Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

of SINGAPORE

Chemical Engineering Process Laboratory II

Experiment F2

Fluidization

Name :

Matric No. :

Group :

Date of Expt. :

GRADE :
Equipment:

A set of three glass columns (5.08 cm ID) packed with spherical glass beads
of different sizes.

Objective:

To study the mechanism of fluidisation and batch fluidisation in a solid-fluid

system.

Experimental:

Design an experiment to study

1. The effect of superficial fluid velocity on the bed characteristics and

the pressure drop across the bed.
2. The effect of particle size on the minimum fluidisation velocity.

References:

1. McCabe W.L., J.C. Smith and P. Harriott, "Unit Operations of

Chemical Engineering", 4th Edition, McGraw-Hill, Chapter 7 (1985).
2. Kunii D. and O. Levenspiel, "Fluidisation Engineering", Robert E.
Krieger, Publishing Company (1977).
3. Rhodes, M. J. (2008). Introduction to Particle Technology (2nd ed.).
Chichester, England: Wiley.
4. Perry, R. H., & Green, D. W. (2008). Perry's chemical engineers'
handbook. New York: McGraw-Hill

Guide and Information:

1. Select the column to be used and adjust valves appropriately. Pass the
fluid through the packed column at the lowest flow rate to be
studied.
2. Ensure steady state is achieved before taking reading.
3. Measure (a) the pressure drop across the bed and (b) the height of the
bed at each increment of flow rate.
4. Compare the experimental results with the predicted values using
experimentally determined porosity of the beds.