China PARTICUOLOGY

In response to the need in industry for a quick and reproducible method of measuring the flowability of powders in processes involving transport and storage, the apparently simple idea of measuring angle of repose has been revived. The simple tester first used has evolved over a number of years into the present version which is shown to be capable of handling quite small samples of powders that are even slightly cohesive. Experimental data are presented and results shown to compare consistently with the better known Hausner ratio.

The oxidation reactor plays a key role in producing rutile titanium dioxide (TiO₂) from vapor-phase titanium tetrachloride (TiCl₄) by employing a swirling flow operation for enhanced gas mixing. This work aims to understand the effect of reactor configuration on the 3-D swirling flow field using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. Considering the anisotropic turbulence involved, the Reynolds stress model is applied to describe the complex swirling flow together with the cross-flow mixing of gases. The results show significant effect of the flow angle between the wall jet of air stream (representing TiCl₄ in practice) and the axial direction on the initial flow field of cross-flow mixing, where 60° gives smooth profiles of axial velocity development while 90° may provide the fastest mixing between the jet and the axial bulk flow. The pipe shape for the reaction and developing zone, i.e., straight, expanding and shrinking, shows slight influence on the hydrodynamics.

The influence of gas type (helium and argon) and bed temperature (77–473 K) on the fluidization behaviour of Geldart groups C and A particles was investigated. For both types of particles tested, i.e., Al₂O₃ (4.8 μm) and glass beads (39 μm), the fluidization quality in different gases shows the following priority sequence: Ar > He. In the same gaseous atmosphere, the particles when fluidized at an elevated temperature usually show larger bed voidages, higher bed pressure drops, and a lower u_mf for the group A powder, all indicating an enhancement in fluidization quality. Possible mechanisms governing the operations of gas type and temperature in influencing the fluidization behaviours of fine particles have been discussed with respect to the changes in both gas properties and interparticle forces (on the basis of the London-van der Waals theory). Gas viscosity (varying significantly with gas-type and temperature) proves to be the key parameter that influences the bed pressure drops and u_mf in fluidization of fine particles, while the interparticle forces (also varying with gas-type and temperature) may play an important role in fine-particle fluidization by affecting the expansion behaviour of the particle-bed.

This paper presents a study of the mixing/segregation behaviour of particle mixtures in a gas fluidized bed by use of the discrete particle simulation. Spherical particles with diameters 2 mm (jetsam) and 1 mm (flotsam) and density 2 500 kg·m^-3 are used as solid mixtures with different volume fractions. The particles are initially packed uniformly in a rectangular bed and then fluidized by gas uniformly injected at the bottom of the bed. The gas injection velocities vary to cover fixed, partially and fully fluidized bed conditions. Segregation/mixing behaviour is discussed in terms of flow patterns, solid concentration profile and mixing kinetics. The results show that segregation, as a transient fluidization process, is strongly affected by gas injection velocities for a given particle mixture. With the increase of the volume fraction of flotsam, size segregation appears at lower velocities.

The serial model of Epstein et al. (1981) is demonstrated to predict successfully the overall voidage of the mixed layer of incompletely segregated binary and ternary mixtures of liquid-fluidized solids that differ only in shape. Some speculations are then offered on the conditions for the success and failure of this model. Finally, methods proposed in the literature for estimating the deviations from the serial model for a binary-solids bed, which manifest themselves as a bed contraction, are discussed, with emphasis on packing models.

Measurement of temperature profiles of gas-solid two-phase flow at different heights in commercial-scale circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boilers was carried out. Experimental results showed that the thickness of thermal boundary layer was generally independent of the distance from the air distributor, except when close to the riser outlet. Through analysis of flow and combustion characteristics in the riser, it was found that the main reasons for the phenomena were: 1) the hydrodynamic boundary layer was thinner than the thermal layer and hardly changed along the CFB boiler height, and 2) both radial and axial mass and heat exchanges were strong in the CFB boiler. Numerical simulation of gas flow in the outlet zone confirmed that the distribution of the thermal boundary layer was dominated by the flow field characteristics.

A high-flux circulating fluidized bed (CFB) riser (0.076-m I.D. and 10-m high) was operated in a wide range of operating conditions to study its chaotic dynamics, using FCC catalyst particles (d_p = 67 μm, ρ_p = 1500 kg·m^-3). Local solids concentration fluctuations measured using a reflective-type fiber optic probe were processed to determine chaotic invariants (Kolmogorov entropy and correlation dimension). Radial and axial profiles of the chaotic invariants at different operating conditions show that the core region exhibits higher values of the chaotic invariants than the wall region. Both invariants vary strongly with local mean solids concentration. The transition section of the riser exhibits more complex dynamics while the bottom and top sections exhibit a more uniform macroscopic and less-complex microscopic flow structure. Increasing gas velocity leads to more complex and less predictable solids concentration fluctuations, while increasing solids flux generally lowers complexity and increases predictability. Very high solids flux, however, was observed to increase the entropy.

A three-dimensional simulation study is performed for investigating the hydrodynamic behaviors of a cross-flow liquid nitrogen spray injected into an air-fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC) riser of rectangular cross-section. Rectangular nozzles with a fixed aspect ratio but different fan angles are used for the spray feeding. While our numerical simulation reveals a generic three-phase flow structure with strong three-phase interactions under rapid vaporization of sprays, this paper tends to focus on the study of the effect of nozzle fan angle on the spray coverage as well as vapor flux distribution by spray vaporization inside the riser flow. The gas-solid (air-FCC) flow is simulated using the multi-fluid method while the evaporating sprays (liquid nitrogen) are calculated using the Lagrangian trajectory method, with a strong two-way coupling between the Eulerian gas-solid flow and the Lagrangian trajectories of spray.

Our simulation shows that the spray coverage is basically dominated by the spray fan angle. The spray fan angle has a very minor effect on spray penetration. The spray vaporization flux per unit area of spray coverage is highly non-linearly distributed along the spray penetration. The convection of gas-solid flow in a riser leads to a significant downward deviation of vapor generated by droplet vaporization, causing a strong recirculating wake region in the immediate downstream area of the spray.

A pressure balance model for a circulating fluidized bed unit that incorporates a downer has been proposed. The model predictions were validated with the experimental data obtained from a special cold-model circulating fluidized bed. Comparison of the operation stability between a CFB downer and a CFB riser has been carried out. Only one critical gas velocity exists in the CFB-riser for a given riser solids flux, while there can be many critical gas velocities for the operation of a CFB downer. Therefore, it is possible to achieve high solids concentration in a CFB downer if appropriate operating conditions are used.

A mathematical model has been developed for the simulation of gas-particle flow and fluid catalytic cracking in downer reactors. The model takes into account both cracking reaction and flow behavior through a four-lump reaction kinetics coupled with two-phase turbulent flow. The prediction results show that the relatively large change of gas velocity affects directly the axial distribution of solids velocity and void fraction, which significantly interact with the chemical reaction. Furthermore, model simulations are carried out to determine the effects of such parameters on product yields, as bed diameter, reaction temperature and the ratio of catalyst to oil, which are helpful for optimizing the yields of desired products. The model equations are coded and solved on CFX4.4.

In a 9.3 m high and 0.10 m i.d. gas-solids downflow fluidized bed (downer), the radial and axial distributions of the local solids holdups and particle velocities along the downer column were measured with the superficial gas velocity set to zero. A unique gas-solids flow structure was found in the downer system with zero gas velocity, which is completely different from that under conditions with higher gas velocities, in terms of its radial and axial flow structures as well as its micro flow structure. The gas-solids flow pattern under zero gas velocity conditions, together with that under low gas velocity conditions, can be considered as a special regime which differs from that under higher gas velocity conditions. According to the hydrodynamic properties of the two regimes, they can be named the "dense annulus" regime for the flow pattern under zero or low gas velocity conditions and the "dense core" regime for that under higher gas velocity conditions.

The flow behavior and mass transfer in a three-phase external-loop airlift reactor can be improved by adding large particles. The mass transfer and liquid dispersion behavior for a three-phase external-loop reactor with large particles are studied in terms of the effect of the diameter and loading of the large particles on the liquid dispersion coefficient and mass transfer coefficient. The results showed that increasing the diameter or loading of the large particles tend to decrease dispersion and intensify mass transfer, and that an increase in the diameter of the large particles remarkably decreases the particle loop rate, while the effect of fine particles is much less notable.

Processes involving biomass are of growing interest, but handling and conveying biomass particles are challenging due to the unusual physical properties of biomass particles. This paper reviews recent work on pneumatic conveying of biomass particles, especially agricultural particles and pulp fibres. Experimental work has been mainly carried out to determine a range of parameters, such as pressure drop, particle velocity, flow regime and electrostatic charging for both horizontal and vertical conveying. Models ranging from empirical to CFD models are also being developed. Difficulties in representing turbulence and interactions among biomass particles and between the particles and fluid have so far limited the success of advanced modeling. Further work is needed to improve understanding of multiphase biomass pneumatic conveying and to assist in the development of biomass energy and conversion processes.

Five main flow regimes in spout-fluidized bed were identified in this study, namely, fixed bed, spout with aeration, spout-fluidization, jet in fluidized bed and slugging, together with their corresponding major frequencies translated from pressure signals. The empirical equation A=aB^b, in which A=Fr*/(H′/D_i) and B=(Fr*/(H′/D_i))/(u_gt/u_mf) are respectively the spout-geometry and spout-geometry-fluidization dimensionless numbers, was proposed to distinguish these flow regimes.

The axial and radial distributions of static pressures and vertical particle velocities of conical spouted beds have been simulated and compared with experimental data. Simulation results show that, among all factors investigated, the Actual Pressure Gradient (the APG term) in conical spouted beds, introduced as the default gravity term plus an empirical axial solid phase source term, has the most significant influence on static pressure profiles, followed by the restitution coefficient and frictional viscosity, while other factors almost have no effect. Apart from the solid bulk viscosity, almost all other factors affect the radial distribution of the axial particle velocity, although the influence of the APG term is less significant. For complex systems such as conical spouted beds where a fluidized spout region and a defluidized annulus region co-exist, the new term introduced in this work can improve the CFD simulation. Furthermore, for other systems with the Actual Pressure Gradient different from either fluidized beds or packed beds, the new approach can also be applied.

The axial velocity distribution in a gas cyclone has been examined with two-dimensional particle image velocimetry (2D-PIV) and three-dimensional particle image velocimetry (3D-PIV) experiments in this study. Due to the limitation of 2D-PIV configuration, the contamination generated by the strong tangential velocity in the cyclone can be registered in the axial velocity detected by 2D-PIV. Efficient methods are proposed in this work to remove this contamination. The contamination-removed 2D-PIV data agree well with 3D-PIV results. The distributions of the axial velocity are also computed by the Reynolds stress model (RSM) and verified using the PIV experimental results. Reasonable agreements are obtained.