Studies on abatement of fluorides using fluidized bed reactor: aspen plus simulation

A Fluidized Bed Reactor (FBR) is designed to be used for operating temperature till 500⁰C. Attempt has been made to treat the gaseous effluents of Aluminum industry for abatement of Fluorides using FBR. Red Mud (RM) is used as the bed material. Air is used as the Fluidizing medium and the gaseous effluent is fed as the secondary fluid. Bed material (RM) is analyzed before the experiments. The Hydrodynamics and the reaction results of the FBR are studied using Aspen Plus v8.4 simulation software package. The fluidization velocity, TDH, solids holdup, surface area, distributor pressure drop, bottom zone pressure drop, freeboard pressure drop, fluidized bed pressure drop, overall pressure drop and the change in the amount of reactants and the amount of product formed are evaluated from the simulation package. The phase composition and structural transition of the bed materials fluidized at different temperatures are investigated after the experiment. The presence of components such as AlF3, FeF2, FeF3 and NaF in the bed material confirmed the abatement of Fluorides from the gaseous effluents. The simulated results obtained from the ASPEN PLUS Simulation software package indicated the reduction of Fluorides from the gaseous effluents by approx. 25 % .The simulated results are compared with the experimental results . This method of fluoride abatement can be very much effective for those industries where fluoride level is a point of concern