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3396 A001
3396 A001
Volume diameter is the diameter of a sphere that has the same volume as the particle:
1 1
6 3 6V 3
dv ¼ £ volume of particle ¼ ðA1:1Þ
p p
Surface diameter is the diameter of a sphere that has the same external surface area as the particle.
Thus,
1 1
surface area of particle 2 S 2
ds ¼ ¼ : ðA1:2Þ
p p
Sieve size is the width of the minimum square aperture of the sieve through which the particle will
pass.
439
ds dsv
dp dp
dv
Screen
Aperture
A1.1.2 SPHERICITY ( f )
Sphericity describes the departure of the particle from a spherical shape. For example, a spherical
particle has a sphericity of 1.0:
Surface area of a sphere with the volume same as the particle pdv2
Sphericity ðfÞ ¼ ¼ : ðA1:4Þ
Actual surface area of the particle S
Eliminating S and V from Equation A1.1, Equation A1.3, and Equation A1.4, one gets:
The relationship between the above sizes and the sieve size dp can be derived through
experiments for irregular particles and through calculations for geometrically shaped particles.
An approximate relation for crushed quartz of sphericity 0.8 was given as (Abrahamsen and
Geldart, 1980):
dv < 1:13 dp ; dsv < 0:773 dv ; dsv < 0:87 dp ; ds < 1:28 dp
The sphericity is usually measured. Typical values of some commonly used particles are given
in Table A1.1. Biomass particles often have very low sphericity. Characteristics of some typical
particles are shown in Table A1.2.
TABLE A1.1
Sphericity of Some Granular Solids
Particle Sphericity
† Number of particles
† Total surface area
† Total volume
It is difficult to provide individual attention to these properties, and hence it is necessary to define
some average properties. Therefore, one finds it convenient to imagine an equivalent particulate
mass of particles of uniform size that matches the properties of the actual particulate mass. However,
it is possible to match only two properties between the actual and the equivalent. In fluidization and
in most chemical engineering applications, total volume and surface area are the two chosen
properties. These represent the material content and interfacial area across which transfer processes
occur. For a pressure drop through the bed, the surface area is most important. The mean particle size
is thus defined in such a way that it equals the average surface area of particles of sizes in the bed.
TABLE A1.2
Sphericity and Density of Some Biomass Fuels and Ash Produced from
Them
Voidage at Minimum
Particle Particle Density (kg/m3) Fluidization Sphericity
Biomass
Saw dust 430 0.586 0.95
Rice husk 500 0.795 0.65
Ash
Saw dust ash 380 0.603 0.75
Rice hull ash 410 0.678 0.45
Source: Chen et al., Circulating Fluidized Bed Technology V, Kefa, C. ed., International Academic
Publishers, Beijing, p. 508, 2005.
Sieving is the most commonly used technique for the measurement of the surface area of
granular solid particles. Particles of size greater than 44 microns are measured by using a set of
standard test sieves with square aperture openings. The test sieves are stacked with the one with the
largest aperture on the top. The lower sieves are selected such that the apertures are smaller. After
vibrating and shaking the stack using a sieve shaker for a period of 20 to 30 minutes, the particles
collected on each sieve are weighed and assigned a size by taking the arithmetical average of the
aperture size of the sieve through which the material just passed and the sieve on which it is
retained:
1
dm ¼ P ; ðA1:6Þ
xi
di
where di is the arithmetic mean of the aperture (opening) of two adjacent sieves, and xi is the weight
fraction of samples collected between these two sieves. The above equation will match the surface/
volume ratio of the actual poly-size particles. For nonspherical particles, all having the same
sphericity, f, the mean size dm, would then be fdm. Equation A1.6 is, however, not valid for a
discontinuous particle size.
In industries the particle size distribution is sometimes described by d50, which is a size below
which lies 50% of the sample by weight. The relative size range R, is another characteristic used to
describe the spread of the size distribution. It is defined as
d84 2 d16
R¼ : ðA1:7Þ
2dm
where d84 and d16 are the diameter corresponding to size below which particles constitute 84% and
16%, respectively, by weight.
void volume
Voidage; 1 ¼ porosity ¼ : ðA1:8Þ
volume of ðparticles þ voidsÞ
The measurement of particle volume is simple, but the precise measurement of its surface area
is very difficult. This problem compounds when one attempts to define the sphericity of a mass of a
large number of dissimilar particles. The packing characteristics of particles are important
parameters that depend on the particle’s shape and mode of packing. In some special situations,
such as in the vicinity of a sphere or a plane wall, the distribution of local voidage becomes
important. Unlike bulk voidage, it is not uniform or monotonically varying. It follows a damped
oscillatory pattern.
7
6
5
4
B D
3
Sand-Like Spoutable
2 A
rp – rf (g/cm3) Aeratable
1
0.5 C
Cohesive
A1.3.1 GROUP C
These particles are very fine and are typically smaller than 30 mm (rp ¼ 2500 kg/m3). The inter-
particle forces are comparable to the gravitational force on these particles. So, these particles are
very difficult to fluidize. An attempt at fluidization often results in channelling. Special techniques
are required to fluidize these particles.
A1.3.2 GROUP A
These particles are typically in the range of 30 to 100 mm (rr ¼ 2500 kg/m3). These particles
fluidize well, but expand considerably after exceeding the minimum fluidization velocity and
before bubbles start appearing. Many circulating fluidized bed systems use Group A particles.
TABLE A1.3
Distinguishing Feature of Four Groups of Particles
Group C A B D
A1.3.3 GROUP B
These particles are normally in the range of 100 to 500 mm (if rp ¼ 2500 kg/m3) size. They fluidize
well, and bubbles appear as soon as the minimum fluidization velocity is exceeded. The majority of
the fluidized bed boilers use this group of particles.
A1.3.4 GROUP D
These are the coarsest of all particles (. 500 mm) (for rp ¼ 2500 kg/m3). They require a much
higher velocity to fluidize these solids. Spouted beds and some bubbling fluidized bed boilers
generally operate on this size of solids.
A comparison of properties of particles of different groups is given in Table A1.3.
NOMENCLATURE
a, b: constants in Equation A1.9
CD: coefficient of drag in a particle
di: mean opening of successive sieves, (dpi þ d piþ1)/2
d m: mean diameter of a particulate mass with varying sizes, m
d p: sieve size (diameter), m
ds : surface diameter, m
d v: volume diameter, m
dsv: surface volume diameter, m
d84, 50, 16: diameters corresponding to cumulative weights of 84%, 50%, and 16%, respectively
FD : drag force in a particle, N
m p: mass of particle, kg
R: relative size range defined in Equation A1.6
S: actual surface of the particle, m2
U m: minimum fluidization velocity, m/sec
U: superficial gas velocity, m/sec
V: actual volume of the particle, m3
xi: weight fraction of particles collected between sieve i and i þ 1
f: sphericity
e: voidage
r g: density of gas, kg/m3
r p: density of solids, kg/m3
m: viscosity of gas, kg/sq.m
Ar: Archimedes number, ðgd 3p(rp2rg))/m2
Re: Reynolds number, ðUd vrg)/m
REFERENCES
Abrahamsen, A. R. and Geldart, D., Powder Technol., 26, p. 35, 1980.
Chen et al., Circulating Fluidized Bed Technology V, Kefa C., ed., International Academic Publishers, Beijing,
p. 508, 2005.
Geldart, D., The effect of particle size and size distribution on the behaviour of gas-fluidized beds, Powder
Technol., 6, 201– 215, 1972.
Institute of Gas Technology, Coal Conversion System Data Handbook, DOE/FE/05157-2, Table IVB 10.1, 1982.