Hydrodynamics of fluidized beds using image analysis

Fluidized beds, originally developed in the 1920s, have become the reactors of choice in several industrial processes. For example, coal combustion within fluidized bed systems has improved efficiency over other combustion technologies. There are however, several issues related to this technology that remain to be resolved. Three of the more significant issues are the dynamics of equal-density particle segregation and the influence of horizontal tube banks on both bubble hydrodynamics and solids mixing. These topics were investigated through the use of video image analysis of thin transparent fluidized beds. Experimental data, obtained from bubbling beds with and without simulated horizontal heat exchanger tubes, were used to evaluate existing hydrodynamic models and derive new semi-empirical models.