Dense-phase fluidized beds bubbling fluidization

Dense-phase fluidized beds with bubbles represent the majority of the operating interests although the beds may also be operated without bubbles. The bubbling dense-phase fluidized bed behavior is fluidlike. The analogy between the bubble behavior in gas-solid fluidized beds and that in gas-liquid bubble columns is often applied. Dense-phase fluidized beds generally possess the following characteristics, which promote their use in reactor applications ... 

In dense-phase fluidization, the expansion of the bed is caused by two factors emulsion phase expansion and presence of bubbles. Thus, the bed expansion height Hf can be expressed as a linear addition of the contributions of these factors... 

As discussed in Chapter 9, dense-phase fluidization other than particulate fluidization is characterized by the presence of an emulsion phase and a discrete gas bubble/void phase. At relatively low gas velocities in dense-phase fluidization, the upper surface of the bed is distinguishable. As the gas velocity increases, the bubble/void phase gradually becomes indistinguishable from the emulsion phase. The bubble/void phase eventually disappears and the gas evolves into the continuous phase with further increasing gas velocities. In a dense-phase fluidized bed, the particle entrainment rate is low and increases with increasing gas velocity. As the gas flow rate increases beyond the point corresponding to the disappearance of the bubble/void phase, a drastic increase in the entrainment rate of the particles occurs such that a continuous feeding of particles into the fluidized bed is required to maintain a steady solids flow. Fluidization at this state, in contrast to dense-phase fluidization, is denoted lean-phase fluidization. 

For the bed-to-surface heat transfer in a dense-phase fluidized bed, the particle circulation induced by bubble motion plays an important role. This can be seen in a study of heat transfer properties around a single bubble rising in a gas-solid suspension conducted... 

In a dense-phase fluidized bed (see Chapter 9), mass transfer can take place between the particle and the gas, between the bubble and the emulsion, and between the bed and the surface. These processes are discussed in the following. 

Adris et al. [1991] also determined that the reactor performance is weakly sensitive to the bubble size, bed porosity at minimum fluidization and flow distribution between bubble and dense phases. Furthermore, the bubbles which remove the products from the reaction mixture in the dense phase enhance the forward reaction and consequently breaks the barrier of the reaction equilibrium. 

The two-phase flow theory is adopted in the model it consists in two phases, a dense phase and a bubble phase separated by a film through which the mass transfer occurs. Gases move upward in both bubble and dense phase with plug flow, which proves to be adequate to describe the flow in a bubbling fluidized bed gasifier [17],... 

Lean phase fluidization As the gas flow rate increases beyond the point corresponding to the disappearance of bubbles, a drastic increase in the entrainment rate of the particles occurs such that a continuous feeding of particles into the fluidized bed is required to maintain a steady solid flow. Fluidization at this state, in contrast to dense-phase fluidization, is generally denoted lean phase fluidization. Lean phase fluidization encompasses two flow regimes, these are the fast fluidization and dilute transport regimes. 

The influence of surface location and orientation on the bed-to-surface heat transfer coefficient in circulating fluidized bed combustors is summarized in Table 13.6. The geometric construction of the combustor and the heat transfer surface is shown in Fig. 13.17. Besides the location and orientation, differences in local heat transfer can also be found on the heat transfer surface/tube. For example, the upper part of the horizontal tube shows the smallest value for the heat transfer coefficient in dense-phase fluidized beds due to less frequent bubble impacts and the presence of relatively low-velocity particles. 

Zahed et al. [48] have presented mass and energy balance equations for the dense phase and the bubble phase for fluidized bed drying. Mass balance of liquid in the bubble phase gives the following equation ... 

Indeed, nonlinear reaction rates will not permit such explicit solutions. The height H of the fluidized bed is in fact unknown and must be calculated by equating the sum of the volumes of the dense phase and the bubbles to the volume of the bed. Based on unit cross-section one obtains... 

Figure 6.31 shows the a schematic representation of this two-phase fluidized-bed reactor with a simple proportional control. It should be noted that the proportional control is based on the exit temperature (the average between the dense-phase and the bubble-phase temperatures), which is the measured variable, and the steam flow to the feed heater is the manipulated variable. 

Weimer AW, Quarderer GJ. On dense phase voidage and bubble size in high pressure fluidized beds of fine powders. AIChE J 31 1019-1028, 1985. 

Gas in the dense and bubble phases plays different roles in a bubbling bed reactor. When gas enters the fluidized bed reactor, the gas in the bed flows to the dense and bubble phases. The gas reactant reacts in the dense phase upon contact with the particles. Interphase mass transfer allows gas reactant and product transfer between the bubble phase and the dense phase. As a bubble rises through a dense or emulsion phase region... 

Dense phase fluidization Gas fluidized beds are considered dense phase fluidized beds as long as there is a clearly defined upper limit or surface to the dense bed. The dense-phase fluidization regimes include the smooth fluidization, bubbling fluidization, slugging fluidization, and turbulent fluidization regimes. In a dense-phase fluidized bed the particle entrainment rate is low but increases with increasing gas velocity. 

The velocity at which gas flows through the dense phase corresponds approximately to the velocity that produces incipient fluidization. The bubbles rise, however, at a rate that is nearly an order of magnitude greater than the minimum fluidization velocity. In effect, then, as a consequence of the movement of solids within the bed and the interchange of fluid between the bubbles and the dense regions of the bed, there are wide disparities in the residence times of various fluid elements within the reactor and in... 

Because of the inadequacies of the aforementioned models, a number of papers in the 1950s and 1960s developed alternative mathematical descriptions of fluidized beds that explicitly divided the reactor contents into two phases, a bubble phase and an emulsion or dense phase. The bubble or lean phase is presumed to be essentially free of solids so that little, if any, reaction occurs in this portion of the bed. Reaction takes place within the dense phase, where virtually all of the solid catalyst particles are found. This phase may also be referred to as a particulate phase, an interstitial phase, or an emulsion phase by various authors. Figure 12.19 is a schematic representation of two phase models of fluidized beds. Some models also define a cloud phase as the region of space surrounding the bubble that acts as a source and a sink for gas exchange with the bubble. 

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