Behaviour of Three Phase Fluidized Bed with Irregular Particles

The hydrodynamic characteristics- bed pressure drop, minimum fluidization velocity, bed expansion ratio and bed fluctuation ratio for a co-current three phase fluidized bed with irregular particles have been determined. Experiments were performed with air, water and dolomite as the gas, liquid and solid phases respectively using liquid as the continuous phase and gas as the discontinuous phase. Dolomite particles of 2.18 mm and 3.075 mm diameter were used as the bed material. Variation of bed pressure drop, minimum fluidization velocity, bed expansion ratio and bed fluctuation ratio with various parameters were investigated. The pressure drop decreased with gas and liquid velocity, but it increased with static bed height and particle size. Minimum fluidization velocity was found to be independent of initial static bed heights. It decreased with liquid and gas velocity and increased with particle size. Bed expansion ratio increased with gas and liquid velocity, but it decreased with particle size. It remained the same for different static bed heights. Bed fluctuation ratio increased with increasing static bed heights, gas, and liquid velocity, but it decreased with particle size