ABSTRACT

The aim of this experiment was to investigate the characteristics associated

with air flowing vertically upwards through a bed of granular material. This aim
was achieved by meeting a set of objectives – determining the head loss across
the column, verifying the Ergun’s equation, observing the unset of fluidization
and differentiating between the characteristics of a fixed bed and a fluidized
bed, and by comparing the predicted onset of fluidization with the measured
head loss. The apparatus used for this experiment was the Fixed and Fluidized
Bed Apparatus [A(ARMFIELD)], and the principal governing principle of this
experiment was fluidization. It was observed that the fluidization of the bed
began at a flowrate of 8 L/s, and the pressure drop was 357 mmH2O from
experimental result and 429645.88 mmH2O from predicted values. This large
difference showed that the Ergun’s equation could not be verified from the
data from this experiment.
INTRODUCTION

The concept of fluidization cannot be understood without first laying the basics
of what a fluid is. By definition, a fluid is a substance which deforms
continuously under the action of shearing forces, however small they may be.
This definition distinguishes clearly between a fluid and a solid.

Fluidization is a process whereby a granular material is converted from a static

solid-like state to a dynamic fluid-like state. Simply put, fluidization is a process
which makes solid particles behave like a fluid. This process occurs when a fluid
(liquid or gas) is passed up through the granular material.

When a mass of solid particles is fluidized, the particles behave like a gas, no
longer closely packed (no longer a fixed bed) but moving at random velocities
and directions, colliding with one another and with the walls of the container
(fluidized bed).

A fixed (or packed) hollow tube, pipe, or other vessel that is filled with a rigid
packing material, while a fluidized bed is a bed of small solid particles (as in a
coal burning furnace) suspended and kept in motion by an upward flow of a
fluid (such as a gas).

The conversion of a fixed bed into a fluidized bed (fluidization) is done by

upwardly passing a fluid through the bed. The point at which the conversion
occurs is known as the point of incipient fluidization, and the minimum
velocity of the fluid through the bed required for fluidization is the minimum
fluidization velocity.
Figure 3: Solid particles in a fixed bed Figure 1: Scaled image of fluidized
Figure 2: Fluidized solid particles
solid particles in random motion

Application of Fixed and Fluidized Bed

In reactor design, fluidized beds are typically more complex to design, build
and operate than other types of reactors, such as the packed-bed and stirred-
tank reactors. Scaleup of fluidized beds can be difficult, and there could be
significant material wastage from bubbling solid particles.
Despite these challenges, fluidized beds offer three distinct advantages
over other process technologies:
a. Superior heat transfer
b. The ability to easily movie solids like a fluid,
c. The ability to process materials with a wide particle size distribution.

The heat transfer in a fluidized bed can be five to ten times greater than
that in a packed-bed reactor. Moving particles, especially small particles, can
transport heat much more efficiently than gas alone. Even for the most
extreme exothermic reactions, a fluidized bed can maintain an iso-thermal
profile within a few degrees. The acrylonitrile process, for example, capitalizes
on this benefit. The reaction of propylene with ammonia and oxygen has an
exothermic heat of reaction on the order of 515 kJ/mol and the product is
prone to thermal degradation. Yet, acrylonitrile can be made in a fluidized bed
with less than 5 °C of variability in the reactor temperature.

Another benefit of fluidized beds is the ability to move solids in a fluid-

like fashion. Catalyst can be added or removed from the reactor without
requiring a shutdown. Furthermore, in many cases, the entire inventory of
catalyst can be removed and replaced in less than a day — whereas it would
take many days or weeks to uniformly fill a packed-bed reactor with fresh
catalyst. In addition, reactors can be coupled such that the catalyst can be
cycled and regenerated; the FCC circulating fluidized-bed reactor is based on
this advantage. Thus, the benefits of using fluidized-bed technology can easily
outweigh the disadvantages, especially for processes requiring catalyst
circulation or superior heat transfer or both. Summarily, In the industry, the
principle of fluidization is used to achieve desired outcomes – to save time,
increase yield and minimize cost.
In nature, fluidization is encountered in the upward flow of fluids
through bed particles, in underground water and crude petroleum.