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The effect of packing on a fluidized bed
Author(s) -
Sutherland J. P.,
Vassilatos George,
Kubota Hiroshi,
Osberg G. L.
Publication year - 1963
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.690090406
Subject(s) - fluidization , raschig ring , materials science , pressure drop , packed bed , sphere packing , atomic packing factor , slugging , fluidized bed , mechanics , spheres , volume (thermodynamics) , composite material , chromatography , thermodynamics , chemistry , flow (mathematics) , engineering , physics , crystallography , aerospace engineering
A study has been made of the effect of fixed packing on the properties of a gas‐fluidized bed, including minimum fluidization velocity, pressure drop, and bed expansion. Experiments using a range of glass beads as fluidizing solid with smooth uniform spheres as packing indicate that both packing size and the ratio of particle to packing diameter are the main variables in correlating the results. Other solids of varying density and shape have also been used. In addition to smooth spherical packing, rough spheres and variously shaped packings such as Raschig rings, Berl saddles, and a cylindrical, open‐ended screen packing have received preliminary study. With the screen packing, which occupies only 5% of the column volume, it has been possible to operate a fluidized bed at a much higher gas throughput without slugging than is possible with a conventional bed. A preliminary study has also been made of heat transfer rates, and the results indicate that the same factors are significant. With spherical packing, values of h of the order of 70% of that in a conventional bed have been obtained, while with screen packing values ranging up to 100% or greater have been observed. Possible applications of this technique and its limitations are also discussed.