Experiment No.

5
FLUIDIZED BED
Introduction
Many processes within the chemical industry rely on fluidized bed reactors. For example,
fluidized beds are used in catalytic cracking and ammoxidation processes. During catalytic
cracking fluidized beds serve as disengaging units for separating catalyst particles from product
vapors. They are also used as regenerators, in which high molecular weight carbonaceous
products, called coke, are burned off the catalyst to restore its activity [1]. More recently
fluidized beds are beginning to see use as incinerators for hazardous waste destruction [2]. When
using a fluidized bed for incineration only a small portion (usually less than 1%) of the bed is
combustibles; and the inert material, sand or product ash, acts as a large thermal flywheel,
smoothing process variations.
This smoothing of process variations is common to all fluidized beds. The vigorous
boiling motion, or fluidization of the particles produces relatively high heat transfer rates
within the bed and serves to smooth out thermal variations. For example, it is common during
incineration for the fluid bed to operate at a steady state with less than 15F (8.3C) temperature
variation throughout the bed [2].
Fluidization of the bed occurs when the pressure drop of the gas passing up through the
packing becomes greater than the force of gravity acting on the bed of particles. The pressure
drop that must be overcome for fluidization affects the operating costs of the unit. Thus, it is
important to predict the pressure drops over various packings as a function of the superficial gas
velocity. Generally a scaled down model of the apparatus is used for collecting preliminary data.
These data, along with various relations, are used to predict operating conditions for the full
sized apparatus. A pilot plant scale fluidized bed is located on the first floor of the Unit
Operations Laboratory. You will use this equipment to obtain pressure drop and fluidization
velocity data for comparison with the empirical correlations given in McCabe, Smith and
Harriott [3].

Equipment and Overall Procedure

The fluidized bed is located on the main floor of the Unit Operations Lab. Air passes
from the blower through Schedule 40 steel pipe to the tower. An orifice meter is also located
between the blower and the tower, and orifice coefficients are appended. In the cabinet are
several packing materials for fluidization studies, graduated cylinders, an optical microscope, and
plumbers putty, stretch wrap, and/or duct tape for sealing the tower. It is very important to seal
the tower carefully to avoid the safety hazard of spraying packing materials outside of the bed.
Some documentation on the properties of available materials is attached. It is important to avoid
mixing materials and to return them to the correctly labelled containers. The equipment can be
run in both forward (fluidized bed) and reverse (packed bed) directions, but you will only study
the forward direction. You should be able to correlate the pressure drop to superficial velocity
for at least three different packing materials. Packing materials can be chosen to examine the
effects of density, shape, and/or particle size. At least one packing should be used at three or
four different bed heights. For each run you should be able to determine the minimum
fluidization velocity and compare pressure drop as a function of velocity before fluidization to
literature correlations for packed beds. You should also be able to determine an expected value
for the minimum fluidization velocity and compare that to your measured value.
Pre-lab Requirements (to be completed by the group)
1. Study the assigned reading and the PowerPoint notes for the fluidized bed lab (Fixed and
Fluidized Bed Notes and Report Writing.ppt)
2. Familiarize yourselves with the equipment in the laboratory and draw a sketch of the
equipment with the important pipes, valves, and meters labeled. (Do not run the equipment until
your assigned lab period)
3. Prepare a data and results collection sheet showing the number of runs you plan to make, the
data you plan to measure for each run, and the results you plan to calculate for each run. Put this
same information on paper and in the form of an Excel file.
4. Complete the pre-lab questionnaire below and bring it with you to your lab session.

Fluidized Bed Pre-lab Questionnaire

1. List your objectives for the fluidized bed lab.
2. What safety precautions will you take to protect yourselves and the equipment?
3. Write a brief summary of the theory describing the relationship between pressure and velocity
in a packed bed before and after fluidization.
4. Which materials do you plan to fluidize?
5. Which bed heights do you plan to study?
6. Referring to your sketch, indicate which valve(s) will be used to adjust the air velocity.
7. Explain briefly how the orifice meter will be used to measure the air velocity.
8. Calculate the superficial air velocity in the bed corresponding to a measured pressure drop of
3 inches of water across the orifice meter.
9. Sketch a graph of your expected results indicating the minimum fluidization velocity.
10. Explain how the bed porosity, particle diameter, particle density, and sphericity will be
determined.
11. Assuming a void fraction of 0.4, calculate the expected pressure drop when air flows at a
superficial velocity of 0.5 ft/s across a 4 inch high bed of 1 mm diameter polystyrene spheres
according to the Ergun equation.
12. Explain briefly how the minimum fluidization velocity can be predicted.
Before leaving the laboratory
You should generate log-log plots of pressure drop as a function of superficial velocity for the
forward direction. Compare measured results to those calculated using the Ergun equation.
For final reports
Report uncertainties in all measured quantities. For labs done during the 5th and 6th weeks, be
sure to perform a complete error analysis on measured and computed quantities.

References
1.

Gates, B. C., Katzer, J. R., and Schuit, C. C. A., Chemistry of Catalytic Processes,
McGraw-Hill, New York, NY (1979).

2.

Mullen, J. F., Consider Fluid-Bed Incineration for Hazardous Waste Destruction,

Chem. Eng. Progress, 50-58, June 1992.

3.

McCabe, Smith and Harriott, Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering, Seventh Edition,
McGraw-Hill, New York, NY (2005).

Aluminum oxide (40 mesh)

Glass beads, extra couse

Crushed glass, medium

Crushed glass, course

Kramer Industries, Inc.

140 Ethel Road West
Unit U
Piscataway, NJ 08854

phone: 888-515-9443
fax: 732-650-0556
www.KramerIndustriesOnline.com

Right From The Start

KramBlast Crushed Glass Grit

Source Content

100% post-consumer, recycled bottle glass

Shape

Angular

Color

Mixed

Hardness

5.0 6.0 (MOHS scale)

Bulk Density

~100 lbs/ft^3

Free Silica Content

Undetectable

Heavy Metals

Undetectable

Standard Grades
Extra Coarse

8 - 12 mesh (1.70 2.36 mm)

Coarse

12 - 30 mesh (0.56 1.70 mm)

Medium

30 - 70 mesh (0.21 0.56 mm)

Fine

-80 mesh (<0.16 mm)

Crushed Glass Grit 051512

Kramer Industries, Inc.

140 Ethel Road West
Unit U
Piscataway, NJ 08854

phone: 888-515-9443
fax: 732-650-0556
www.KramerIndustriesOnline.com

Right From The Start

Glass Beads
Shape

Spherical

Color

Clear

Density

2.5 g/cc

Specific Gravity
Free Silica Content
Chemistry

2.45 2.50
0%
Soda-lime glass

Grade

Mesh Size

Particle Size

Extra Coarse

20/30 Mesh

560 850 micron

Extra Coarse

30/40 mesh

425 560 micron

Coarse

40/50 mesh

325 425 micron

Coarse

50/70 mesh

212 325 micron

Medium

70/100 mesh

180 250 micron

Medium-Fine

100/170 mesh

90 150 micron

Fine

170/325 mesh

45 90 micron

CF0009D
Glass Bead 0514

Kramer Industries, Inc.

140 Ethel Road West
Unit U
Piscataway, NJ 08854

phone: 888-515-9443
fax: 732-650-0556
www.KramerIndustriesOnline.com

Right From The Start

Plastic Abrasive Blast Media

Plastic Types

Hardness (MOHS / Barcol)

Urea (Medium)
Melamine (Hard)
Acrylic (Soft)
Urea: 3.5 / 54-62
Melamine: 4.0 / 64-74
Acrylic: 3.2-3.5 / 46-54

Shape

Angular

Color

Mixed

Density

Bulk Density

Urea: 1.5 g/cc

Melamine: 1.5 g/cc
Acrylic: 1.15 1.20 g/cc
~50 lbs/ft^3

Available Grades
8-12 Mesh

1.70 2.36 mm

10-20 Mesh

0.85 2.00 mm

12-16 Mesh

1.20 1.70 mm

16-20 Mesh

0.85 1.20 mm

20-30 Mesh

0.56 0.85 mm

30-40 Mesh

0.42 0.56 mm

40-60 Mesh

0.25 0.42 mm

60-80 Mesh

0.16 0.25 mm

Plastic Abrasive 061110

Kramer Industries, Inc.

140 Ethel Road West
Unit U
Piscataway, NJ 08854

phone: 888-515-9443
fax: 732-650-0556
www.KramerIndustriesOnline.com

Right From The Start

White Aluminum Oxide Grit

#40 Mesh
Typical Physical Properties
Color
Grain Shape
Crystallinity
Hardness
Specific Gravity
Bulk Density

White
Angular
Coarse Crystal
9 Mohs
3.8
106 lbs / ft3

Proximate Chemical Analysis

Al2O3
TiO2
SiO2
Fe2O3

99.72 %
0.00 %
0.00 %
0.00 %

CaO
MgO
Na2O
K2O

0.02 %
0.00 %
0.26 %
0.00 %

Particle Size Distribution

Screen Size
25
35
+45
50
-50
40 (CONTROL3)

Size Grading Specification1

Lower Limit
Upper Limit
0.0 %
0.0 %
0.0 %
30.0 %
65.0 %
100%
0.0 %
100%
0.0 %
3.0 %
40.0 %

100 %

Notes:
ANSI Testing Methods: Size Grading B74-12-2001; Bulk Density B74-4-1997

Specification for percentage retained on each screen size for given grade of product.
Results of a recent batch.
3
Control screen for quick confirmation of product grade.
2

% Retention2
0.0 %
3.1 %
91.1 %
4.6 %
1.2 %
48.2 %