Summary

The main objective of this experiment was to verify the Richardson-Zaki equation for liquid-solid fluidization beds and to study the flow pattern and calculate the pressure drop characteristics of gas-solid fluidization beds. Water-sand system was used for liquid-solid fluidization & air-resin system was used for gas-solid fluidization. For liquid-solid system, bed height and superficial velocities were determined. Logarithmic plot of superficial velocity vs. voidage were plotted for both increasing and decreasing velocities. From the plot values of terminal settling velocity, minimum fluidization velocity and Richardson-Zaki index were determined for both increasing and decreasing velocities. The values of ut, umf and n varied from 0.192-0.2354m/s, 0.01547-0.01844 m/s and 2.7007-3.1382 respectively. Corresponding theoretical values were also obtained from the (R/u2) (ud/) 2 vs. Re plot. The values of ut, umf and n were 0.186 m/s, 0.019m/s and 2.628 respectively. For gas-solid fluidized bed, pressure drops for corresponding superficial velocities of air were recorded and the graphical relation between pressure drop and superficial air velocity were showed in plot. The flow regimes for different flow rates in gas-solid fluidization bed were shown in neat sketches.

Experimental Setup
The following diagrams show the experimental setup for this experiment.

Figure 1: Schematic diagram for a liquid-solid fluidization bed.

Figure 2: Schematic diagram for 2-D and 3-D gas-solid fluidization beds.

Flow Regimes:

Figure 3: Flow regimes for 2-D gas-solid fluidization bed.

Observed Data
Fixed bed height = 1.2 inch Weight of sample sand = 280g Inner diameter of gas-solid tube = 6 inch Initial height of bed without fixed bed height = 3 inch Mesh Number of sand = -12+14 Room temperature = 26C Column diameter of liquid-solid tube = 2 inch Table 1: Observed Data for liquid-solid fluidization Increasing Flow Rate No. Of Obs. Mass of Water + Bucket (Kg) 0.85 1.05 1.125 1.3 1.35 1.5 1.62 2.3 3.45 4.12 4.8 5.2 Time (s) 30.6 30.5 30.25 30.5 30.5 30.2 30.5 30.5 30.8 30.7 31 30.5 Height of the bed (inch) 3.85 3.8 3.875 3.975 4 4.2 4.35 4.8 6.2 7.15 8.4 9.1 Decreasing Flow Rate Mass of Water + Bucket (Kg) 5.2 5.05 5 4.6 3.55 2.4 1.9 1.55 Time (s) 30.6 30 30.1 30 30.1 30 30 30 Height of the bed (inch) 8.85 8.7 8.35 7.85 6.3 5.05 4.6 4.15 -

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Table 2: Observed Data for gas-solid fluidization Height of the manometric fluid (CCl4) Left (inch) 21.1 21.2 21.2 21.2 21.3 21.35 21.4 21.5 21.55 21.6 Right (inch) 19.95 19.95 19.8 19.75 19.7 19.7 19.65 19.6 19.5 19.4

No. Of Obs. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Flow rate Of air (L/min) 80 120 160 200 240 280 320 360 400 440

Calculated Data

Table 3: Calculated data for flow rate, velocity and voidage for liquid-solid fluidization bed. Height of fluidization bed (m) 0.09779 0.09652 0.098425 0.100965 0.10160 0.10668 0.11049 0.12192 0.15748 0.18161 0.21336 0.23114 0.22479 0.22098 0.21209 0.19939 0.16002 0.12827 0.11684 0.10541 0.1016 0.10033

Obs. No.

Mass flow rate (Kg/s)

Volumetric flow rate (m3/s)105

Superficial Velocity (m/s)

Voidage

For Increasing Flow Rate 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 0.017973856 0.024590164 0.027272727 0.032786885 0.03442623 0.039735099 0.043278689 0.06557377 0.102272727 0.124429967 0.14516129 0.160655738 0.160130719 0.158333333 0.156146179 0.143333333 0.107973422 0.07000000 0.053333333 0.041666667 0.026578073 0.013266998 1.80318E-05 2.46694E-05 2.73606E-05 3.28926E-05 3.45372E-05 3.98632E-05 4.34182E-05 6.57851E-05 0.000102602 0.000124831 0.000145629 0.000161174 0.000160647 0.000158844 0.000156649 0.000143795 0.000108321 7.02256E-05 5.35052E-05 4.1801E-05 2.66637E-05 1.33098E-05 0.008896681 0.012171614 0.013499426 0.016228818 0.017040259 0.019668038 0.02142204 0.032457637 0.050622848 0.061590216 0.071851785 0.07952121 0.079261337 0.078371669 0.077289074 0.070946984 0.053444572 0.034648527 0.026398878 0.020624123 0.013155587 0.006566885 0.367273 0.358947 0.371355 0.38717 0.3910 0.4200 0.4400 0.4925 0.607097 0.659301 0.7100 0.732308 0.724746 0.7200 0.708263 0.689682 0.613333 0.517624 0.470435 0.413012 0.3910 0.383291

For Decreasing Flow Rate

Table 4: Data for pressure drop and superficial air velocity for Gas-Solid fluidization bed. Pressure Drop (m) 0.02921 0.03175 0.03556 0.03683 0.04064 0.04191 0.04445 0.04826 0.05207 0.05588 Flow rate of Air 3 (m /s)103 0.00133 0.00200 0.00267 0.00333 0.00400 0.00467 0.00533 0.00600 0.00667 0.00733 Superficial Air Velocity (m/s) 0.0730994 0.1096491 0.1461988 0.1827485 0.2192982 0.255848 0.2923977 0.3289474 0.3654971 0.4020468

Obs. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Sample Calculation:
For liquid - solid fluidized bed Experimental calculation: Column diameter, D1 = 2 in. = 0.0508m. Column area, A1 = D12 = (0.0508)2 = 0.0020268m2. 4 4 0 Temperature of water = 23 C. Density of water, W = 996.787 Kg/m3 Assuming,

mf = 0.42

K = H0 (1- mf ) = 0.09779 (1-0.42) m = 0.056718m For observation no.5 (at decreasing height): Mass of water, W = 3.25 Kg Time, t = 30.1 s. . W 3.25 Mass flow rate, m = = Kg/s = 0.107973 Kg/s. t 30.1
.

Volumetric Flow Rate, V=

.

0.1079734 996.787

= 10.8321410-5 m3/s

V Superficial velocity, u = A1
Height of the bed, H = 0.16002 m. K Voidage, = 1H

10.83214105 0.0020268

m/s = 0.05344m/s.

= 1-

0.056718 = 0.64555 0.16002

From superficial velocity vs. voidage graph for increasing velocity, ut = 0.192m/s umf = 0.01844m/s n = 2.7007 From superficial velocity vs. voidage graph for decreasing velocity, ut = 0.2354m/s umf = 0.01547m/s n = 3.1382 Theoretical calculation: Temperature of water = 260 C. Density of water, W = 996.787 Kg/m3

Viscosity of water, W g Particle diameter, dp Particle density, s Assuming, 0 = 0.42

R' Re' 2 2 W u

= 9.32 10-4 Kg/ms = 9.81 m/s2. = 1.52410-3m. = 2.16103 Kg/m3.

= =

2d p W g ( s W )
3

3W

2 0.001524 3 996.787 9.81 (2160 996.787) 3 (9.32 10 4 ) 2

Ret = 305. Ret =

= 30900.3 R' [From Re' 2 vs. Re graph] 2 W u

d p u t W

W
ut =

Re t W d p W

305 9.32 10 4 = 0.187123 m/s. 0.001524 996.787

umf

mf 3 ( s W ) gd p 2 = 0.0055 1 mf W
0.42 3 (2160 996.787) 9.81 0.001524 2 1 0.42 9.32 10 4 = 0.01998 m/s.
= 0.0055
u mf ut
0.01998 ) 0.187123 = 2.5787 ln 0.42

ln(

ln(

ln mf

For gas - solid fluidized bed Column diameter, D2 = 6 in. = 0.1524 m. Column area, A2 = D22 = 0.15242 = 0.01824m2. 4 4 For observation no.10 440 Air flow rate, q = 440 L/min = cm3/s =7.33 10 3 m3/s. 60 1000 Superficial velocity of air, u =

7.33 10 -3 q = m/s = 0.40204 m/s. 0.01824 A2

Pressure drop P = 0.05588 m CCl4

Graphs:
Variation of Superficial Velocity with voidage (Increasing flow rate)
1

0.192

y = 0.192x2.7007 0.1

Superficial Velocity (m/s)

0.0184 4

0.01

0.001 0.1
0.42

Voidage

Figure 4: Variation of Superficial Velocity with voidage (Increasing flow rate).

Variation of Superficial Velocity with voidage (decreasing flow rate)

1

0.2354

0.1

Superficial Velocity (m/s)

y = 0.2354x3.1382

0.01547

0.01

0.001 0.1
0.42

Voidage

Figure 5: Variation of Superficial Velocity with voidage (decreasing flow rate).

Pressure drop vs. Superficial Air velocity for 3-D gas-solid fluidization bed
0.1

Pressure Drop(m CCl4)

0.01 0.01 0.1 Superficial Air Velocity(m/s) 1

Figure 6: Change of pressure drop with Superficial Air velocity for 3-D gas-solid fluidization bed.

Results and Discussion:

The result of this experiment has been submitted in a tabular form as follows Table 7: Table for results Topics Minimum fluidization velocity (ms-1) Terminal settling velocity (ms-1) Richardson-Zaki index Experimental values for velocity Increasing 0.01844 0.192 2.7007 Decreasing 0.01547 0.2354 3.1382 Theoretical values 0.01998 0.123713 2.5787

Pressure drop in gas-solid fluidization ranges from 1.15 inch CCl4 to 2.20 inch CCl4 for different air flow rates. In this experiment two different types of graph have been plotted which are as follows Velocity vs voidage in logarithmic coordinates (for increasing and decreasing velocity) Pressure drop vs air velocity in logarithmic coordinates

When a fluid is passed upwards through a bed of solids, the pressure drop across the bed will be directly proportional to the rate of flow. But when the frictional drag on the particles becomes equal to their apparent weight (actual weight less buoyancy), the particles become rearranged so that they offer less resistance to the flow of fluid and the bed starts to expand. This process continues as the velocity is increased, with the total frictional force remaining equal to the weight of the particles, until the bed has assumed the loosest stable form of packing. Therefore, the curve between velocity vs voidage in logarithmic coordinate will be a straight line and such a curve was also obtained in our experiment. All the curves plotted are straight line with positive slopes. This kind of profiles agrees with literature. As the experiment was performed for a specific range of fluid velocity, some portion of the curve was not obtained. The pressure drop across a bed of solids will be directly proportional to the rate of flow when a fluid is passed upwards through it. But when the frictional drag on the particles becomes equal to their apparent weight (actual weight less buoyancy), the particles become rearranged so that they offer less resistance to the flow of fluid and the bed starts to expand. This process continues as the velocity is increased, with the total frictional force remaining equal to the weight of the particles, until the bed has assumed the loosest stable form of packing.

Therefore, the curve between velocity vs voidage in logarithmic coordinate will be a straight line and such a curve was also obtained in this experiment. All the curves plotted are straight line with positive slopes. This kind of profiles agrees with literature. As the experiment was performed for a specific range of fluid velocity, the packed bed region and pneumatic transport were not observed. For liquid-solid fluidization the superficial velocity vs. voidage plot in logarithmic scale for both the increasing and decreasing height shows straight line with a slope which was the Richardson-Zaki index. The Richardson-Zaki indexes found in the experiment were in the limit of empirical value 2.7007-3.1382. The pressure drop vs. velocity graph for gas-solid fluidization shows like a straight line with positive slope. This indicates pressure drops increases linearly with flow rate or velocity. From results, it is apparent that the experimental values deviate somewhat from the theoretical values. Some reasons can be pointed out to explain these discrepancies. At higher superficial velocity of the fluid, the bed height was fluctuating too much. So, it was very difficult to take the height of the bed and the average height was taken. Throughout the calculation, the particles were assumed to be perfectly spherical. But sand particles used in the experiment were not spherical. In this experiment the results were calculated both theoretically and experimentally. The discrepancies between the theoretical and experimental values were not so high. However, the little difference could be result for the following factors Volumetric flow rate and corresponding bed height were measured manually. So it could happen that some mistakes were made which affected the result of the experiment. Again some phenomena like channeling, slugging attrition of particle occurred due to which the results varied. Fluidized beds have a wide range of applications in chemical and petroleum industries. One of the main practical advantages of fluidization is connected with the liquid-like flowing properties of fluidized beds. Indeed it appears particularly simple and economical to transport solid particles through pipes, to control the bed height by overflow or to circulate from one bed to another by gravity, thus avoiding the use of standard solid handling equipment, which is often mechanically complex and expensive to operate. This mechanism is used in the production of vinyl chloride, melamine, poly - ethylene, ploy - propylene etc. It has its application in the catalytic cracking of petroleum and also in filtrate washing. Therefore, studying this experiment can help to get a conscious understanding of using the basic principles of fluidization in process industries.