Study & Design of Fluidized Bed Reactor

1. Study of Fluidization and Fluidized Bed Reactor

Fluidization is a process where a bed of loosely packed solid particles takes on some of the
properties of a fluid when a gas is blown vertically upwards through it. Introducing a gas
(gas-solid systems) from the bottom of a column containing solid particles via a gas distributor
can cause the particles to vibrate and expand in order to balance the drag force exerted on them
by the gas stream. Upon increasing the gas velocity, a point is reached at which the drag force
equals the weight of the particles and the bed is said to be fluidized. When fluidized the solid
particles are said to behave like a fluid and exhibiting properties like fluid does.Uniform
particle mixing, uniform temperature gradients and ability to operate reactor in continuous state
are some of its advantage which make it one of the widely used reactor in today’s industrial
world.

The solid substrate (the catalytic material upon which chemical species react) material in
the fluidized bed reactor is typically supported by a porous plate, known as a distributor. The
fluid is then forced through the distributor up through the solid material. At lower fluid
velocities, the solids remain in place as the fluid passes through the voids in the material. This is
known as a packed reactor. As the fluid velocity is increased, the reactor will reach a stage
where the force of the fluid on the solids is enough to balance the weight of the solid material.
This stage is known as incipient fluidization and occurs at this minimum fluidization velocity.

This study of fluidized bed reactors and its design is done for only the sand to become
fluidized by selecting or deciding certain parameters. This fluidized bed unit was designed for
the study of the characteristics of flow through beds of solid particles using air as fluid. For this
design, mass of bed,void fraction of bed, Pressure drop through Ergun equation, terminal
velocity and kozeny Carmen equation are used for conceptual analysis.

1.1 Fluidized Bed Reactor:

A fluidized bed reactor (FBR) is a type of reactor device that can be used to carry out a
variety of multiphase chemical reactions. In this type of reactor, a fluid (gas or liquid) is
passed through a granular solid material (usually a catalyst) at high enough velocities to
suspend the solid and cause it to behave as though it were a fluid. Uniform particle mixing,
uniform temperature gradients and ability to operate reactor in continuous state are some of
its advantage which make it one of the widely used reactor in today‟s industrial world. The
solid substrate (the catalytic material upon which chemical species react) material in the
fluidized bed reactor is typically supported by a porous plate, known as a distributor. The
fluid is then forced through the distributor up through the solid material. At lower fluid
velocities, the solids remain in place as the fluid passes through the voids in the material. This
is known as a packed reactor. As the fluid velocity is increased, the reactor will reach a stage
where the force of the fluid on the solids is enough to balance the weight of the solid material.
This stage is known 10 as incipient fluidization and occurs at this minimum fluidization
velocity. Once this minimum velocity is surpassed, the contents of the reactor bed begin to
expand and swirl around much like an agitated tank or boiling pot of water. The reactor is
now a fluidized bed. Depending on the operating conditions and properties of solid phase
various flow regimes can be observed in this reactor.

1.1.2 Applications:

Today fluidized bed reactors are still used to produce gasoline and other fuels, along with
many other chemicals. Many industrially produced polymers are made using FBR technology,
such as rubber, vinyl chloride, polyethylene, and styrene‟s. Various utilities also use FBR‟s
for coal gasification, nuclear power plants, and water and waste treatment settings. Used in
these applications, fluidized bed reactors allow for a cleaner, more efficient process than
previous standard reactor technologies.

1.1.3 Advantages:

Uniform Particle Mixing: Due to the intrinsic fluid-like behaviour of the solid material,
fluidized beds do not experience poor mixing as in packed beds. This complete mixing allows
for a uniform product that can often be hard to achieve in other reactor designs. The
elimination of radial and axial concentration gradients also allows for better fluidsolid contact,
which is essential for reaction efficiency and quality.

1.1.4 Uniform Temperature Gradients:

 Many chemical reactions require the addition or removal of heat. Local hot or cold spots
within the reaction bed, often a problem in packed beds, are avoided in a fluidized situation
such as an FBR. In other reactor types, these local temperature differences, especially
hotspots, can result in product degradation. Thus FBRs are well suited to exothermic reactions.
Also bed-to-surface heat transfer coefficients for FBRs are high. Ability to Operate Reactor
in Continuous State: The fluidized bed nature of these reactors allows for the ability to
continuously withdraw product and introduce new reactants into the reaction vessel.
Operating at a continuous process state allows manufacturers to produce their various
products more efficiently due to the removal of start-up conditions in batch processes.

2. Design decision:

With laboratory-scale data available, the following factors can be considered in the
design of larger units:

2.1.1 Use of a Circulation System: If the catalyst deactivates rapidly and if regeneration
can supply (or remove) the heat needed (or generated) by the reaction, then a circulation
system should be considered for the pilot plant.

2.1.2 Selection of Bed Type and Bubble Size: The two commonly used bed types are
the freely bubbling bed and the bed with internals. Thus, circulation systems can have freely
bubbling beds or beds with internals only for control of bubble size and its rise velocity,
whereas beds with a batch of solids usually have internals for heat exchange and control of
bubble size and bubble rise velocity.

2.1.3 Bed Aspect Ratio (Height to-Diameter Ratio): In a bed with internals the bubble
Size is close to constant, so for a given weight of solids and volumetric gas flow rate, the
aspect ratio has only a small effect on conversion. Very shallow beds should be avoided. As a
safe value the minimum aspect ratio should be about unity.

2.1.4 Freeboard: In vigorously bubbling beds catalyst is entrained above the splash zone;
thus reaction continues in the freeboard. If no secondary reactions occur in the freeboard, then
the gas outlet can be located at the TDH. If harmful secondary reactions do occur, they can be
countered by reducing the freeboard and using more efficient cyclones.
 2.1.5 Distributors: Good distributors such as porous sintered metal or ceramic plates are
commonly used with bench-scale equipment, but they are not used in larger units because of
their high cost and poor resistance to the high mechanical and thermal stress. In a bed with
internals to limit bubble size, any conventional type of distributor should operate satisfactorily.
In a freely bubbling bed a distributor with relatively small opening should be used.

2.1.6 High Temperature Stability and Aging of Catalyst: For highly exothermic and
fast reactions the catalyst particles dispersed in rising bubbles or resting in stationary pockets
near the inlet of an oxidizing gas stream may jump to the high temperature stable point and
there 15 deactivate rapidly. This situation is also likely to occur when catalyst fouled by
carbonaceous material is regenerated by air.

2.1.7 Control of Size Distribution: The proper addition of coarse or fine solids and the
adjustment of the cyclone efficiency are used to control the size distribution in the bed and to
keep the bed lubricated with sufficient fines for good fluidization.

From the above values of umf, the ratios of u0 and umf were calculated for different u0
values and the ratio is much greater than 1. So, here we assume the model of Kunii and
Levenspiel for the fine particles and bubbling bed condition.

2.2 Descriptive Behavior of a Fluidized Bed – The Model of Kunii and Levenspiel :

At gas flow rates above the point of minimum fluidization, a fluidized bed appears much
like a vigorously boiling liquid; bubbles of gas rise rapidly and burst on the surface, and the
emulsion phase is thoroughly agitated. The bubbles form very near the bottom of the bed,
very close to the distributor plate and as a result the design of the distributor plate has a
significant effect on fluidized-bed characteristics. Catalytic reactions in dense bubbling
fluidized beds usually use fine Geldart A solids that have a very small minimum fluidizing
velocity. Consequently, industrial operations are usually run at many multiples of umf, or
with u0/umf >>1, ub/umf >>1. For this situation, Kunii and Levenspiel proposed a “bubbling
bed model”. It is based on following assumptions: Fresh feed gas containing reactant A at
CAi enters the bed and, on contact with the fine catalyst powder, reacts there according to a
first-order reaction.

The bed consists of three regions: bubble, cloud and emulsion, with the wake region
considered to be part of the cloud. We designate these regions by the letters b, c, and e; we
designate the reactant concentration at any level in these regions as CAb, CAc, and CAe,
respectively. Since u0 >> umf, all the feed gas passes through the bed as bubbles, and flow
through the emulsion is negligible. The gas interchange rate between bubble and cloud and
between cloud and emulsion are given by Kbc and Kce, respectively. The mass of solids in
the bed, Ws, is

Ws = ρcAchs (1− ) = ρcAch (1− ε)…. (3.1)

At low gas velocities in the range of fluidization, the rising bubbles contain very few
solid particles. The remainder of the bed has a much higher concentration of solids in it and is
known as the emulsion phase of the fluidized bed. The bubbles are shown as the bubble phase.
The cloud phase is an intermediate phase between the bubble and emulsion phases. After the
drag exerted on the particles equals the net gravitational force exerted on the particles, that is

ΔP = g(ρc −ρg) (1 − ε)h… (3.2)

For Rep < 10, the minimum fluidization velocity is given by:

… (3.3)

When the upward velocity of the gas exceeds the free-fall terminal velocity of the
particle, ut , the particle will be carried upward with the gas stream. For fine particles, the
Reynolds numbers will be small, and two relationships presented by Kunii and Levenspiel are

ut = ηdp2 / 18μ ; Re < 0.4… (3.4)

ut = (1.78 × 10−2 η 2 /ρgμ)1/3 (dp) ; (0.4 < Re < 500)… (3.5)

 2.2.1 Bubble velocity and cloud size: From experiments with single bubbles, Davidson
and Harrison found that the velocity of rise of a single bubble could be related to the bubble
size by:

.… (3.6)

The larger the value of u0, the faster should be the velocity of a gas bubble as it rises
through the bed. The higher the minimum fluidization velocity, the lower the velocity of the
rising bubble. Adopting an expression used in gas-liquid systems, Davidson and Harrison
proposed that the rate of bubble rise in a fluidized bed could be represented by simply adding
and subtracting these terms:

... (3.7)

2.2.2 Bubble Size: The equations for the velocity of bubble rise are functions of the
bubble diameter. As might be expected, it has been found to depend on such factors as bed
diameter, height above the distributor plate, gas velocity, and the components that affect the
fluidization characteristics of the particles. Unfortunately, for predictability, the bubble
diameter also depends significantly upon the type and number of baffles, heat exchangers
tubes, and so forth, within the fluidized bed (sometimes called “internals”). The design of the
distributor plate, which disperses the inlet gas over the bottom of the bed, can also have a
pronounced effect upon the bubble diameter.

2.2.3 Fraction of Bed in the Bubble Phase: Using the Kunii-Levenspiel model, the
fraction of the bed occupied by the bubbles and wakes can be estimated by material balances
on the solid particles and the gas flows. The parameter δ is the fraction of the total bed
occupied by the part of the bubbles that does not include the wake, and α is the volume of
wake per volume of bubble. The bed fraction in the wakes is therefore (αδ). The bed fraction
in the emulsion phase (which includes the clouds) is (1 – δ – αδ). Letting Ac and ρc represent
the cross-sectional area of the bed and the density of the solid particles, respectively, a
material balance on the solids gives: Solids flowing downward in emulsion = Solids flowing
upward in wakes

…. (3.8)
 ... (3.9)

A material balance on the gas flows gives

2.2.4 First Order Reaction: An accounting for reactant A in the three regions at any
level z in the bed gives (overall disappearance in bubble) = (reaction in bubble) + (transfer to
cloud wake) …. (3.14)

(transfer to cloud wake)=(reaction in cloud wake) + (transfer to emulsion)…. (3.15)

(transfer to emulsion) = (reaction in emulsion)… (3.16)

In symbols these expressions become an equation where the interchange coefficients Kbc
and Kce are calculated for the estimated bubble size db at that position in the bed. 19 (3.20)
(3.21) Combining the above equations to eliminate CAc and CAe gives = (3.22) Where the
overall rate constant for the fluidized bed with all its mass transfer resistances is [ ] (3.23) For
these fine particle beds, bubbles quickly reach an equilibrium size not far above the
distributor. Thus, when reaction is not extremely fast and occurs significantly throughout the
bed, one can reasonably use an average bubble size with constant interchange coefficients Kb
and Kce to represent the reactor. In this situation the bubble concentration at height z is (3.24)
For the reactor as a whole, (3.25) For vigorously bubbling conditions, or u0 >>umf, we get, in
slightly different form
3. Ergun Equation:

The Ergun equation expresses the friction factor of a fluidized bed column as a function of its
modified Reynold’s number.

4. Blowers:

In the fluidized bed reactor designed, the fluid is pumped into the system using a blower, hence
it is important to understand its working principles too:

Principle of operation: Air is sucked into the impeller eye and whirled outwards at high speed
by the impeller disk. At any point in the flow of air through the impeller the centripetal
acceleration is obtained by a pressure head so that the static pressure of the air increases from
the eye to the tip of the impeller. The remainder of the static pressure rise is obtained in the
diffuser, where the very high velocity of air leaving the impeller tip is reduced to almost the
velocity with which the air enters the impeller eye.

Usually, about half of the total pressure rise occurs in the impeller and the other half in the
diffuser. Owing to the action of the vanes in carrying the air around with the impeller, there is
a slightly higher static pressure on the forward side of the vane than on the trailing face. The
air will thus tend to flow around the edge of the vanes in the clearing space between the
impeller and the casing. This results in a loss of efficiency and the clearance must be kept as
small as possible. Sometimes, a shroud attached to the blades as shown in Figure.6.1(d) may
eliminate such a loss, but it is avoided because of increased disc friction loss and of
manufacturing difficulties.

The straight and radial blades are usually employed to avoid any undesirable bending stress to
be set up in the blades. The choice of radial blades also determines that the total pressure rise
is divided equally between impeller and diffuser.

Before further discussions following points are worth mentioning for a centrifugal
compresssor/blower.
 (i) The pressure rise per stage is high and the volume flow rate tends to be
low. The pressure rise per stage is generally limited to 4:1 for smooth
operations.

(ii) Blade geometry is relatively simple and small foreign material does not
affect much on operational characteristics.

(iii) Centrifugal impellers have lower efficiency compared to axial impellers

and when used in aircraft engine it increases frontal area and thus drag.
Multistaging is also difficult to achieve in case of centrifugal machines.

5. Results:

The design culminated in a mathematical model, as shown below:

6. Conclusion:

A cumulative study of Fluidized Bed Reactors and their design was extensively carried out,
which resulted in a mathematical design of Fluidized Bed in which no reaction was carried out
but the pressure drop for minimum velocity, fluidized velocity, terminal velocity was
calculated in a non reactive environment, a small calculation of the preceding blower was also
done. For a particular diameter and height of the column, the calculations were standardized.