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ENCH3MP
M. G. Ntunka Lecture 1 FLUIDIZATION FUNDAMENTALS
Lecture Outline
Background Revision of Motion of Particles through Fluids Fundamentals of Fluidization
Pressure
Drop and Bed Height vs. Superficial Velocity Minimum Fluidization Velocity Relationship between Velocity and bed Porosity Minimum Fluidization Velocity for Uniform Particles
especially mechanical separations, involve the movement of solid particles or liquid drops through a fluid (liquid or gas).
Newtons Law
Drag Force: =
2 0
2 0 = 2
2 0 2 = 2
Terminal Velocity
Gravitational Settling
Centrifugal Settling
Velocity depends on the radius,
and the acceleration is not constant . In many practical uses of centrifugal force, / is small in comparison with the other 2 terms:
2 =
1/3
If < 2.6, Stokes Law applies If 2.6 < < 68.9, Intermediate regime calculate If 68.9 < < 2360, Newtons Law applies
Illustrative Example 1
Estimate the terminal velocity for 0.147 to 0.175 particles of limestone ( = 2800 /3 ) falling in water at 30. The viscosity of water at 30 is 0.801 103 . (or . 1 1 ) and the density is 995.7 . 3 .
Fundamentals of Fluidization
Observe what happens when
due to frictional resistance p increases with increasing fluid flow At a certain point, drag force will be equal to apparent weight of particles in the bed. At that point, particles are lifted by the fluid, the separation of the particles increases, and the bed becomes fluidized.
counterbalances the force of gravity is point A. With further increase in velocity, the particles becomes separated enough to move about in the bed, and true fluidization begins (point B) Once the bed is fluidized, p stays constant, but the bed height continues to increase with increasing flow. Bed can be operated at quite high velocities much less than the terminal velocity for individual particles (point C).
which the packed bed becomes a fluidized bed is known as the minimum fluidization velocity, . This is also sometimes referred to as the velocity at incipient fluidization (incipient meaning beginning). increases with particle size and particle density and is affected by fluid properties.
that the fluid pressure loss across the bed of particles is equal to the apparent weight of the particles per unit area of the bed. Thus: = For a bed of particles of density , fluidize by a fluid of density to form a bed of depth and voidage = bed porosity in a vessel of cross-sectional area A: 1 = = 1
equating the expression for pressure loss in a fluidized bed with the expression for pressure loss across a packed bed. Thus, at the point of incipient fluidization ( = ), the bed porosity is known, and combining with the Erguns equation:
1 = 150 1
3 2
1 2 + 1.75 3
2 2 2 1.75 + 3 2
Rearranging, 3 1 = 150 3 2
1 1.75 2 = 150 + 3 3 A typical often used value of = 0.4 (for uniform sized spheres)
= 25.7
1 + 5.53 105 1
1952
+ 24.51
2 0.5
and rearranging gives the KUNII-LEVENSPIEL equation 0.5 2 = 33.7 + 0.0408 3 33.7
Illustrative Example 2
A bed of fractioned pulverized coal 65 (equivalent to 0.208 diameter) is fluidized by air at room temperature conditions. The height of the static bed is 1.80 . If the coal particles may be considered spherical, while their density is 1350 . 3 and the density of air is 1.2 . 3 , calculate the pressure drop required for fluidization.
Illustrative Example 3
A bed consists of uniform spherical particles of diameter 3 and density 4200 . 3 . What will be the minimum fluidizing velocity in a liquid of viscosity 3 103 . (or . 1 1 ) and density 1100 . 3 ? What type of fluidization will take place?
the particles in the fluid. The Ergun Eq. relates the Galileo number to the Reynolds number at the incipient fluidization point in terms of the voidage at the incipient point .
The Reynolds number involving the terminal velocity of the
particle in the fluid ( =
terms of the Galileo number but no single expression covers the full range of Reynolds numbers and so it is satisfactory to cover each of three zones separately, as to give the following 3 expressions of Ga as a function of :
1 3
2 ( < 105 )
= (, )
References
Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering by
McCabe W.L., Smit J.C. and Harriot P (McGraw-Hill, 7th Edition, 2005)
Coulson and Richardson's Chemical
Engineering. Vol. 2, Oxford, ButterworthHeinemann by RICHARDSON, J. F., HARKER, J. H., BACKHURST, J. R., & COULSON, J. M. (2002).