Simultaneous quantitative measurement of gaseous species composition and solids volume fraction in a gas/solid flow

A novel spectroscopic method was developed to measure quantitatively and simultaneously solids volume fraction (1−ε) and gaseous species composition ( Y i ) in a gas/solid system. The method was comprised of an FT‐IR coupled to a fiber‐optic probe that could perform real‐time and in situ measurements of absorbance. The effect of (1−ε) and Y i on the absorbance spectra were additive and could be independently calibrated. Experiments were conducted with alkane/nitrogen mixtures and two types of particles: sand and FCC. Fuel mole fractions and (1−ε) were varied between 1.8–10.1 mol % and 0–0.45, respectively. The relative errors for Y i time‐averaged measurements were below 6% and the error increased significantly with decreasing beam intensity. A proof of concept for a novel application in fluidized beds was also completed: the fiber‐optic probe was used to measure the molar fraction of a tracer gas inside the emulsion and bubble phases during gas tracer experiments. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2010