1-1 Introduction

“The arrival time of a space probe traveling to Saturn can be predicted more
accurately than the behavior of a fluidized bed chemical reactor!.” Even though
the above quotation (Geldart, 1986) is almost 20 years old it remains true in the
new millennium of fluidization engineering. The difficulties in prediction stem in
part from the complexity and ambiguity in defining the fundamental parameters
such as size, shape and density of the particles. These parameters play an
important role in the calculation and prediction of dynamic behavior in fluidized
beds. Most physical properties of the particles are estimated indirectly, such as
estimating particle shape by the bed voidage. All factors are explicitly and
implicitly significant in the estimation of the behavior of fluidization operations.
Although new technology is helping us to understand and give more precise
prediction in fluidization, more research is still needed.

Fluidization is a method of contacting granular solids with fluid (where the fluid
passes upwards through the bed ) .

1-2 Fluidized bed :

Fluidized beds are used widely in chemical processing industries for
separations, rapid mass and heat transfer operations, and catalyic reactions. A
typical fluidized bed is a cylindrical column that contains particles and through
which fluid, either gaseous or liquid, flows. In the case of fluidized bed reactors,
the particles would contain a catalyst, and for separations, the particles might be
an absorbent or adsorbent. The velocity of the fluid is sufficiently high to
suspend, or fluidize, the particles within the column, providing a large surface
area for the fluid to contact, which is the chief advantage of fluidized beds.

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 Fig(1.1) : Examples of fluidized bed reactor

1-3 Types of fluidized beds :

- particulate fluidization : voidage does not depend on time (but may depend on
height) Uniform and large expansion of the bed without presence of bubbles.
Mixing by diffusion of particles.

Fig (1.2): particulate fluidization

- aggregating fluidization : depends on time as well as position in the bed (often
irregular and complex) Not a uniform concentration of particles in the bed.
Presence of gas bubbles (voids) in the bed is the main factor of particle mixing.
The regimes may vary from bubbling to slugging and turbulent fluidized bed.

Fig (1.3): aggregating fluidization

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1-4 Fluidization Fundamentals :
In fluidization, a gas or liquid is passed through a bed of solid particles which is
supported on a perforated or porous plate. In the case of fluidized bed coating,
air is passed through a bed of polymer particles. When the frictional force acting
on the particles, or pressure drop, of the flowing air through the bed equals or
exceeds the weight of the bed, the powder particles become suspended and the
bed exhibits liquid-like behavior. As shown in the figure below, at gas flow rates
less than the fluidization velocity, the bed is a fixed bed and there is no
movement of particles. At flow rates above minimum fluidization the bed
expands and bubbles appear.

The air velocity corresponding to a pressure drop that just equals the weight of
the bed is referred to as the minimum fluidization velocity. At this air velocity or
flow rate all of the bed particles are completely suspended by the air stream. For
a given system, minimum fluidization velocity can be determined from a
pressure drop vs. air velocity diagram. As air flow is increased above the
minimum fluidization velocity, the bed may exhibit behaviors ranging from
smooth fluidization to bubbling fluidization to dilute fluidization in which powder
can be transported by the air stream. Smooth fluidization is desirable for optimal
performance in the powder coating process.

The liquid-like nature of the fluidized powder bed allows for high heat and mass
transfer rates between the gas phase and the solid phase. As a result many
applications for fluidization are utilized as given in Table 1.

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1-5 Basics of Fluidization :
Fluidization is a process in which solids are caused to behave like a fluid by
blowing gas or liquid upwards through the solid-filled reactor. Fluidization is
widely used in commercial operations; the applications can be roughly divided
into two categories, i.e.,

• physical operations, such as transportation, heating, absorption, mixing of fine

powder, etc. and

• chemical operations, such as reactions of gases on solid catalysts and reactions

of solids with gases etc.

Fig (1.4): fluidized bed coating

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The fluidized bed is one of the best known contacting methods used in the
processing industry, for instance in oil refinery plants.

1-6 The phenomenon of fluidization :

To simply describe the idea behind fluidization process one can say that it is the
operation that can change a system a solid particles into fluid like suspension in
gas or liquid. This method of contacting of this two phase mixture have some
unusual characteristics that are widely used in many fields of chemical industry.
Simplified diagram showing the idea of fluidization is presented in Fig(1.5) . Gas
is delivered from the bottom of the reactor, goes through a gas distributor to
provide inform distribution through whole profile of bed and flows through
packed bed of solids. At low gas velocities the drag force is to small to lift the
bed, which remains fixed. Increasing gas velocity causes solids to move upward
and create fluid bed.

Depending on the velocity of gas we can distinguish different modes of

fluidization Fig(1.6) from bubbling fluidization, through turbulent and fast
fluidization modes up to pneumatic transport of solids.

Fig (1.5) : Schematic diagram of fluidization

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 Fig (1.6) : Fluidization type depending on gas velocity

Another important issue concerning the fluidization process is pressure drop

through a fixed bed. Fig(1.7) presents changes in pressure drop with changing
gas velocity. At first one can observe increasing pressure drop, up to some level
where it becomes constant, despite increasing gas velocity. This change in
pressure drop trend can be connected with the creation of dense phase of
fluidized bed and that is the moment when the fluidization occurs. The velocity
at which the pressure is stabilized is called minimum fluidization velocity.
Pressure drop is stable in a certain range of velocities, then a slight increase can
be observed which precede a drastic decrease in pressure drop. This is due to
the entrainment of smaller particles which are suspended in the section over the
dense fluidized bed. Further increase in gas velocity will cause more fractions to
be carried over which leads to disappearance of dense phase and start of
pneumatic transport. Although, as it will be shown later in some cases gas
velocities exceeding the terminal velocity can be applied for the so called fast
fluidization.

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 Fig (1.7) : Pressure drop vs. gas velocity

1-7 Heat and Mass Transfer in Fluidized Beds :

In gas fluidized beds rapid and vigorous mixing takes place in the area just above
the distributor. This means that the exchange of heat and mass between the
fluid and the solid can occur very easily (Hovmand, I987).

Thus, heat transfer coefficients are very high (Richardson,l97l). To get these high
heat transfer coefficients, it is essential that high rates of particle displacement
occur. In fact, this does occur as a result of the vigorous bubbling that takes
place under most conditions. Heat transfer in any fluidized bed can be discussed
in two parts:

1) Heat transfer between the fluidized bed and the surroundings, for example
through the wall of the containing vessel or via fluids flowing through internal
loops (indirect heat transfer).
2) Heat transfer between the particles and the Fluidizing medium. Indirect heat
transfer is relevant to operations in which further addition or removal of heat is
necessary in order to supplement the heat transfer already achieved by the
fluidizing medium.

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The constant replacement of hot particles by cool particles at the heat exchange
surface means that there is always a large temperature gradient towards the
food facilitating efficient heat transfer. The heat transfer coefficient between a
fluidized bed and its surroundings is defined as:

Q = hw Aw Tt

where Q is the rate of heat transfer, Aw is the area of the heat exchange surface,
and Tt is the mean temperature difference between the bed and the heat
exchange surface.

In studying mass transfer in fluidized beds, it is convenient to consider gas and

liquid fluidized beds separately. In gas fluidized beds, three different areas of
mass transfer can be isolated (Beek, 1971):

1) mass transfer between the fluidized bed and the bed wall (kw) or an object in
the bed , for example a heat exchanger coil,
2) mass transfer between the bed particles and the fluidizing medium (kp),
3) mass transfer between the bed particles and the gas bubbles in a bubbling
bed, ( kb).

Fig (1.8) : Types of mass transfer in a fluidized bed.

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1-8 Fluidized bed design :
A typical fluidized bed reactor contains a plenum , a gas distributor (such as a
grid plate or sparger ) , the particle bed region , a freeboard region above the
particle bed, heating and cooling coils if needed, and cyclones fig(1.9) . some

fluidized beds may have a dual feed system consisting of a grid plate with a
sparger above it. The fluidized beds are also used as dryers and heat treaters .

Fig(1.9) : a typical fluidized bed has plenum, a gas distributor, cyclones and diplegs , and
heating/cooling coils.

1-9 Advantages of Fluidized bed :

 Smaller particles can be used, increasing the solid-fluid exchange area.

 Uniform temperature distribution due to intensive solids mixing (no hot
spots).
 High heat transfer coefficients between bed and immersed heating or
cooling surfaces.
 Easy handling and transport of particles due to fluid-like behavior.
 Uniform (solid) product in batch-wise process because of intensive solids
mixing

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1-10 Disadvantages of Fluidized bed :
 Expensive solid separation and gas purification because of solids entrained in
fluidizing gas.
 Erosion of internals and attrition of solids resulting from high particle
velocities.
 Back mixing of (product) gas because of high solids mixing rate resulting in
lower conversion.

 Possibility of de-fluidization due to agglomeration of solids

 Undesired reaction gas bypass or broadening of the residence time
distribution in case of inhomogeneous bed fluidization.
 Scale-up can be difficult.

1-11 Fluidization Regimes :

When the solid particles are fluidized, the fluidized bed behaves differently as
velocity, gas and solid properties are varied. It has become evident that there
are number of regimes of fluidization, as shown in Figure (1.10) .

Fig (1.10) : Schematic representation of fluidized beds in different regimes

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When the flow of a gas passed through a bed of particles is increased
continually, a few vibrate, but still within the same height as the bed at rest. This
is called a fixed bed (Fig 1.10 A).

With increasing gas velocity, a point is reached where the drag force imparted by
the upward moving gas equals the weight of the particles, and the voidage of
the bed increases slightly: this is the onset of fluidization and is called minimum
fluidization (Fig 1.10B)

with a corresponding minimum fluidization velocity, Umf. Increasing the gas flow
further, the formation of fluidization bubbles sets in. At this point, a bubbling
fluidized bed occurs (Fig 1.10C).As the velocity is increased further still, the
bubbles in a bubbling fluidized bed will coalesce and grow as they rise.

If the ratio of the height to the diameter of the bed is high enough, the size of
bubbles may become almost the same as diameter of the bed. This is called
slugging (Fig 1.10D).

If the particles are fluidized at a high enough gas flow rate, the velocity exceeds
the terminal velocity of the particles. The upper surface of the bed disappears
and, instead of bubbles, one observes a turbulent motion of solid clusters and
voids of gas of various sizes and shapes. Beds under these conditions are called
turbulent beds as shown in (Fig 1.10E).

With further increases of gas velocity, eventually the fluidized bed becomes an
entrained bed in which we have disperse, dilute or lean phase fluidized bed,
which amounts to pneumatic transport of solids.

1-11-1 Fixed bed of fluidization :

When the flow of a gas passed through a bed of particles is increased
continually, a few vibrate, but still within the same height as the bed at rest. This
is called a fixed bed

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Flow through a packed bed of particles
Applications, e.g.
 Flow of liquid or gas through a filter cake
 Flow of reactants through a bed of catalyst particles
 Fixed bed separators for adsorption of substances
 Fixed bed dryer

Particle volume fraction Fig (1.11) : fixed bed

For fixed beds (no particle movement)

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1-11-1-1 Applications of Packed Beds in
Industry :
 Separation processes in manufacturing of chemicals:
Absorption, extraction, distillation

Increase of interface area between liquids and gasses to improve mass transfer
and separation efficiency.

 separation processes in off-gas treatment: Scrubbing

Scrubbers are used to wash out undesired pollutants from gas streams, esp.
acidic gases.

In wet scrubbing, pollutants are absorbed in a solution where a packed bed is

often used to increase the liquid surface area.

In dry scrubbing, pollutants are absorbed on particles (e.g. in a packed bed).

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 Fig(1.12) :Packed Tower Wet Scrubber

 Chemical reactions over a fixed bed of catalyst particles

Fig(1.13) : A) Adiabatic and B) multi-tube fixed bed reactor with heat removal.

1-11-2 Minimum Velocity of Fluidization :

The minimum velocity at which a bed of particles fluidizes is a crucial parameter
needed for the design of any fluidization operation. The details of the minimum
velocity depend upon a number of factors, including the shape, size, density, and
polydispersity of the particles. The density, for example, directly alters the net
gravitational force acting on the particle, and hence the minimum drag force, or
velocity, needed to lift a particle. The shape alters not only the relationship
between the drag force and velocity, but also the packing properties of the fixed
bed and the associated void spaces and velocity of fluid through them.

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To find the minimum fluidizing velocity, experimental and theoretical
approaches can be used. Methods for calculating the flow rate at which
fluidization occurs are described first, as a review of fundamental ideas that
govern the behavior of the bed of particles.

Then, a procedure for estimating the minimum velocity from experimental

measurements is described.

1-11-2-1 Calculating the Fluidization Minimum

Velocity :
The incipient point at which the fluid, or gas, flow causes the bed of particles to
expand and lift into the vertical column is marked by a conceptually simple
balance. At Umf , the hydrodynamic drag force on the particles Fd, due to the
flow of gas through the packed bed of particles, matches (or just exceeds), the
net gravitational forces Fg,
0 = Fg + Fd (1)
where the balance had been made in the direction of gravity.1 The calculation
has many similarities to evaluating the terminal velocity of a single particle in a
flow.

1-11-2-2 Gravitational Forces :

The net gravitational forces on the bed of particles must consider the weight W
of the particles and the buoyancy forces Fb,
Fg = W − F b
= (_p − _f ) gVp (2)
where _p is the density of the particles, _f is the density of the fluid, g is the
gravitational acceleration constant, and Vp is the total volume of particles within
the fluidized bed. For a low density fluid, such as gas, the buoyancy force
represents a small correction to the net gravitational force.

Since the drag forces are generally written in terms of the bed voidage, it is
convenient to express the gravity force in the same way. The bed voidage _ is
defined as the volume fraction of voids in a bed of particles,

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Fig(1.14) : The bed of particles and the force balance. When the weight of the particles (W) exceeds the
buoyancy forces (Fb) and the drag forces (Fd) due to the fluid velocity U, the particles remain fixed in
place. The velocity U is the minimum fluidization velocity if a small increase of velocity, _U, causes the
bed to expand by a small amount _H over its original height, H.

where

Vt = AH (4)

is the total volume of the bed. In Eq. (4), A is the cross sectional area of the
fluidized bed and H is the height of the bed of the particles prior to the onset of
fluidization. Therefore, the volume occupied by the particles can be written as

1-11-3 bubbling fluidized bed :

Knowledge of the general behavior of a fluidized bed is insufficient for some
purposes, for example reaction kinetics and heat transfer depend on details of
the gas-solids interaction in the bed. Hence, a satisfactory treatment of these
phenomena requires a reasonable model representing the gas flow through the
bed and its interaction with bed material. As a consequence, the bubble size, rise

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velocity, shape, distribution, frequency and flow patterns are of key interest. As
it was presented in chapter one, increasing the velocity of gas flowing through a
bed o solids causes changes fluidization mode At relatively low gas velocities we
can observe a so called dense bubbling fluidized bed, which is characterized by
the presence of regions with low solid concentration which are called bubbles.
The dense phase, with higher solid concentration is called emulsion.

Fig(1.15): Schematic bubble in bubbling bed

Fig(1.16) : idealized Freely-Bubbling Gas Fluidized Bed

1-11-3-1 Mechanism of rise :

Bubbles or "gas voids" rise in a fluidized bed by being displaced with an inflow of
solids from their perimeter. Since free flowing and/or incipiently fluidized bulk
solids have shallow angles of repose their walls cannot stand at 90° and hence
the solids slide down the bubble's walls into its bottom where all the peripheral

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streams collide to form a so called "wake" as illustrated in Fig(1.17) .
Observations of this down flow of solids in a "shell" around the bubble have
shown it to occupy an annular thickness of % of the bubble diameter so that the
overall diameter within which a bubble can rise "freely" as it would in a bed of
infinite diameter can be defined as 1.5 D B .

Fig(1.17) Bubble Rise via Displacement by Inflow of a Surrounding Down-Flowing Shell of Bed Solids

1-11-3-2 Bubble Size :

The mean size of the bubble population in fluidized beds increases with height
above the distributor plate due to coalescence of bubbles.

1-11-3-3 Bubble Wake :

When a bubble rises, it carries some amount of solids inside as seen in Fig(1.18) .
This is called ‘wake’. The formation of a wake follows directly when the bubble
forms. Hence, the bubble picks up most of its solids at the bottom of the bed as
it leaves the distributor plate. An idealized bubble has an upper surface that is
approximately spherical, with a radius of curvature r, and a wake at the bottom,
with wake angle θ w as shown in Fig(1.18) .

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 Fig(1.18) : A ideally spherical bubble (Geldart, 1962)

1-11-3-4 Flow Pattern of Fluidization Bubbles :

As bubbles rise through the bed, they coalesce to form bigger bubbles and when
they become too large, they split (see Fig(1.19)) . The average bubble size
equilibrates at about the maximum stable size. The location in the bed where
the equilibrium size is attained depends on the kind of particles. Bubbles can
coalesce in two ways, by incorporating a bubble in front or by moving side-wards
into the track of another bubble and then incorporating it. At the wall of the
bed, bubbles can only move inwards, while other bubbles can move in any
horizontal direction. The result is an active zone away from the wall, which
intensifies and moves closer to the axis with increasing distance from the
distributor plate. Solid particles are dragged up by the bubbles and, by
continuity, will move downwards in regions with lower bubble densities. As a
consequence of fewer bubbles being close to the wall, there is a predominantly
downward flow of particles near the wall, which, once established, maintains the
tendency for bubbles to move inwards. The overall circulation is upwards near
the axis and downwards near the wall in higher regions; the converse seems to
be the case in the lower regions.

Fig(1.19) : A freely bubbling fluidized bed and bubble coalescence modes.

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The circulation pattern can be modified by internals, like tubes or baffles or
disturbed by mal-distribution at the distributor plate. Apart from the mal-
distribution caused by the plate that disturbed the flow pattern, Merry and
Davidson (1973) found a phenomenon called gulf streaming. The gulf streaming
phenomenon is caused by a cross-sectionally non-uniform bubble flow, causing a
general upward material flow in one part of the bed, and downward in the
other. Due to this effect much more material is brought to the top of the bed by
the bubble flow than would be expected on basis of the flow in the wake phase
itself, and thus the downward flow in the bulk is also higher. Gulf-streaming will
cause the fluidization bubbles to move faster than one would expect from the
single bubble velocity. On the other hand, a certain slip between the bubbles
and the dense phase in the region of upward motion can be expected. Gulf-
streaming will always take place in a fluidized bed to some extent

1-11-3-5 Particle Transportation :

Several mechanisms have been proposed to describe the movement of particles
through a fluidized bed. Mechanisms governing the vertical particle transport
processes in batch freely bubbling fluidized beds were first proposed by Rowe
and Partridge (1962):

• Transport upwards in the wakes of fluidization bubbles and deposition on

the bed surface
• Transport down to compensate for this (the combination of these two they
called 'circulation'
• Dispersion due to disturbance of the bed material by fluidization bubbles.

1-11-3-6 Solid Circulation :

Solid circulation is mainly determined by the gas velocity. At low gas velocities
solids circulation is negligible. In more vigorously bubbling beds, circulation
becomes appreciable and the absolute upward gas velocity through the
emulsion phase does not equal the minimum fluidizing velocity anymore. Here,
the velocity of the downward flowing solids has to be taken into account. Not
only gas velocity, but also particle properties like shape, size, density, stickiness,

20
and size distribution influence the mechanisms of axial and radial transport of
particles within the bed. As mentioned previously, solids move in the vertical
direction largely by being carried up by bubbles and carried down to the
distributor by the bubble-free flow of particulate phase material. The upward
movement is rapid (with the velocity of the bubbles) and the downward
movement relatively slow.

1-11-3-7 Dispersion :
Dispersion is one of the mechanisms of solids mixing in a fluidized bed. It occurs
due to the disturbance of the bed material caused by the motion of the bubbles.
Although it is thus a discrete process, linked to the motion of each individual
bubble, it can be described as a continuous dispersion process and modeled
using the diffusion equation:

This equation is called Fick’s second law of diffusion or the diffusion equation,
where is a dispersion coefficient and c the concentration of the diffusing species
is a function of both x and t.

21
1-12 classification of powder :

Table (1.2) :Geldart's classification of powder

22
References
 Custom fluidized-bed reactor. http://www.parrinst.com/wp
content/uploads/2011/06/ Fluidized-Bed-Tubular heater-off-295x300.jpg. n.d.
photograph, viewed 30 January 2013.

 Davies R.M. and Taylor G.I., “The mechanics of large bubbles rising through extended
liquids and through liquids in tubes”, Proc. Roy. Soc., A200 (1950), 375.

 Davidson J.F. and Harrison D., Fluidized Particles, Cambridge University Press, New York,
1963.

 Kunii D. and Levenspiel O., Fluidization Engineering, second edition, Butterworth-

Heinemann, Stoneham, 1991.

 K. Godard and J. F. Richardson, Chem Eng. Sci, 24 (1969) 663.

 Rowe P.N. and Widmer A.J., “Variation in shape with size of bubbles in fluidizedbeds”,
Chem. Engng. Sci., 28 (1972), 980-981.

 R.H. Perry, D.W. Green, and J.O. Maloney. Perrys Chemical Engineers Handbook.
McGraw-Hill, New York, 7th edition, 1997.

 S. Ergun and A.A. Orning. Fluid flow through packed columns. Chemical Engineering
Progress, 48:89–94, 1952.

 Students that contributed to this project since its inception are Michael Carney, Robert
Schwenck and Abby Post

 Yates, J. G. Fundamentals of fluidized-bed Chemical Processes, Butterworths, London,

1983.

 W.L. McCabe, J. C. Smith and P. Harriot (1985), “Unit Operations of Chemical

Engineering”, McGraw Hill, New York.

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