Chapter 4 - Lect Notes - Fluid Through Packed Beds and Fluidization

7/20/2014 Chapter 4_Lect Notes_Fluid Through Packed Beds and Fluidization
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CHAPTER 4: FLOW THROUGH PACKED FIXED AND FLUIDIZED BEDS
Chemical engineering operations commonly involve the use of packed fixed and fluidized beds. These are equipment in which a large
surface area for contact between a liquid and a gas (absorption, distillation) or a solid and a gas or liquid (adsorption, catalysis) is obtained
for achieving rapid mass and heat transfer, and particularly in the case of fluidized beds, catalytic chemical reactions.
A typical packed bed is a cylindrical column that is filled with a suitable packing material. The liquid is distributed as uniformly as possible
at the top of the column and flows downward, wetting the packing material. A gas is admitted at the bottom, and flows upward, contacting
the liquid in a countercurrent fashion.
From a fluid mechanics perspective, the most important issue is that of the pressure drop required for the liquid or the gas to flow through
the column at a specific flow rate. To calculate this quantity, we proceed as follows:
We start, as always, with the generalized energy equation derived previously,
Analyzing the system yields the following:
; Entering fluid leaves the column at the same speed (ie., continuity principle).
; No work done by or on the fluid
; change in elevation (z
outlet
z
inlet
) equals the total length of the column.
Substituting yields:
Also, previously we determined for flow in a pipe that:
Now, lets further simplify the system by making these assumptions:
1. For a horizontal bed or small L, gravity effect can be neglected.
2. Particles pack uniformly (ie., in stacks) resulting with continuous flow channels.
3. Bed can be modeled as a bundle of small pipes.
4. Flow is laminar (ie., )
With these assumptions, the above two equations can be combined to give:
Now, the question is what velocity and diameter do we use?
Should we use the superficial velocity (the velocity that we cannot really see but can calculate it using the continuity equation as
the overall volumetric flow rate divided by the overall column diameter), or should we use the actual velocity of the fluid travelling in
the empty spaces between the packing particles?
The packed bed is not a straight empty pipe, but rather a bundle of pipes of irregular shapes. Therefore, we have the overall
diameter pipe and the actual hydraulic diameter (diameter in actual contact with the fluid), which one should we use?
The answers to the above hypothetical questions are obviously: actual velocity and actual diameter; and they are determined as follows:
Velocity

Where is the void fraction defined as:
And,
Substituting yields:
And the hydraulic radius is defined as:
Multiplying by L/L, gives:

Solving for , yields:
Where
Wetted surface area = total solids surface area =
Substituting above for D
h
, gives:

Finally, substituting above for the pressure drop, yields:
The real situation is that the flow flows in a tortuous path (not straight as was initially assumed), and bed length can not really be ignored,
therefore, experimental results has consistently resulted with data suggesting replacing the constant 72 by 150:

This is known as the Blake-Kozeny equation. (best use for ).
Now, in the above derivations we considered laminar flow (ie., )! For turbulent flow, the pressure drop is:
For flows with Re > 1000, experimental data shows that the above equation is better presented as:
This equation is known as the Burke-Plummer Equation.
For the Transition region, the Ergun equation is to be used:
The Ergun equation is commonly expressed as follows in different references:
Note:
v The above equation can be used with gases using average gas density between inlet and outlet
v Flow turbulent flow, the 1
st
term on the RHS vanishes
v For laminar flow, the 2
nd
term on the RHS can be ignored
Therefore, to solve problems, one could just start with the Ergun equation, and can either use one of the terms on the RHS depending on
the flow regime (laminar or turbulent) or even use the equation as is with minimal change!
Example
Air ( = 1.22 Kg/m
3
, = 1.9 X 10
-5
pa.s) is flowing in a fixed bed of a diameter 0.5 m and height 2.5 m. The bed is packed with spherical
particles of diameter 10 mm. The void fraction is 0.38. The air mass flow rate is 0.5 kg/s. Calculate the pressure drop across the bed of
particles.

Solution
Q = volumetric flow rate = = 0.41 m
3
/s
A = D
2
= (0.5)
2
= 0.1963 m
2
u = = = 2.1 m/s
Re
p
= =
Re
p
= 2174
f
p
= + 1.75 = 1.819
= 1.819
=
= 0.276 X 10
5
pa.

Fluidized Beds
A fluidized bed is a packed bed through which fluid flows at such a high velocity that the bed is loosened and the particle-fluid mixture
behaves as though it is a fluid. Thus when a bed of particles is fluidized, the entire bed can be transported as a fluid. Both gas and liquid
flows can be used to fluidize a bed of particles. The most common reason for fluidizing a bed is to obtain vigorous agitation of the solids in
contact with the fluid, leading to an enhanced transport mechanism (diffusion, convection, and mass/energy transfer). Fluidized beds are
common in operations involving petroleum cracking, catalysts regeneration, solid-gas reactors, combustion of coal, roasting of ores, drying,
and gas absorption operations.
To analyze the system and model it, we need to consider the response of the particles in the bed to the applied flow rate (ie., superficial
velocity):
Low velocity: fluid does not impart enough drag to overcome gravity and particles do not move. Fixed Bed.
High velocity: at high enough velocities, fluid drag plus buoyancy overcome the gravitational force and the bed expands.
Fluidized Bed.
P for increasing u
m
: until onset of fluidization, P increases, and then becomes constant.
Bed length for increasing u
m
: L is constant until onset of fluidization and then begins to increase.
These situations are depicted in the figure below:
As with fixed beds where the ultimate objective of modeling the system is to enable determination of the required P to push the fluid
through the packed particles; here, in fluidized beds, the primary objective is:
Enable calculating the minimum flow rate (ie, velocity) needed to establish fluidization. When the superficial velocity is equal to the
fluid velocity, we refer to the state of the bed as one of incipient fluidization.
Enable calculating the maximum velocity that can obtained without allowing the particles to be carried out with the fluid at the exit.
This velocity is commonly known as the settling velocity.
To meet both objectives, we begin analyzing the system as follows:
As was stated previously, at fluidization the drag and buoyancy forces overcome the gravitational force. So, if we balance the forces acting
on the particles as was done in the drag forces on solid particles in a fluid analysis, we should result with the velocity at equilibrium, for
which imparting a minute increase to it will cause fluidization:
Before we begin the analysis, we should make a point regarding the drag force used in the analysis of ONE particle moving in a fluid.
With one particle, it should be realized that we were interested in analyzing the forces acting on the particle, for which the surface drag on its
surface far exceeds the effects resulting from the pressure drop across it. However, in packed beds, we are dealing with an aggregate
number of solids and the force effects on these solid particles is manifested in overall pressure drop across the packing volume. Hence, we
will replace F
D
symbol used in the previous section dealing with a single particle with F
P
(pressure force) in this analysis, rest pretty much
the same.
Now, from the previous analysis on fixed beds, takes the form for Re
p
< 10. Substituting for and solving
for , yields:

For the maximum velocity that can be reached while keeping the particles in the bed and preventing them from leaving at the exit, the
fluidization velocity is the same as the settling velocity derived in the previous section of these notes set:

This due to the fact that when the fluidization velocity is reached (min velocity) a slight increase in the flow rate (ie., velocity) will cause the
bed to increase in volume at constant pressure, and eventually the particles will become far a part and behaves as single particles suspended
in the fluid.
Example
Air is moving upward in a bed packed with spherical coal particles of diameter 0.1 mm and density 10
3
kg/m
3
. The air properties are = 2.4
kg/m
3
and = 1.9 X 10
5
pa.s. Find the region for fluidization.
The void fraction of the bed is 0.38
Solution
The start of fluidization and the maximum superficial velocity should be found.
u
f
=
u
f
=
= 3 X 10
3
m/s
u
max
=
u
max
=
u
max
= 0.286 m/s
Hence the operation of the bed can be summarized as follows
1) u < u
f
= 3X10
3
m/s the bed is fixed bed
2) u
f
< u < u
max
= 3 X 10
3
< u < 0.286 The bed is fluidized and the volume of the bed is different at different velocity.
3) u
max
< u =0.286 < u the particles will be carried away by the air and will leave at the bed exit.

Chapter 4 - Lect Notes - Fluid Through Packed Beds and Fluidization

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