School of Engineering Chemical Engineering Howard College

MATERIALS PROCESSING
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

Typical Chemical Plant Layout

Many processing steps in chemical engineering,

especially mechanical separations, involve the movement of solid particles or liquid drops through a fluid (liquid or gas).

Motion of Particles Through Fluids

Falling Sphere
Consider a sphere

Newtons Law

(object) falling in a fluid

What are the forces

acting on this object?

External Force Buoyancy Viscous Drag

External Force

What equation describes

the motion of this object?

Equations for One-Dimension Motion

Equations for OneDimensional Motion Motion from Gravitational Force
2 0 = 2

= External Force: = Buoyant Force by Archimedes Principle :

=

Motion in Centrifugal Field

= 2

Drag Force: =

2 0

2 0 = 2

2 0 2 = 2

Terminal Velocity
Gravitational Settling

Centrifugal Settling
Velocity depends on the radius,

is constant Drag always increases

with velocity up to a maximum velocity called terminal velocity: where / = 0: = 2

and the acceleration is not constant . In many practical uses of centrifugal force, / is small in comparison with the other 2 terms:

2 =

Drag Coefficients for Spheres

Three regimes: Stokes Flow Region: < 1
Transition Region:

1 < < 103

Turbulent Plateau:

103 < < 105

Criterion for Settling Regime

To identify the range in which the motion of particle

lies, a useful criterion is used: = 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 .

(P.TB Ch. 7 pg.167 pg. 175)

Fundamentals of Fluidization
Observe what happens when

a fluid is passed upwards through a bed particles.

Pressure loss in the fluid

Observe what happens if the

flow rate to the fluidized bed is now gradually reduced.

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.

Pressure Drop and Bed Height vs. Superficial Velocity

The point where p across bed

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).

Pressure Drop in Bed as a Function of Fluid Velocity

Minimum Fluidization Velocity,

The superficial velocity at

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.

Ideal pressure Drop Velocity Curve

Relationship between fluid velocity and Bed Porosity

The force balance across the fluidized bed dictates

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

Relationship between fluid velocity and Bed Porosity

= 1 Applies for
Deviations can occur when: Gas channeling occurs Electrostatic forces are present (i.e. sands) Agglomeration (i.e. small powders) Fluid-to-wall friction is significant (i.e. small vessels)

Minimum Fluidization Velocity for Uniform Particles ( )

It is possible to derive an expression for by

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

Minimum Fluidization Velocity for Uniform Particles ( )

Using dimensionless groups: Galileo Number =
3 2

The Galileo Number is also known as Archimedes Number

Reynolds Number at the incipient fluidization

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

Minimum Fluidization Velocity for Uniform Particles ( )

WEN and YU (1966) produced an empirical correlation for with a form similar to the previous equation:

1952

+ 24.51

2 0.5

The WEN and YU correlation is often expressed in the form:

= 33.7 1 + 3.59 105

and is valid for spheres in the range 0.01 1000

Taking the sphericity of particle : =

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?

Relationship between Minimum Fluidization and Terminal Velocity

can be expressed in terms of the free falling velocity of

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 ( =

) can also be expressed in

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 :

Ratio of Terminal Velocity to Minimum Fluidization as function of Galileo Number

= 18 ( < 3.6) = 18 + 2.7 1.687

(3.6 < < 105 )

It is, thus possible for any

1 3

2 ( < 105 )

value of to calculate the relation as function of .

= (, )

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).