactor designed by Lurgi supplies fuel gas for the calciners [201].
Calcination. The calcination of aluminum
hydroxide in the Vereinigte Aluminiumwerke
(VAW)/Lurgi circulating uidized-bed process
features an overall thermal efciency of more
than 70 %, which is achieved through downstream heat recovery from the calcined alumina
and the off-gas [18, 202 204]. The circulating
uidized bed proper (c) is coupled to two venturi
uidized beds (a), in which the moist hydroxide
is rst dried and heated by direct contact with the
off-gas before it is forwarded to the calcination
furnace (see Fig. 43). The ve-stage uidizedbed cooler (d) downstream of the furnace serves
to preheat the combustion air. A furnace 3.8 m
in diameter and 20 m tall, with a uidization velocity of 3 m/s and mean particle diameter of
0.040.05 mm, produces more than 500 t/d of
Al2 O3 [18].
Other applications include the calcination
of limestone (in multistage uidized-bed furnaces), lime muds, and crude phosphates [2, 18].
Roasting Processes. Fluidized-bed roasting
follows the general reaction equation
34
Figure 41. Concept for cogeneration power plant based on high-pressure gasication in circulating uidized bed [185]
a) High-pressure CFB gasication; b) Gas cleaning; c) CFB combustion; d) Waste-heat boiler; e) Gas turbine; f) Steam turbine
Figure 42. Flow sheet of HTW demonstration plant [200]

a) Coal lock hopper system; b) Gasier; c) Cyclone; d) Ash lock hopper system; e) Raw gas cooler; f) Wet dust separator;
g) Carbon monoxide conversion
Metal sulde + Atmospheric oxygen
Metal oxide + Sulfur dioxide
This is one of the earliest industrial uses of

uidization. Many such processes are used in the
roasting of pyrite, zinc blende, and other sulde
ores. Bubbling uidized beds with gas velocities between 0.5 and 2.3 m/s [2] are employed;
heat generated by the exothermic roasting reaction is removed by tube banks immersed in the
bed, via a solid heat-transfer agent, or by simple
water injection. Roasting furnaces are available
in very large sizes (bed diameters up to 11 m)
with capacities of several hundred tonnes of ore
per day [2, 18].
35
Figure 43. Fluidized-bed calcination of aluminum hydroxide (VAW/Lurgi system) [18]

a) Venturi uidized bed; b) Cyclones; c) Fluidized-bed furnace; d) Fluidized-bed cooler; e) Recycle cylone; f) Electrostatic
precipitator
Figure 44. Flow sheet of Lurgi Circored process [206]

a) Preheater; b) Cyclone; c) First stage reactor; d) Second stage reactor; e) Briquetting unit; f) Gas cleaning unit
36
Iron Ore Direct Reduction. ( Iron). For

the direct reduction of iron ore, Lurgi has developed two processes [205]. Hydrogen is applied as reductant in the Circored process, coal
gas is used in the Circofer process. A plant for
the Circored process has been built in Trinidad
with a capacity of 500 000 t iron briquette per
year [206]. Applying two stages, a circulating
uidized-bed reactor reduces the preheated iron
ore (800 C) at 630650 C to a degree of metallization of 6585 % and a bubbling uidized-bed
reactor proceeds at temperatures up to 680 C
to achieve a degree of metallization of 9395 %
(see Fig. 44). The metallized product is then
transported to the hot briquetting unit. At a pressure of 4 bar, the process gas is recycled to a gas
cleaning unit and made up with hydrogen.
mm in diameter serve as support for the microorganisms; at uidization velocities of 820 m/h,
the biolm grows to a thickness of 0.060.2 mm
on these particles. The reactors are large devices
with diameters of 4.6 m and bed heights of 21 m.
Other Processes. Fluidized-bed processes

for the production of high-purity silicon and
activated carbon and the chlorination and uorination of metal oxides are described in [2].
A detailed description of TiO2 synthesis in a
uidized-bed reactor and a survey of the use
of uidized-bed processes in the production of
nuclear fuels are given in [10].
8.5. Applications in Biotechnology

A comprehensive survey of the use of uidizedbed reactors in biotechnology is given in [10,
207].
Liquidsolid and liquidgassolid systems
are used in aerobic and anaerobic wastewater
treatment (nitrication and denitrication); the
microorganisms are grown as a biolm on particulate supports to prevent their entrainment from
the reactor with the uidizing medium. The advantages of the uidized-bed reactor over the
xed-bed reactor include higher capacity per
unit volume and less susceptibility to plugging
[208]. A study showing the potential of liquid
solid circulating uidized beds in biotechnological processes such as fermentation has been published recently [209].
Full-scale uidized-bed biogas production
reactors have come on stream since 1984 [210,
211]. The process consists of two stages, acidication and methanation. Sand particles 0.10.3
Figure 45. Solid-state fermentation of Aspergillus sojae in

the uidized bed (adapted from [216])
a) Separator; b) Electrode; c) Agitator; d) Distributor;
e) Ejector
GasSolid Systems. Gassolid uidizedbed fermenters have been investigated on a pilot

scale for the growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae [212], the production of ethanol with S.
cerevisiae [213, 214], and the enrichment of glutathione in yeast by S. cerevisiae [214, 215]. In
these applications, the substrate is metered into
the bed in liquid form. A process used in Japan
for the culture of Aspergillus sojae on wheat
groats employs a solid substrate [216, 217]. The
latter process is in service on a plant scale (bed
mass 500 kg, bed diameter 1.5 m). The reactor
(Fig. 45) contains an agitator (c) just above the
distributor (d), as well as a rotating separator (a)
in the top of the vessel. Water is sprayed onto
the bed from above to maintain the proper moisture level; electrodes (b) dipping into the bed
measure this parameter. The moisture content
of the solids is generally a critical parameter
for the uidized-bed fermenter; the bioreactions
extinguish if it becomes too low, whereas the
particles agglomerate and uidization is disrupted if it becomes too high. Sterilized air is
used for uidization. Seed spores of the microorganisms are fed into the bed via the ejector
(e). This system achieves a considerable gain in
cell yield and an enrichment of certain enzymes
by a factor of 515 over conventional xed-bed
cultures. The generated biomass forms the basis
for soy sauce production.
9. Modeling of Fluidized-Bed
Reactors
9.1. Modeling of LiquidSolid
An expansion formula of the RichardsonZaki
type, Equation (7), describes the hydrodynamics
of liquidsolid uidized beds fairly well [218].
The difculty in modeling this kind of reactor
for bioreactions thus lies not so much in determining the ow and mixing conditions in the
uid as in describing the diffusion processes in
the biolm and the kinetics of the biological reactions [219]. In view of the small number of
experimental studies reported thus far, no nal
judgment can be made on the suitability of various models [208].
9.2. Modeling of GasSolid

Exhaustive literature surveys can be found in [2,
9, 10, 220]. [221]. Many models exist in the literature, which are classied in the cited references
under various schemes. The available information can be summed up as follows: No generally
accepted model of the uidized-bed reactor exists; instead, many models have been proposed
on the basis of more-or-less extensive experimental ndings for various applications.
Any uidized-bed reactor model can be broken down into separate components that describe, with varying degrees of accuracy, the
37
hydrodynamics (depending on solid properties,

operating conditions, and geometry), gassolid
contact, and reaction kinetics. The essential
point is that the reactor geometry effect, which is
important for scale-up (Chap. 10), manifests itself in the ow conditions and must therefore be
included in the hydrodynamic part of the model.
Before a reactor model found in the literature can be applied to a given problem, the designer must determine whether numerical values are available for all model parameters, that
is, whether the model is appropriate for design
calculations or is a learning model [222] in
which the numerical values of important parameters can be determined only after the model is
adapted to actual test results.
Reaction kinetics may be determined in a
xed-bed reactor, provided measurements are
performed under conditions comparable to those
that prevail in the uidized-bed reactor (e.g., the
same solids composition and particle-size distribution, the same activity state in the case of catalysts) [223]. However, the kinetic parameters can
also be determined directly by measurements in
a bench-scale uidized-bed apparatus [224].
9.2.1. Bubbling Fluidized-Bed Reactors
By far the majority of uidized-bed reactor models described in the literature deal with reactions
in bubbling uidized beds [2, 9, 10, 225, 226].
For a specic application, modeling depends on
the bubble ow regime. For slow-bubble systems
(Fig. 7, left), the short-circuit ow of gas through
the bubbles must be taken into account [227]. For
fast-bubble systems (Fig. 7, right), the species
have to be balanced separately in the bubble and
suspension phases.
If models from the literature are employed, it
should be taken into account that those devised
in the past, when adequate computing hardware
was not available, often sought to obtain analytical expressions for the degree of conversion of
a single reaction (usually taken as rst-order).
The simplifying assumption of a single effective bubble size for the entire uidized bed was
therefore made [2], or the mass-transfer area
between the bubble and suspension phases was
taken as uniformly distributed over the height
of the bed (HTU or NTU concept, where HTU
38
denotes height of transfer unit and NTU denotes

number of transfer units [228]. Today, in view of
the computing power available at the PC level,
the recommended procedure is to start from local
mass-transfer relations, write balance equations
for the differential volume element of the reactor, and then numerically integrate these equations.
Figure 46 presents a model used by Werther
for a constant-volume reaction [224, 229]. Here
the simplifying assumption is that ow through
the suspension phase is at the minimum uidization velocity umf . For a heterogeneous catalytic gas-phase reaction, the material balances
for species i in the unsteady-state cases are as
follows:
Bubble phase
bi
bi
b C
= [uumf (1b )] C
t
h
kG,i a (Cbi Cdi )
(45)
Suspension phase
di
(1b ) [mf + (1mf ) i ] C
=
t
di
umf (1b ) C
+k
a
(C
G,i
bi Cdi )
h
M

+ (1b ) (1mf ) s
i,j rj
(46)
j=1
In Equations (45) and (46) the following simplifying assumptions have been made:
1) Plug ow through the suspension phase at an
interstitial velocity (umf /mf )
2) Bubble phase in plug ow, bubbles are solids
free
3) Reaction in suspension phase only
4) Constant-volume reaction (see [224] for handling a change in number of moles)
5) Sorption effects neglected (see [229] for handling sorption)
Here i is the porosity of the catalyst particles; a is the local mass-transfer area per unit of
uidized-bed volume, which can be calculated
as
a=
6b
dv
(47)
for spherical bubbles; r j is the rate of partial reaction j per unit mass of catalyst; and ij is the
stoichiometric number of species i in reaction j.
The relation
kG,i =
umf
+
3
4Di mf ub
dv
(48)
proposed by Sit and Grace [230] has proved useful for describing the mass-transfer coefcient
k Gi associated with component i in mass transfer
between the bubble and suspension phases; Di
is the molecular diffusion coefcient of species
i.
The freeboard space above the bubbling uidized bed must be considered in the reactor
model if the entrainment rate is high and the
reactions in the freeboard are not quenched, for
example, by cooling.
Most uidized-bed models include concentration proles only for the vertical direction.
This one-dimensional modeling is acceptable
when the reactants are admitted uniformly over
the bed cross section. If, however, reactants are
metered into the bed at individual feed points,
three-dimensional modeling may become necessary. Such models have been devised for the
combustion of coal in bubbling uidized beds
[232 234].
As a rule, the modeling of solids behavior in
bubbling uidized-bed reactors is based on that
in stirred tanks. Fluidized-bed combustion is one
of the few exceptions; here the model must take
account of the propagation of coal from the feed
point if the furnace emission behavior is to be
described correctly [232, 234].
Temperature homogeneity is a virtually fundamental property of the uidized-bed reactor.
Even so, one exception is industrially important:
in high-pressure uidized-bed furnaces, the high
energy density can cause local hot spots near the
fuel injection points [235]. Reactor models that
take care of this have been described, e.g., in
[236].
9.2.2. Circulating Fluidized-Bed Reactors
In the early days of circulating uidized-bed reactor modeling, negligible axial dispersion and
laterally uniform ow structure were believed to
characterize these systems. Thus, simple plugow models were used [237]. This approach was
found to oversimplify the behavior of circulating uidized-bed reactors, because a signicant
amount of axial dispersion was observed. As a
result, the plug-ow model has often been modied by adding a dispersion term to the balance
equations. Axial dispersion coefcients have
39
Figure 46. Two-phase model of the uidized-bed reactor
been determined by many authors who measured the residence time distribution of tracer
gases [238, 239]. Typical values of Peclet numbers they found are on the order of 10.
By means of a model reaction it has been
proved that in many cases circulating uidizedbed reactors cannot be characterized by solely
considering mixing phenomena [240]. Instead,
the presence of mass-transfer limitations and bypassing was found to have a signicant inuence. In analogy to low-velocity uidized beds
a detailed description of the local ow structure
within the reaction volume must serve as a basis
for appropriate reactor modeling.
The highly nonuniform ow structure of circulating uidized beds described in 2.9.2 has
led to reactor models which separately deal with
different axial zones. The bottom zoneif it exists under the given operating conditionscan
be described by models whose basic approaches
were originally developed for modeling of bubbling uidized beds [241]. Modeling of the upper section of the circulating uidized bed is
in most cases based on a proper description of
the heterogeneous coreannulus ow structure
[242 244]. These state-of-the-art models are
one-dimensional and dene two phases or zones
which are present at every axial location:
1) A dense phase or annulus zone: high solids
concentration, gas stagnant or moving downwards
2) A dilute phase or core zone: low solids concentration, gas owing quickly upward.
Similar to the situation in bubbling uidized
beds, the two phases exchange gas with each
other and are modeled by separate equations

which are obtained from mass balances for each
component in each phase.
Todays models still suffer from the problem that not all uid-mechanical variables can
be predicted on the basis of the operating conditions. Instead, reasonable estimations or measurements in cold-ow models are used to obtain
numerical values for many variables.
A common feature of all models for the upper
part of circulating uidized beds is the description of the mass exchange between dense phase
and dilute phase. In analogy to low-velocity
uidized beds the product of the local specic mass transfer area a and the mass-transfer coefcient k may be used for this purpose.
Many different methods for determination of
values for these important variables have been
reported, such as tracer-gas backmixing experiments [241], non-steady-state tracer-gas experiments [245], model reactions [244] and theoretical calculations [243].
Similar to the bubbling uidized-bed reactor,
the solids behavior of the circulating uidizedbed reactor can usually be described as completely mixed. This does not hold for riser reactors with very high gas velocities, such as those
used in FCC risers (u > 10 ms1) . Here, better
modeling results will be obtained by assuming
dispersed plug ow of solids [239].
Like for bubbling uidized beds, it can be
assumed that circulating uidized beds exhibit
a high degree of temperature homogeneity even
in the case of highly exothermic reactions. However, in the case of very large circulating uidized beds for coal combustion, signicant hor-
40
Figure 47. The multiscale approach for CFD modeling of uidized-bed reactors [254].
izontal and vertical temperature proles have

been observed inside the combustion chambers
[246].
Despite the many uncertainties, circulating
uidized bed reactors have been modeled successfully. For example, three-dimensional gas
and solids concentration proles were calculated
in circulating uidized-bed boilers with local injection of reactants [247] and coal feeding via
discrete feeding points [248].
9.3. New Developments in Modeling

9.3.1. Computational Fluid Dynamics
The models described above follow the classical chemical engineering approach which replaces the complex particleuid interaction in
the uidized bed by idealized congurations
(plug ow, stirred tank, either valid overall or
in regions) with mixing and mass-transfer coefcients describing the transport of matter. However, more recently, there has been a strong ten-
dency to model the uid mechanics of uidizedbed reactors from rst principles. The problem
of computational uid dynamics (CFD) modeling in this area is that the particleparticle and
particleuid interaction must be considered on
the particle scale, while the reactor performance
must be described on a much larger scale, typically on the order of several meters. This leads
to computational difculties and problems with
available computing capacities. At present (ca.
2006) there is no generally accepted CFD model
of the uidized-bed reactor available, but rapid
progress can be seen in this area [249 253].
A promising approach appears to be multiscale
modeling strategy [254].
The idea essentially is that fundamental models which take into account the relevant details
of uidparticle (lattice Boltzmann model) and
particleparticle (discrete-particle model) interactions are used to develop closure laws to feed
continuum models which can then be used to
simulate the ow structures on a larger scale.
Figure 47 illustrates this approach, which nally
leads to the discrete-bubble model and should
be applicable to the large industrial scale of the
41
Figure 48. Fluidized-bed reactor model system [256].
Figure 49. Reactor behavior as a function of operating time [256].
bubbling uidized-bed reactor. The multiscale

methodology [255] still requires development
work but provides a good chance to arrive at
more realistic uidized-bed reactor models in
the not too far future.
9.3.2. Modeling of Fluidized-Bed Systems

Another line of development is the modeling of
uidized-bed reactor systems. Whereas previously the isolated uidized bed was modeled,
42
the focus now is on the coupling between the

uidized bed and the cyclone for catalyst recovery and recycle [256] or even on the coupling
between two uidized-bed reactors [257], e.g.,
reactorregenerator systems as are used in the
FCC and maleic anhydride processes.
Figure 50. Inuence of the Sauter diameter on the chemical

conversion of a simple rst-order reaction [256].
As an example, Figure 48 shows a uidizedbed coupled with a cyclone and its translation
into the model system. Attrition leads to a loss
of material from the system, which requires the
addition of fresh catalyst after some time (Fig.
49). A population balance model which considers the changes in the catalyst particle size
intervals allows the change in the catalyst inventory with time to be followed. We see that
it takes several weeks for the system to reach
a quasisteady state. As a consequence of attrition and incomplete separation in the cyclone,
the mean particle diameter in the bed increases
with time, and this leads to larger bubbles and
a reduced area of mass transfer between bubbles and the surrounding suspension in the bed.
As a further consequence the conversion rate of
a simple rst-order reaction falls off with time.
Finally, Figure 50 shows that improvements in
the efciency of the solids-recovery system are
able to increase the conversion rate again, which
is in agreement with large-scale industrial experience [258, 259].
10. Scale-up
Typical diameters of bench-scale uidized-bed
reactors are roughly 3060 mm, and of pilotscale units 450600 mm, which should allow a
reliable scale-up [9]. Full-scale uidized-bed reactors used in the chemical industry have diameters up to ca. 10 m. Circulating uidized
bed combustors are even bigger with bed crosssectional areas reaching 200 m2 [261]. As equipment size increases, characteristic changes take
place in the gassolid ow that can decisively
affect reactor performance. Such changes result
either directly from the geometry or indirectly
from design changes made as the unit is enlarged. In particular, experience has shown that
the following factors affect the performance of
bubbling uidized beds during scale-up [262]:
Bed Diameter. According to Equation (22),
the mean upward bubble velocity increases as
the bed diameter d t increases. As a result, the
bubbles have a shorter residence time in the bed;
hence the exchange area between the bubble and
suspension phases is smaller, so conversion is reduced [263]. In case of circulating uidized-bed
combustors, measurements have shown that the
downwards velocity of solids in the wall zone
increases drastically with increasing size of the
combustor [260].
Grid Design. In the laboratory, porous plates
are the preferred type of gas distributor because
of the ease of working with them. Gas distribution becomes worse when these are replaced by
industrial distributor designs; thus the exchange
area between the bubble and suspension phases
is reduced, again with consequently lower conversion [43].
Internals. Whereas the laboratory uidized
bed is generally operated with no internals, plant
equipment often must contain bundles of heatexchanger tubes. Screens, bafes, or similar internals are frequently used to redisperse the bubble gas in industrial reactors. The mass-transfer
area is thus increased relative to the uidized
bed without internals; the extra area can be utilized to partially offset the conversion-reducing
effects of bed diameter and gas distributor [263].
Catalyst Particle-Size Distribution. Bubble growth is inuenced by the proportion of
nes in the particle-size distribution of the bed
(usually measured as the weight fraction <
0.044 mm) or by the mean grain size d p (via
umf , Eq. 18). If the content of nes increases,
bubbles collapse sooner and the equilibrium
bubble size becomes smaller, with a resultant
greater bubblesuspension mass-transfer area.
This effect generally is fully developed only in
the plant-scale reactor, where bubbles can grow
without the hindrance of vessel walls. Thus, in
principle, the performance of catalytic uidizedbed reactors can be controlled by modifying the
catalyst particle-size distribution [112, 264]. The
recommended content by weight of nes (<
0.044 mm) for good uidization is 3040 %
[265], but maintaining this high a nes content
in the system over a long span of time requires
a very efcient solids recovery system.
Lateral Mixing of Reactants. On a laboratory scale, reactants experience compulsory uniform distribution over the bed cross section. In
plant equipment, on the other hand, reactants
often arrive in the reactor via individual feed
points. The resulting uneven distribution of reactants can have a marked effect on reactor performance, which has been shown for the effect
of coal feeding on the emission properties of
uidized-bed furnaces [248].
Secondary Reactions in the Freeboard. In
a bench-scale apparatus, the uidized gas is
rapidly cooled by the vessel wall in the freeboard space after leaving the bed, so secondary
reactions in the freeboard are often negligible.
Such is not the case in the plant-scale reactor.
The action of wall cooling is not signicant here,
and the entrainment rate is high because of the
higher uidization velocities common in fullscale equipment. Both effectslack of cooling
and high solids concentration in the freeboard
may lead to marked secondary reactions in the
freeboard of industrial uidized-bed reactors. In
the case of a system of consecutive reactions
where the desired product is formed as an intermediate, the freeboard reactions will generally
lower the selectivity. The effect of freeboard reactions has been demonstrated for the example
of NO and CO emissions from a uidized-bed
furnace [232].
Catalyst Attrition. Catalyst attrition is minimal in laboratory apparatus, because of the use
of porous plates as gas distributors, as well as
the low gas velocities and bed depths. Attrition
43
is necessarily greater in industrial reactors. To

reduce this risk in scale-up, the attrition tests
described in Section 2.11 should be carried out
and the results converted to the full-scale conditions with the aid of Equations (34), (35) and
(36).
Other Factors. In addition to the factors just
listed, many other effects become apparent when
a uidized-bed reactor is scaled up that are
difcult to calculate. Examples are the risk
of nonuniform gas distribution over very large
cross sections in shallow uidized beds; the formation of deposits in the bed; the fouling of heatexchange surfaces; and catalyst aging and poisoning. On the whole, accordingly, the scale-up
of uidized-bed reactors is a complex process,
commonly requiring a large amount of pilotscale experimentation. Current knowledge about
the uid mechanics in the uidized bed, however, enables simulation calculations of many of
the scale-up effects, so the amount of testing during process development may be decreased and
the risk can be at least limited.
11. References
1. I. G. Farben, DE 437 970, 1922 (F. Winkler).
2. D. Kunii, O. Levenspiel: Fluidization
Engineering, ButterworthHeinemann, Boston
1991.
3. D. Geldart (ed.): Gas Fluidization Technology,
John Wiley & Sons, Chichester 1986.
4. J. F. Davidson, R. Clift, D. Harrison:
Fluidization, Academic Press, London 1985.
5. W.-C. Yang (ed.): Fluidization, Solids
Handling and Processing, Noyes Publications,
Westwood 1999.
6. D. Gidaspow: Multiphase Flow and
Fluidization, Academic Press, London 1994.
7. J. R. Grace, A. A. Avidan, T. M. Knowlton
(eds.): Circulating Fluidized Beds, Chapman
& Hall, London 1997.
8. W. -C Yang (eds.): Handbook of Fluidization
and Fluid-Particle Systems, Marcel Dekker,
New York 2003.
9. M. Pell: Gas Fluidization, Elsevier,
Amsterdam 1990.
10. J. G. Yates: Fundamentals of Fluidized-Bed
Chemical Processes, Butterworths, London
1983.
44
11. K.-E. Wirth: Zirkulierende Wirbelschichten

Stromungsmechanische Grundlagen,
Anwendungen in der Feuerungstechnik,
Springer Verlag, Heidelberg 1990.
12. P. Basu: Combustion and Gasication in
Fluidized Bed, Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton
2006.
13. K. B. Mathur, N. Epstein: Spouted Beds,
Academic Press, New York 1974.
14. K.-E. Wirth in E.-U. Schlunder (ed.): VDI
Warmeatlas, 8th ed., VDI Verlag, Dusseldorf
1997, pp. Lf 19.
15. K.-E. Wirth in E.-U. Schlunder (ed.): VDI
Heat Atlas, 1st English ed., VDI Verlag,
Dusseldorf 1993, pp. Lf 19.
16. H. Martin in E.-U. Schlunder (ed.): VDI
Warmeatlas, 8th ed., VDI Verlag, Dusseldorf
1997, pp. Mf 19.
17. H. Martin in E.-U. Schlunder (ed.): VDI Heat
Atlas, 1st English ed., VDI Verlag, Dusseldorf
1993, pp. Mf 19.
18. Ullmann, 4th ed. 3, 433460.
19. Ullmann, 4th ed. 3, 480493.
20. U. Arena, R. Chirone, M. Micchio, P. Salatino
(eds.): Fluidization XI, Engineering
Conferences International, Brooklyn 2004.
21. M. Kwauk, J. Li, W.-C. Yang (eds.):
Fluidization X, Engineering Foundation, New
York 2001.
22. L.-S. Fan, T. M. Knowlton (eds.): Fluidization
IX, Engineering Foundation, New York 1998.
23. K. Cen (eds.): Circulating Fluidized Bed
Technology VIII, International Academic
Publishers, Beijing 2005.
24. J. R Grace, J.-X. Zhu H. de Lasa (eds.):
Circulating Fluidized Bed Technology VII,
Can. Soc. Chem. Engng., Ottawa 2002.
25. J. Werther (ed.): Circulating Fluidized Bed
Technology VI, DECHEMA, Frankfurt 1999.
26. L. Jia (ed.): Proc. 18th Int. Conf. Fluidized
Bed Combustion, ASME, New York 2005.
CD-ROM, ISBN 0-7918-3755-6.
27. S. Pisupati (ed.): Proc. 17th Int. Conf.
Fluidized Bed Combustion, ASME, New York
2003. CD-ROM, ISBN 0-7918-3755-6.
28. F. Preto (ed.): Proc. 16th Int. Conf. Fluidized
Bed Combustion., ASME, New York 2001,
CD-ROM, ISBN 07918-3523-5.
29. S. Ergun, Chem. Eng. Prog. 48 (1952) 8997.
30. J. Werther, Chem.-Ing.-Tech. 54 (1982) no. 10,
876883.
31. C. Y. Wen, Y. H. Yu, AIChE J. 12 (1966)
610612.
32. C. Vogt, R. Schreiber, G. Brunner, J. Werther,
Powder Technol. 158 (2005) 102114.
33. J. F. Richardson, W. N. Zaki, Trans. Inst.

Chem. Eng. 32 (1954) 3554.
34. D. Geldart, Powder Technol. 7 (1973)
285292.
35. O. Molerus, Powder Technol. 33 (1982) 8187.
36. L. Reh: Das Wirbeln von kornigem Gut in
schlanken Diffusoren als Grenzzustand
zwischen Wirbelschicht und pneumatischer
Forderung, Dissertation, TH Karlsruhe 1961.
37. L. Reh, Chem.-Ing.-Tech. 46 (1974) 180189.
38. L. Reh, Chem.-Ing.-Tech. 49 (1977) 786794.
39. VGB-Merkblatt M218H, Gasverteilerboden
von Wirbelschichtsystemen,
VGB-Kraftwerkstechnik GmbH, Essen (1994)
40. J. C. Agarwal, W. L. Davis, D. T. King, Chem.
Eng. Prog. 58 (1962) 8591.
41. F. J. Zuiderweg, Proc. Int. Symp. Fluid. 1967,
739750.
42. F. Zenz, D. Othmer: Fluidization and
Fluid/Particle Systems, Reinhold Publ. Corp.,
New York 1960.
43. E.-U. Hartge, J. Werther in L.-S. Fan, T. M.
Knowlton (eds.): Fluidization IX, Engineering
Foundation, New York 1998, pp. 213220.
44. S. B. Reddy Karri, J. Werther in W.-C. Yang
(ed.): Handbook of Fluidization and
Fluid-Particle Systems, Marcel Dekker, New
York 2003, pp. 155170.
45. J. M. D. Merry, AIChE J. 21 (1975) 507510.
46. J. M. D. Merry, Trans. Inst. Chem. Eng. 49
(1971) 189195.
47. J. F. Davidson, D. Harrison: Fluidised
Particles, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge 1963.
48. R. Clift, J. R. Grace, Chem. Eng. Prog. Symp.
Ser. 66 (1970) no. 105, 1427.
49. R. Clift, J. R. Grace, AIChE Symp. Ser. 67
(1971) no. 116, 2333.
50. K. Hilligardt, J. Werther, Chem. Eng. Technol.
10 (1987) 272280.
51. R. Toei, R. Matsuno, M. Oichi, K. Yamamoto,
J. Chem. Eng. Jpn. 7 (1974) no. 6, 447450.
52. J. Werther, D. Bellgardt, H. Groenewald, K.
Hilligardt, Proc. Int. Conf. Fluid. Bed.
Combust. 9th (1987) 515522.
53. K. Hilligardt, J. Werther, Chem.-Ing.-Tech. 59
(1987) no. 7, 596597, MS 1613/87.
54. J. Werther in D. Kunii, R. Toei (eds.):
Fluidization, Engineering Foundation, New
York 1983, pp. 93102.
55. F. A. Zenz, Hydrocarbon Process. 53 (1974)
no. 4, 119124.
56. S. E. George, J. R. Grace, AIChE Symp. Ser. 74
(1978) no. 176, pp. 6774.
57. C. Y. Wen, L. H. Chen, AIChE J. 28 (1982)
117128.
58. D. Kunii, O. Levenspiel, Powder Technol. 61
(1990) 193206.
59. K. Smolders, J. Baeyens, Powder Technol. 92
(1997) 3546.
60. J. Werther, E.-U. Hartge, in W. C. Yang (ed.):
Handbook of Fluidization and Fluid-Particle
Systems, Marcel Dekker, New York 2003, pp.
113128.
61. J. Yerushalmi, N. T. Cankurt, D. Geldart, B.
Liss, AIChE Symp. Ser. 74 (1978) no. 176,
112.
62. Y. Li, M. Kwauk in J. R. Grace, J. Matsen
(eds.): Fluidization, Plenum Press, New York
1980, pp. 537544.
63. J. M. Matsen, Powder Technol. 32 (1982)
2133.
64. K.-E. Wirth, Chem. Eng. Technol. 11 (1988)
no. 1, 1117.
65. K.-E. Wirth, Chem. Eng. Technol. 14 (1991)
2938.
66. M. Rhodes, D. Geldart in P. Basu (ed.):
Circulating Fluidized Bed Technology,
Pergamon Press, Toronto 1986, pp. 193200.
67. P. Schlichthaerle, J. Werther, Chem. Eng. Sci.
54 (1999) 54855494.
68. T. Grassler, K.-E. Wirth in J. Werther (ed.):
Circulating Fluidized Bed Technology VI,
DECHEMA, Frankfurt 1999, pp. 6570.
69. M. J. Rhodes, M. Sollaart, X. S. Wang in L.-S.
Fan, T. M. Knowlton (eds.): Fluidization IX,
Engineering Foundation, New York 1998, pp.
141148.
70. C. Rudnick, J. Werther in L.-S. Fan, T. M.
Knowlton (eds.): Fluidization IX, Engineering
71. K.-E. Wirth, M. Seiter in R. J. Anthony (ed.):
Fluidized Bed Combustion, ASME, New York
1991, pp. 311315.
72. J. R. Grace, A. S. Issangya, D. Bai, H. Bi, J.
Zhu, AIChE J. 45 (1999) 21082116.
73. J. Li, M. Kwauk : Particle-Fluid Two-Phase
FlowThe Energy-Minimization Multi-Scale
Method., Metallurgical Industry Press, Beijing
1994.
74. W. Ge, J. Li, Chem. Eng. Sci. 57 (2002)
39934004.
75. J. Li., W. Ge, J. Zhang, M. Kwauk, Trans.
ChemE, Part A Chem. Eng. Res. Des. 83
(2005) 574582.
76. J. Li., C. Cheng, Z. Zhang, J. Yuan, A. Nemet,
F.N. Fett, Chem. Eng. Sci. 54 (1999) 574582.
77. J. Li, J. Ouyang, S. Gao, W. Ge, N. Yang, W.
Song: Multi-Scale Simulation of Particle-Fluid
Complex Systems, Science Press, Beijing 2005,
45
78. N. Yang, W. Wang, W. Ge, J. Li, Chem. Eng. J.

96 (2003) 7180.
79. T. M. Knowlton in P. Basu, J. F. Large (eds.):
Circulating Fluidized Bed Technology II,
Pergamon Press, Oxford 1988, pp. 3141.
80. Y. Jin, Y. Zheng, F. Wei in J. R. Grace, J. Zhu,
H. de Lasa (eds.): Circulating Fluidized Bed
Technology VII, Can. Soc. Chem. Eng., Ottawa
2002, pp. 4060.
81. P. Lehner, K.-E. Wirth, Chem. Eng. Sci. 54
(1999) 54715483.
82. M. Zhang, Z. Quian, H. Yu, F. Wei, Chem.
Eng. J. 92 (2003) 161167.
83. F. Wei, J. Z. Liu, Y. Jin, Z. Q. Yu, Chem. Eng.
Tech. 18 (1995) 5962.
84. H. E. Liu, F. Wei, Y. H. Yang, Y. Jin in J. R.
Grace, J. Zhu, H. de Lasa (eds.): Circulating
Fluidized Bed Technology VII, Can. Soc.
Chem. Eng., Ottawa 2002, pp. 8389.
85. C. Huang, Z. Quian, M. Zhang, F. Wei,
Powder Technol. 161 (2006) 4852.
86. M. Zhang, K. Chu, A. Yu, F. Wei in K. Cen
(ed.): Circulating Fluidized Bed Technology
VIII, Int. Academic Publ., Beijing 2005, pp.
299305.
87. H. Brust, K.-E. Wirth, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 43
(2004) pp. 57965801.
88. R. Deng, F. Wei, Y. Jin, Q. Zhang, Y. Jin,
Chem. Eng. Tech. 25 (2002) 711716.
89. H. Brachold, C. Peuckert, H. Regner, Chem.
Ing. Tech. 65 (1993) 293297.
90. A. S. Bassi, C. L. Briens, M. A. Bergougnou in
A. A. Avidan (ed.): Circulating Fluidized Bed
Technology IV, AIChE, New York 1994, pp.
2532.
91. W. L. Forsythe, W. R. Hertwig, Ind. Eng.
Chem. (1949) 12001206.
92. J. E. Gwyn, AIChE J. 15 (1969) no. 1, 3539.
93. F. A. Zenz, E. G. Kelleher, J. Powder Bulk
Solids Technol. 4 (1980) nos. 2/3, 1320.
94. W. G. Vaux, J. S. Schruben, AIChE Symp. Ser.
79 (1983) no. 222, 222228.
95. W. G. Vaux, J. S. Schruben, Chem. Eng.
Commun. 33 (1985) 333347.
96. W. Xi, J. Werther, Jet Attrition of Catalyst
Particles in Gas Fluidized Beds, Int. Symp. on
Attrition and Wear in Powder Technology,
Utrecht 1992.
97. J. Werther, W. Xi, Powder Technol. 33 (1993)
3946.
98. J. Werther, J. Reppenhagen, in W.-C. Yang
(eds.): Handbook of Fluidization and
Fluid-Particle Systems, Marcel Dekker, New
York 2003, pp. 201237.
46
99. J. Reppenhagen, J. Werther, AIChE J. 45

(1999) 20012010.
100. J. Reppenhagen, J. Werther, Powder Technol.
113 (2000) 5569.
101. J. Reppenhagen, A. Schetzschen, J. Werther,
Powder Technol. 112 (2000) 251255.
102. C. Klett, E.-U. Hartge, J. Werther, Proc.
Combustion Inst. 30 (2005) 29472954.
103. E.-U. Hartge, C. Klett, J. Werther, AIChE J.
(2007), in press.
104. P. N. Rowe in J. F. Davidson, E. Harrison
(eds.): Fluidization, Academic Press, London
1971, pp. 121 192.
105. J. Werther, Chem.-Ing.-Tech. 49 (1977) no. 3,
193202.
106. J. M. D. Merry, J. F. Davidson, Trans. Inst.
Chem. Eng. 51 (1973) 361368.
107. M. Virr, Inst. Energy Symp. Ser. (London) 4
(1980) IA11-11.
108. D. Ormston, E. Robinson, D. Buckle, Inst.
Energy Symp. Ser. (London) 4 (1980)
IIA11-10.
109. J. J. van Deemter in J. F. Davidson, R. Clift, D.
Harrison (eds.): Fluidization, Academic Press,
London 1985, pp. 331355.
110. J. Werther, H. Groenewald, A.-K.
Schroeder-Lanz, Energietechnik (Leipzig) 40
(1990) no. 5, 164167.
111. J. H. De Groot, Proc. Int. Symp. Fluid. 1967,
348358.
112. R. J. de Vries, W. P. M. van Swaaij, C.
Mantovani, A. Heijkoop, Chem. React. Eng.
Proc. Eur. Symp. 5th (1972) session B 9, pp.
5669.
113. D. Bellgardt, F. W. Hembach, M. Scholer, J.
Werther, Proc. Int. Conf. Fluid. Bed Combust.
9th (1987) 713722.
114. D. Kunii, O. Levenspiel, J. Chem. Eng. Jpn. 2
(1969) 122129.
115. D. Bellgardt, J. Werther, Powder Technol. 48
(1986) 173180.
116. B. Hirschberg, J. Werther in J. R. Grace, A. A.
Avidan, T. M. Knowlton (eds.): Circulating
Fluidized Beds, Chapman & Hall, London
1997, pp. 119148
117. R. Koenigsdorff, J. Werther, Powder Technol.
84 (1995) 317329.
118. P. Schlichtharle, J. Werther, Powder Technol.
120 (2001) 2133.
119. B. Hirschberg, J. Werther, AIChE J. 44 (1998)
2534.
120. U. Arena in J. R. Grace, A. A. Avidan, T. M.
Knowlton (eds.): Circulating Fluidized Beds,
Chapman & Hall, London 1997, pp. 86118.
121. C. M. H. Brereton, J. R. Grace, J. Yu in P.

Basu, J. F. Large (eds.): Circulating Fluidized
Bed Technology II, Pergamon Press, Oxford
1988, pp. 307314.
122. J. Werther, E.-U. Hartge, M. Kruse, W. Nowak
in P. Basu, M. Horio, M. Hasatani (eds.):
Circulating Fluidized Bed Technology III,
Pergamon Press, Oxford 1990, pp. 593598.
123. J. Werther, E.-U. Hartge, M. Kruse, Powder
Technol. 70 (1992) 293301.
124. A. Klinkenberg, H. J. Krajenbrink, H. A.
Lauwerier, Ind. Eng. Chem. 45 (1953) no. 6,
12021208.
125. T. K. Sherwood, R. L. Pigford, C. R. Wilke:
Mass Transfer, McGraw Hill, New York 1975.
126. O. Molerus, K.-E. Wirth, Heat Transfer in
1997.
127. R. Turton, T. J. Fitzgerald, O. Levenspiel, Int.
J. Heat Mass Transfer 32 (1989) 289296.
128. J. S. M. Botterill, Y. Teoman, K. R. Yuregir,
Powder Technol. 39 (1984) 177189.
129. R. Wunder, A. Mersmann, Chem.-Ing.-Tech.
51 (1979) no. 3, 241.
130. L. R. Glicksman in J. R. Grace, A. A. Avidan,
T. M. Knowlton (eds.): Circulating Fluidized
Beds, Chapman & Hall, London 1997, pp.
261311.
131. J. Schweinzer, O. Molerus, Chem. Eng.
Technol. 12 (1989) 3844.
132. A. P. Baskakov, B. Leckner, Powder Technol.
90 (1997) 213218.
133. T. M. Knowlton, in W.-C. Yang, (ed.):
599617.
134. S. Pulupula, H. Singh, S. J. Chopra, in L. S.
Fan, T. M. Knowlton (eds.): Fluidization X,
Engineering Foundation, New York 1998, pp.
733739.
135. S. C. Arnold, M. Cecchini, G. Fenati, J. W.
Stanecki, in M. Kwauk, J. Li, W. C. Yang
(eds.): Fluidization X, Engineering
136. P.W. Smit, S. Baloyi, T. Shingles, in U. Arena,
R. Chirone, M. Micchio, P. Salatino (eds.):
Fluidization XI, ECI Engineering Conferences
International, Brooklyn 2004, pp. 587593.
137. Y. Jiang, K. M. Mc Auley, J. C. C. Hsu, Ind.
Eng. Chem. Res. 37 (1997) 11761180.
138. S. Ariyapadi, D. W. Holdsworth, C. J. D.
Norley, F. Berruti, C. Briens, Int. J. Chem.
Reactor Eng. 1 (2003) A 60.
http://www.bepress.com/ijcre/Vol1/A60
139. S. Ariyapadi, F. Berruti, C. Briens, P. Grifth,
C. Hulet, Can. J. Chem. Eng. 81 (2003)
891891.
140. S. Bruhns, J. Werther, AIChE J. 51 (2005) pp.
766775
141. J. Werther, S. Bruhns Int. J. Chem. Reactor
Eng. 2 (2004) A31.
http://www.bepress.com/ijcre/Vol 2/A31
142. Y. Ge, L.S. Fan in U. Arena, R. Chirone, M.
Micchio, P. Salatino (eds.): Fluidization XI,
ECI Engineering Conferences International,
Brooklyn 2004, pp. 259266.
143. B. Riediger: Die Verarbeitung des Erdols,
Springer Verlag Berlin 1971.
Engineering, John Wiley, New York 1969.
145. J. L. Callahan, R. K. Grasselli, E. C.
Milberger, H. A. Strecker, Ind. Eng. Chem.
Process Des. Dev. 6 (1970) 134140.
146. H. S. van der Baan in R. Prins, G. C. A. Schuit
(eds.): Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
of Catalytic Processes, Nato Advanced Study
Institute Series E: Applied Sciences no. 39,
Academic Press, London 1980.
147. M. E. Dry: Applied Industrial Catalysis,
Academic Press, New York 1983.
148. R. W. Silverman et al. in K. Ostergaard, A.
Sorensen (eds.): Fluidization, Engineering
149. A. P. Steynberg, R. L. Espinoza, B. Jager, A.
C. Vosloo, Appl. Catal. A 188 (1999) 4154.
150. S. Sookai, P.L. Langenhoven, T. Shingles,in
M. Kwauk, J. Li and W.C. Yang (eds.):
York 2001, pp. 620628.
151. J. J. Graham, Chem. Eng. Prog. 66 (1970)
5460.
152. Mitsubishi Kasei Kogyo, DE 2 165 323 C 2,
1971 (K. Terahata et al.).
153. Mitsubishi Chemical Industries, DE 2 658
861, 1976 (S. Kamimura, T. Otaki).
154. S. C. Arnold, G. D. Suciu, L. Verde, A. Neri,
Hydrocarbon Process. 64 (1985) no. 9,
123126.
155. G. Stefani, F. Budi, C. Fumagalli, G. D. Suciu
in G. Centi, F. Triro (eds.): New
Developments in Selective Oxidation, Elsevier
Science Publ., Amsterdam 1990, pp. 537552.
156. R. M. Contractor, J. Ebner, M. J. Mummey, in
C. Centi, F. Triro (eds.): New Developments
in Selective Oxidation, Elsevier, Amsterdam
1990, pp. 553562.
157. K. G. Golbig, J. Werther, Chem. Eng. Sci., 52
(1997) pp. 583595.
47
158. R.M. Contractor, Chem. Eng. Sci. 54 (1999)

pp. 56275632.
159. T. Miyauchi et al., Adv. Chem. Eng. 11 (1981)
275448.
160. R. Pearce, W. R. Patterson: Catalysis and
Chemical Processes, Leonard Hill, Glasgow
1981.
161. T. Katsumata, T. Dozono, AIChE Symp. Ser. 83
(1987) no. 255, 8696.
162. C. D. Chang: Hydrocarbons from Methanol,
Marcel Dekker, New York 1983.
163. H. H. Gierlich, W. Dolkemeyer, A. Avidan, N.
Thiagarajan, Chem.-Ing.-Tech. 58 (1986) no.
3, 238239, MS 1462/86.
164. Ullmann, 4th ed., 18, 521544.
165. Ullmann, 4th ed., 7, 566576.
166. M. Schwarzmann, Hydrocarbon Process. 48
(1969) no. 9, 184186.
167. B. Jazayeri in W.-C. Yang (ed.): Handbook of
Fluidization and Fluid-Particle Systems,
Marcel Dekker, New York 2003, pp.421444.
168. F. J. Karol, Catal. Rev. Sci. Eng. 26 (1984)
557565.
169. T. Xie, K. B. McAuley, J. C. C. Hsu, D. W.
Bacon, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 33 (1994)
449479.
170. H. Koda, T. Kurisaka in M. Kwauk, D. Kunii,
Z. Jiansheng, M. Hasatani (eds.): Fluidization
85, Science and Technology, Science Press,
Beijing 1985, 402413.
171. J. D. Burdett, R. S. Eisinger, P. Cai, K. H. Lee,
in M. Kwauk, J. Li, W. C. Yang (eds.):
York 2001, pp. 3952.
172. A. M. Salleh, A. Ingram, A. McCormack, R.
Coreenwood, V. Reiling, in U. Arena, R.
Chirone, M. Micchio, P. Salatino (eds.):
Fluidization XI, Engineering Conferences,
New York 2004, pp. 211218.
173. P. Cai, I. D. Burdett in K. Cen (ed.):
Circulating Fluidized Bed Technology VIII,
Int. Academic Publ., World Publ. Corp.,
Beijing 2005, pp. 410417.
174. F. T. Barr, C. E. Jahnig, Chem. Eng. Prog. 51
(1955) 167177.
175. J. M. Matsen in G. Hetsroni (ed.): Handbook
of Multiphase Systems, McGraw Hill, New
York 1982, pp. 8/178183.
176. P. Schmalfeld, Hydrocarbon Process Pet.
Ren. 42 (1963) no. 6, 145155.
177. A. Steinhofer, Chem.-Ing.-Tech. 36 (1964) no.
9, 889898.
178. J. Zelkowski: Kohleverbrennung,
VGB-Kraftwerkstechnik GmbH, Essen 1986.
48
179. G. Stamatelopoulos, J. Seeber, R.S. Skowyra

in L. Jia (ed.): Proc. 18th Int. Conf. Fluidized
Bed Combustion, ASME, New York 2005, CD
ROM, ISBN 0-7918-3755-6.
180. Lurgi AG, Jahresbericht 1989, Frankfurt/Main
1989.
181. F. van Dijen, P. Savat, J. Vanormelingen, H.
Sablon, VGB PowerTech (2005) no. 11, pp.
6466.
182. G. Stamatelopulos, J. Seeber, VGB PowerTech
2005, no. 11, 3843
183. L. Carpenter et al.in R. J. Anthony (ed.): Proc.
Int. Conf. Fluid. Bed Combust. ASME, New
York, 1991, p. 467474.
184. H. Martin, VGB Kraftwerkstech. 71 (1991) no.
4, 347354.
185. S. A. Jansson, J. Anderson in R. B. Reuther
(ed.): Proc. Int. Conf. Fluid. Bed Combust.,
ASME, New York 1999, FBC990191.
186. G. Dehn, H. Meier, H. Mollenhoff, H.
Rehwinkel, G. von Wedel, Proc. Int. Conf.
Fluid. Bed Combust. (R. J. Anthony, ed.),
ASME New York 1991, p. 345362.
187. K. K. Pillai, S. A. Jansson, Proc. Int. Conf.
Fluid. Bed Combust. (R. J.Anthony, ed.)
188. J. Anderson, S. A. Jansson, Proc. Int. Conf.
Fluid. Bed Combust. (R. J.Anthony, ed.)
189. D. Adams, A. Dodd, D. Geiling, A. Robertson
in R. B. Reuther (ed.): Proc. Int. Conf. Fluid.
Bed Combust., ASME, New York 1999,
FBC990076.
190. M. A. Cuenca, E. J. Anthony (eds.):
Pressurized Fluidized Bed Combustion,
Chapman & Hall, London 1995.
191. J. Werther, T. Ogada, Progress Energy
Combust. Sci. 25 (1999) 55116.
192. J. Werther, M. Saenger, J. Chem. Eng. Japan
33 (2000) 111.
193. Uhde: Verbrennung pastoser Ruckstande,
company brochure, Dortmund 1988.
194. J. Werther, L. Muhlhaus, W. Liebig,
Maschinenmarkt 94 (1988) no. 22, 5054.
195. U. Urban, WLB Wasser Luft Betr. (1987) no. 9,
6668.
196. Sulzer-Escher-Wyss: Verfahren fur die
umweltfreundliche und energiesparende
Behandlung von Klarschlamm, company
brochure, Ravensburg 1989.
197. C. Berse, H. Teufel, G. Muller, Chem. Eng.
Process. 24 (1990) no. 5, 3639.
198. H. v. Raczeck, J. Werther, M. Wischniewski,
VDI-Ber. 522 (1991) 585595.
199. H. Hannemann et al.: Wirbelschichtsysteme

1990, VGB-TB 212, VGB Techn. Vereinigung
der Grokraftwerksbetreiber e.V., Essen 1990,
V 29/123.
200. W. Adlhoch, J. Keller, P. K. Herbert:
Kohlevergasung 1991 VGB Conference,
Dortmund, May 16th/17th, 1991.
201. R. Wirthwein, P. Scur, H. Hirschfelder, H.
Vierrath in J. Werther (ed.): Circulating
Fluidized Bed Technology VI, DECHEMA,
Frankfurt 1999, pp. 737746.
202. L. Reh, Chem. Eng. Prog. 67 (1971) no. 2,
5868.
203. L. Reh, Chem.-Ing.-Tech. 42 (1970) no. 7,
447451.
204. L. Reh, J. Ernst, H. W. Schmidt, K. H.
Rosenthal, Aluminium (Dusseldorf) 47 (1971)
no. 11, 681685.
205. W. Bresser, P. Weber, Iron Steel Eng. (1995)
8185.
206. R. Husain, P. Weber, A. Orth, H. Eichberger in
J. Werther (ed.): Circulating Fluidized Bed
Technology VI, DECHEMA, Frankfurt 1999,
pp. 593598.
207. L.-S. Fan, Gas-Liquid-Solid Fluidization
Engineering, Butterworth, Boston 1989.
208. K. Schugerl, Can. J. Chem. Eng. 67 (1989)
178184.
209. J.-X. Zhu, Y. Zheng, D. G. Karamanev, A. S.
Bassi, Cand. J. Chem. Eng. 78 (2000) 8294.
210. J. J. Heijnen, Chem.-Ing.-Tech. 56 (1984)
526532.
211. J. J. Heijnen, A. Mulder, W. Enger, F. Hoeks:
Anaerobic Treatment, a Grown-up Technology,
NVA Water Treatment Conference Aquatech
86, Amsterdam Sept. 1519, 1986.
212. O. Moebus, M. Teuber, Kiel. Milchwirtsch.
Forschungsber. 33 (1981) 323.
213. L. Rottenbacher: Entwicklung und
Modellierung eines Gas/Feststoff
Wirbelschichtfermenters fur die Erzeugung
von Ethanol mit S. Cerevisiae, Dissertation,
Techn. Universitat Hamburg-Harburg 1985.
214. W. Bauer in K. Ostergaard, A. Sorensen (eds.):
Fluidization V, Engineering Foundation, New
York 1986, pp. 619626.
215. W. Bauer, Can. J. Chem. Eng. 64 (1986)
561566.
216. T. Akao, Y. Okamoto in D. Kunii, R. Toei
(eds.): Fluidization, Engineering Foundation,
New York 1983, pp. 631637.
217. T. Akao, Y. Okamoto, Kagaku Kogaku 49
(1985) 349355.
218. M. Asif, Chem. Eng. Technol. 21 (1998)
7782.
219. A. Tanyolak, H. Beyenal, Chem. Eng. J. &
Biochem. Eng. J. 2 (1998) 207216.
220. J. R. Grace, K. S. Lim in J. R. Grace, A. A.
Avidan, T. M. Knowlton (eds.): Circulating
1997, pp. 504524.
221. P. Jiang, F. Wei, L.S. Fan in W. C. Yang (ed.):
309342.
222. R. Shinnar, ACS Symp. Ser. 72 (1978) 113.
223. W. Bock, G. Emig, W. Sit, J. Werther, Chem.
React. Eng. Proc. Int. Symp. 8th (1984)
479486.
224. W. Sitzmann, M. Scholer, J. Werther,
Chem.-Ing.-Tech. 59 (1987) no. 1, 68/69 and
MS 1553/87.
225. W. P. M. van Swaaij in J. F. Davidson, R. Clift,
D. Harrison (eds.): Fluidization, Academic
Press, London 1985, pp. 595629.
226. J. R. Grace in D. Geldart (ed.): Gas
Fluidization Technology, John Wiley & Sons,
Chichester 1986, pp. 285340.
Engineering, Butterworth-Heinemann, Boston
1991, pp. 303305.
228. W. P. M. van Swaaij, F.J. Zuiderweg, Proc. 5th
Eur. Symp. Reaction Eng., Amsterdam 1972,
pp. B925.
229. D. Rokita: Dynamische
Wirbelschichtmodellierung einer komplexen
Reaktion, Dissertation, Technische
Universitat Hamburg-Harburg 1991.
230. S. P. Sit, J. R. Grace, Chem. Eng. Sci. 36
(1981) 327335.
231. L. H. Chen, C. Y. Wen, AIChE J. 28 (1982) no.
6, 10191029.
232. M. Scholer, H. v. Raczeck, J. Werther,
Chem.-Ing.-Tech. 61 (1989) no. 8, 652653
and MS 1771/89.
233. T. Minoura, Y. Sakamoto, S. Toyama in A. M.
Manaker (ed.): Proc. Int. Conf. Fluid. Bed
Combust., ASME, New York 1989, pp.
11551161.
234. D. Bellgardt, F. Hembach, M. Schossler, J.
Werther in J. P. Mustonen (ed.): Proc. 9th Int.
Conf. Fluid. Bed Combust., ASME, New York
1987, pp. 713722.
235. P. Raven, G. A. Sparham, Proc. Int. Conf.
Fluid. Bed Combust. 7th (1982) 275283.
236. S. Artlich, E.-U. Hartge, J. Werther, Ind. Eng.
Chem. Res. 37 (1998) 782792.
237. W. P. M. vanSwaaij in D. Luss, V. W.
Weekman (eds.): Chemical Reaction
238.
239.
240.
241.
242.
243.
244.
245.
246.
247.
248.
249.
250.
251.
252.
253.
254.
49
Engineering Review, ACS, Washington 1978,

pp. 329338.
M. Edwards, A. A. Avidan, Chem. Eng. Sci. 41
(1986) pp. 829836.
P. I. Viitanen, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 32 (1993)
pp. 577583.
S. Ouyang, J. Lin, O. E. Potter, Powder
Technol. 74 (1993) pp. 7379.
H. Schoenfelder, J. Werther, J. Hinderer, J. F.
Keil, AIChE Symposium Series 90 (1994) 301,
92104.
H. Kagawa, H. Mineo, R. Yamazaki, K.
Yoshida in P. Basu, M. Horio, M. Hasatani
(eds.): Circulating Fluidized-Bed Technology
III, Pergamon Press, Oxford 1991, pp.
551559.
T. S. Pugsley, G. S. Patience, F. Berruti, J.
Chaouki, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 31 (1992) pp.
26522660.
S. Ouyang, O.E. Potter in A. Avidan (ed.):
Circulating Fluidized-Bed Technology IV,
AIChE, New York 1993, pp. 515521.
G.S. Patience, P.L. Mills, AIChE Annual
Meeting, St. Louis 1993.
J. Werther in K. Cen (ed.): Circulating
Fluidized-Bed Technology VIII, International
Academic Publishers, Beijing 2005, pp. 125.
T. Knoebig, J. Werther, Chem. Eng. Technol.
21 (1999) 656659.
E.-U. Hartge, K. Luecke, J. Werther, Chem.
Eng. Sci. 54 (1999) 53935407.
J.A.M. Kuipers, B.P.B. Hoomans, W.P.M.
vanSwaaij in L.S. Fan, T.M. Knowlton (eds.):
Fluidization IX, Engineering Foundation, New
York 1998, pp. 1530.
B.A. Kashiwa, W.C. Yang in J.R. Grace, J.
Zhu, H. de Lasa (eds.): Circulating Fluidized
Bed Technology VII, Can. Soc. Chem. Eng.,
Ottawa 2002, pp. 2739.
N. Yang, W. Ge, G. Niu, C. Yang, J. Li in K.
Cen (ed.): Circulating Fluidized-Bed
Publishers, Beijing 2005, pp. 291298.
M. Zhang, K. Chu, A. Yu, F. Wei in K. Cen
(ed.): Circulating Fluidized-Bed Technology
VIII, International Academic Publishers,
Beijing 2005, pp. 299305.
X. Xiao, W. Wang, H. Yang, J. Zhang, G. Yue
in K. Cen (ed.): Circulating Fluidized-Bed
Publishers, Beijing 2005, pp. 394401.
M. A. van der Hoef, M. vanSint Annaland, J.
A. M. Kuipers, Chem. Eng. Sci. 59 (2004) pp.
51575165.
50
255. J. Li, W. Ge, J. Zhang, M. Kwauk, Trans. I

ChemE, Part A Chem. Eng. Des., 83 (2005) pp.
574582.
256. J. Werther, E. -U. Hartge, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.
43 (2004) pp. 55935604.
257. J. Werther, E. -U. Hartge, Powder Technol. 148
(2004) pp. 113122.
258. M. Pell, S.P. Jordan, AIChE Symp. Ser. 84
(1988) no. 262, pp. 6873.
259. R. J. de Vries, W. P. M. van Swaaij, C.
Mantovani, A. Heijkoop, Proc. 5th Eur. Symp.
Chem. Reaction Eng., Session B9, Amsterdam
1972, pp. 5669.
260. E.-U. Hartge, J. Werther, V. Wiesendorf in J.R.
Grace, J. X. Zhu,H. de Lasa (eds.): Circulating
Fluidized Bed Technology VII, Can. Soc.
Chem. Eng., Ottawa 2002, pp. 325332.
261. W. Nowak, Z. Bis, J. Laskawiec, W.

Krzywoszynski, R. Walkowiak in J. Werther
(ed.): Circulating Fluidized Bed Technology
VI, DECHEMA, Frankfurt 1999, pp.
10031008.
262. J. Werther, Chem. Eng. Sci. 47 (1992) 911,
24572462.
263. W. Bauer, J. Werther, Chem. React. Eng. Proc.
Int. Symp. 7th (1982);
ACS. Symp. Ser. 196 (1982) 121132.
264. M. Pell, S. P. Jordan, paper presented at
AIChE Meeting, New York, November 1987.
265. Y. Ikeda, in M. Kwauk, D. Kunii, J. Zheng, M.
Hasatani (eds.): Fluidization 85Science and
Technology, Elsevier, Amsterdam 1985, pp.
110.

Fluidized Bed Reactor Technology

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Fluidized Bed Reactor Technology

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Fluidized-Bed Reactors

Gas Mixing in Fluidized-Bed

solids mass ow, g/s

In Equation (1), the porosity of the uidized

uidized bed for use as a reactor are excellent

1.2. Forms of Fluidized Beds

Figure 1. Pressure drop in ow through packed and uidized beds

Figure 2. Forms of gassolids uidized beds

solids recycle system with a specially designed

1.3. Advantages and Disadvantages of

a blurred range; conventionally, the minimum

Accordingly, to calculate umf , the characteristics

surface area of all particles in the bed

(this takes into account only the external area,

should be used for the characteristic particle diameter d p .

2.2. Expansion of LiquidSolid

according to Richardson and Zaki [33]. Here ut

The Reynolds number used above is calculated

2.3. Fluidization Properties of Typical

Figure 3. Geldart diagram (boundaries according to

uidized suspension causes the bed to collapse

2.4. State Diagram of Fluidized Bed

and the abscissa is the Reynolds number Rep

Whereas the onset of the uidized state can be

The Reh status diagram can answer a number of

lated uidized-bed systems with potentially similar operating problems.

2.5. Gas Distribution

where o is the gas density in the orice and C D

Figure 4. Reh status diagram with status points S and S1 S4

An important practical point is that the state

Figure 6. Industrial gas distributors

nozzles or walls due to gas jets as well as at the

2.6. Gas Jets in Fluidized Beds

and for horizontal jets [46]:

Here d o is the diameter of the outlet opening, uo

2.7. Bubble Development

where ho is the height above the grid where the

Figure 7. Gas ow for isolated rising bubbles in the

and the visible bubble ow V b is

industrial gas distributor

with the following boundary condition at h = ho :

The upward velocity ub of bubbles depends

0.05dt 1 m, Geldart group A

Outside these limits, b is taken as constant.

In practice, bubble growth is limited not only by

Equation (25) was, however, derived for a

Figure 8. Bubble growth in a uidized bed of ne particles

Figure 9. Schematic drawing of uidized bed and freeboard

Figure 10. Estimation of transport disengaging height

The mass ow rate G s of entrained solids per

Here x i is the mass fraction of particle-size

2.9. Circulating Fluidized Beds

versus the mean solids concentration cv = 1

Figure 11. Fluidized-bed state diagram, according to [61]

The uidized-bed state diagrams discussed

the abscissa is the particle Froude number

The dimensionless pressure drop is the ratio of

where is the ratio of solid-to-gas mass ow

the bed material is distributed uniformly over the

(s f ) gHmf (1mf )

where H mf is the bed height at minimum uidization.

Figure 12. State diagram for the circulating uidized bed

The states identied by hom to the right of

where o is the gas density in the orice and C D

(s f ) gHmf (1mf )