2. Experimental set-up
The experiments were carried out in a 2D cold fluidized bed with a
width (w) and height (H) of 500 and 2000 mm [29], respectively. The
thickness of the bed (t) was varied by adding or removing columns
along the frame of the bed, and three different bed thickness were
evaluated (5, 10 and 20 mm). The gas flow was introduced through
both sides of the plenum to properly distribute the gas flow. Fig. 1
shows a schematic depiction of the 2D bed.
Three different distributors were employed, and the type of
distributor used in the bed was dependent on the bed thickness. The
distributors consisted of perforated plates with 1mm holes at 1cm
intervals. The ratio between the open area and the total area of the
three distributors in each bed were identical, and the open area of the
beds was set to 1.57% As a result, for all of the beds, the characteristic
curves of the distributors (ΔPdist−U) were identical. Fig. 2(a) shows a
schematic depiction of the distributors, and Fig. 2(b) shows the
characteristic curves of the distributors.
The gas pressure drop was measured with a pressure transmitter
(PTX 1400 model, GE industrial) at an operating pressure of 0–6 atm.
The transmitter was connected to a probe, which was situated in the
plenum (see Fig. 1), and a sample frequency of 100 Hz was applied.
Two types of particles with different sizes were employed in the
present study, spherical glass particles with a density of ρp=2500 kg/
m3 (type B according to Geldart's classification [30]). Both particle size
distributions were normal, and the mean particle size and standard
deviation are shown in Fig. 3.
In addition to the 2D measurements, several measurements
were obtained from a 3D bed that was similar to the one described
in the literature [31]. These data were used to obtain the minimum
fluidization velocity in a 3D bed.
Fig. 1.