Fast fluidization solids mixing

Voidage profiles represent one of the most important aspects of the flow structure of fast fluidization, which play an important role in gas and solids mixing, mass and heat transfer, and conversion in a chemical reactor. Considerable efforts have been given to studying the axial and radial variation of solids concentration axially, dilute at the top and dense at the bottom, and radially, dilute in the center and dense in the vicinity of the wall. As already mentioned in Section II, these variations depend mainly on gas velocity and solids circulation rate and are also influenced by the configuration of the apparatus. 

Bader et al. (1988) used common salt as a solid tracer, which was injected into a flowing catalyst bed. Solids samples, withdrawn downstream of tracer injection, were leached with water and the salt concentration determined by electrical conductivity of the solution. Their results indicated substantial solids backmixing. Li et al. (1991) observed solids mixing in a fast fluidized bed combustor by using raw coal as a tracer, which was injected into the ash bed. Their results also showed that near-perfect mixing prevailed. Similar experiments was also conducted by Chesonis et al. (1991) in a cold model. 

Fig. 40. Comparison of solids mixing with gas mixing in a fast fluidized bed (after Bai, 1991).

This class of reactions, carried out in fluidized beds, involves parallel and series reactions, with reaction intermediates being the desired products. Industrial examples include partial oxidation of n-butane to maleic anhydride and o-xylene to phthalic anhydride. The vigorous solid mixing of fluidized beds is valuable for these reactions because they are highly exothermic. However, gas backmixing must be minimized to avoid extended gas residence times that lead to the formation of products of total combustion (i.e., CO2 and H2O). For this reason, fluidized bed catalytic partial oxidation reactors are operated in the higher velocity regimes of turbulent and fast-fluidization. 

A10 kWjij continuous reactor of interconnected fluidized beds has been discussed in Ref. [55] for CLC with biomass (Figure 5.12). The prototype is composed of a fast fluidized bed as air reactor, a cyclone and a spout-fluid bed as fuel reactor. In this case, the spout-fluid type reactor is adopted as fuel reactor in order to have a strong solid mixing between the biomass and OC particles and a long residence time. The spout-fluid reactor is designed to have two difl erent compartments. In the first part, the reaction chamber is located where the OC and the biomass are combined to produce exhaust gas and solid species (metal oxide and unconverted fuel), while the second part contains the inner seal that is located at the top and it is used to allow solids movement to the air reactor. The fuel reactor is fluidized by using exhaust gas recirculation (Table 5.2). 

In the turbulent regime, strong interactions between gas flow and particles lead to a well solids mixing state. Little, however, has been done to quantify such a state of mixing. Particle segregation occurs in the radial direction of a fast fluidized bed. Particles move down-... 

The fluidized bed reactor can also handle fast, complex reactions, with mixing and temperature control being especially good when stirring is provided. Unfortunately, the extent of back mixing is difficult to assess so that the residence time distribution of the reactants in the reactor is uncertain. In addition, only small catalyst particles can be used, and attrition, with the consequent breakdown and loss of catalyst, is a problem. Finally, a catalyst bed is adequately fluidized over only a comparatively narrow range of flow rates. More information about kinetic reactors can be found in reviews [33,34,50], Applications of the basket-type mixed reactor to liquid-solid systems are discussed by Suzuki and Kawazo [62] and by Teshima and Ohashi [63], and the development of a laminar flow, liquid-solid reactor by Schmalzer et al. [64], In the latter reactor the wall is coated with a catalyst layer. 

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