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Date :

FLOW THROUGH FLUIDISED BED COLUMN

Objectives
 To Observe and Study the behavior of bed during fluidization
 To Determine the Pressure drop per unit length as a function of Superficial velocity of
Fluidization medium
 To Determine the Minimum Fluidization Velocity
 To Study the effect of NRe on Porosity ε.

Theory and Equipment

Fluid flows vertically upward through a fine screen, which does not allow the particles to pass
through the particle bed and then to the remainder of the process system. This general arrangement is
called a Fluidized bed. It is widely used in the chemical process industry for cracking of petroleum, iron-
ore reduction, coal gasification, roasting of ores and various burner and catalytic processes. Fluidized bed
process is generally known for the efficiency of the process and high degree of mixing.

The apparatus consists a glass tube of 50mm OD and of 4 mm thickness and 1.2 meter long kept
vertically with required piping arrangements. The tube is packed with glass beads of 2” diameter for 28
cm height with inlet and outlet of manifold, gate valve at delivery, four pressure tapings mounted
horizontally on the vertical panel along with mercury manometer.

The unit consists of a movable steel trolley on castor wheels carrying a water reservoir of
capacity 100 liters, a measuring tank (capacity 40 liters), mono block centrifugal pump (AC single phase;
discharge 114 lpm; maximum head 18m) with control valves. Thus the unit provides pressurized water
supply with pressure and flow measuring facilities for the experiments.

Procedure
 Connect the mercury manometer to the pressure tapings of the fluidized bed column
 Open the inlet valve to allow the water to flow through the fluidized bed.
 Open the inlet and outlet cocks simultaneously to allow the water into the two limbs of the
manometer.
 Open the drain cocks at the bottom of the manometer simultaneously and drain air if necessary
and close
 Note the manometer reading on both limbs
 Collect the water in the collecting tank for a rise of 5 / 10 cm and note the time ‘t’ seconds
 Repeat the steps at least for six set of readings
 Plot the graphs for
Velocity Vs porosity
Velocity Vs (ΔH/L)
Velocity Vs bed height

Governing equations
Minimum Fluidization Velocity = [0.005 dp2 g (ρs - ρw) εo3 ] / [(1-ε0)]μ
Reynolds number NRe = [dp v ρ] / μ
Superficial velocity of flow, v = actual discharge / area of pipe
Area of the pipe = πd2/4
Volumetric flow rate Q a = volume of water collected / time taken ‘t’ s
Porosity, ε = 1 – {(Lo/L) [1- εo]} Lo = initial bed height L = bed height
Initial porosity, εo = void volume / total volume

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Observation
Diameter of the column, d = 44mm
Diameter of the particle, dp = 4 mm
Density of the particle, ρs = 2500 kg/m3
Density of the fluid (water), ρw = 1000 kg/m3
Viscosity of fluid (water), μ = 8.4 x 10-4 Pa.s
Initial bed height, Lo = 28 cm
Initial porosity, εo = 0.2036
Area of the collecting tank = 40 x 40 cm2
Model Calculation for data no…….

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Result
 The behavior of bed during fluidization was observed and studied under different flow regimes.
 Pressure drop per unit length as a function of superficial velocity of Fluidization medium was
determined.
 The effect of NRe on Porosity ε was also studied.
 The Minimum Fluidization Velocity was found to be ………………………..

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