.

Powder Technology 101 1999 183190

Quantitative estimation of solids holdups at dense and dilute regions of
circulating fluidized beds
D. Bai
a,)
, K. Kato
b
a
Natural Gas Technologies Center,, 1350 Nobel Street, Boucherille, Quebec, J4B 5H3, Canada
b
Department of Biological and Chemical Engineering, Gunma Uniersity, Kiryu, Gunma 376, Japan
Received 5 February 1995
Abstract
This paper focuses on developing correlations for better prediction of solids holdups at the dense and dilute regions of circulating
fluidized bed risers based on experimental data from the literature and our laboratory. Analysis of the experimental axial profile of solids
holdup and the data on and ) has identified a critical solid circulation rate: saturation carrying capacity of gas, G ), which
sd s s
distinguishes two different variations of and ) with solid circulation rate. In the case of G -G ), and ) increase with
sd s s s sd s
increasing solid circulation rate and may vary with other system properties, whereas and ) are only the functions of gas velocity
sd s
and gas-solid properties and change little with the solid circulation rate, the riser diameter, the solids inventory as well as the solid feeding
system in the case of G GG ). Based on these facts, more generalized empirical correlations for estimation of and ) are
s s sd s
obtained. Comparisons with experimental data and the existing literature correlations confirmed the validity of the present correlations.
q1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Solids holdup; Dense region; Dilute region; Circulating fluidized beds
1. Introduction
Understanding of the solids distribution and flow behav-
.
ior in circulating fluidized bed CFB risers is the key to
successful design and scale-up of CFB systems. The solids
distribution governs the pressure drop occurring along the
CFB riser and is directly related to the solids residence
time within the riser. It also determines the gas-solid
interfacial area per unit of the mixture, which directly
affects gas-solid contact efficiency, heat and mass transfer
rates, and chemical reaction performance. Furthermore,
better prediction of solids holdups at the dense and dilute
regions of CFB risers is often required in CFB modeling.
Considerable experimental investigations have demon-
strated that the axial variation of cross-sectional average

solids holdup for simplicity this will be referred to as

.
solids holdup in this paper is dependent on many factors,
such as operating conditions, solid properties, solid inven-
tory, as well as the geometry and system design configura-
)
Corresponding author. Tel.: q1-450-641-8147; Fax: q1-450-449-
4994; E-mail: ctgn@cedep.com
w x
tion 14 . Although many correlations for estimating solids
distributions in the CFB risers are available in the litera-
.
ture see Tables 1 and 2 , many of them are limited to the
employed experimental conditions, and extrapolation of
these correlations to different operating conditions often
leads to considerable deviation. Therefore, the present
work focuses on developing general correlations for better
prediction of solids holdups at the dense and dilute regions
of CFBs, which should be applicable in a wide range of
operating conditions.
2. Experimental
2.1. Axial profile of solids holdup
Fig. 1 illustrates an ideal axial profile of solids holdup
in CFB risers. This is typical when the riser has a smooth
exit at its top and an entrance structure with weak restric-
w x.
tion e.g., 13,5,6,812,19 . At a very low solids rate
.
G sG , solids move co-currently upward with the gas.
s s1
In this case, a uniform axial distribution of solids is
observed. This flow pattern has been well defined as dilute
0032-5910r99r$ - see front matter q 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.
. PII: S0032- 5910 98 00159- 4
( ) D. Bai, K. KatorPowder Technology 101 1999 183190 184
Table 1
List of empirical correlations and their relative deviations and root mean standard deviations for predicting the solids holdup at the dense region
sd
a b
. Investigators Correlation RD % SD
U q1
g
w x King 27 s1y 69.7 0.0867
sd
U q2
g
y0.0253 y0.1206
d r n U
p g t d
y0.0794
w x Wong et al. 28 s1y0.714 D 76.3 0.1496
sd
/ / U m
g
y4
w x Pugsely et al. 29 s8=10 G 67.9 0.159
sd s
0.6202 y0.53
r G
p s
w x Gao 9 s1y0.2276 81.8 0.176
sd
/ / r U r
g g g
y0.4037
1.687
d r U 18 Re q2.7 Re U
p g g sd sd d
w x Kwauk et al. 17 s1y0.2513 Re s y 88.2 0.151
sd sd
/ /
Ar m 1y
sd sd
0.25
0.2
U yn d r n
g t p g t sd
y0.27
w x Nishino 8 s4.0 D 79.5 0.112
/ / 1y u m
sd g
y0.383 y0.23 1.21
U r yr U
g p g g sd
y3
Present work s1q6.14=10 for G -G ) 16.8 0.0123
X s s
/ / / U r gD '
s d g
1.13 y0.013
U r yr
g p g sd
s1q0.103 for G GG ) 14.4 0.0379
X s s
/ /
U r
s d g
a N
< < The relative deviation is calculated by 1rN y r =100, N is the data points.
1 sd,cal sd,exp sd,exp
b 2 N
< < The rootmean standard deviation is calculated by y rN . (
1 sd ,cal sd ,exp
pneumatic transport where an increase in the solid circula-
tion rate usually leads to a slight increase in solids holdup
.
G sG . As the solid circulation rate is further increased
s s2
.
G sG , the solids can no longer be individually sus-
s s3
pended in the riser. Consequently, a relatively dense bed
forms at the bottom of the riser, indicating a transition
Table 2
List of empirical correlations and their relative deviations and root mean standard deviations for predicting the solids holdup at the dilute region )
s
a b
. Investigators Correlation RD % SD
G
s
w x Kunii and Levenspiel 14 )s 50.7 0.0255
s
r U yn .
p g t
U
g
0.41
)s1y ws1q5.6rFrq0.47Fr
s t
wU qU
d g w x Pugsely et al. 29 66.5 0.0235
Fr sU r gD Fr sn r gD ' '
g t t
G )
s
)s
s
r U yn .
p g t
w x Bi and Zhu 7 80.8 0.0339 0. 542
U G )
g s
0.105
s21.6 Ar
/ r U gd
g g ' p
0.0162 y0.0259 y0.02527 y0.0503
d r U G n D
p g g s t
w x Gao 9 )s1y1.006 448 0.0797
s
/ / / / r U U d m
g g g p
y0.6222
1.687
d r U 18Re )q2.7Re ) U
p g g s s d
w x Kwauk et al. 17 )s1y0.05547 Re )s y 905 0.156
s s
/ /
Ar m 1y ) )
s s
G
s
w x Ouyang and Potter 15 )s2.6 49.7 0.0182
s
r U yn .
p g t
)
s
X 0.214
Present work s4.04 for G -G ) 19.7 0.0031
X s s s

s
0.5 y0.082
U r yr )
g p g s
s1q0.208 for G GG ) 15.1 0.0086
X s s
/ /
U r
s d g
a N
< < The relative deviation is calculated by 1rN )y ) r )=100, N is the data points.
1 s,cal s,exp s,exp
b 2 N
< < The rootmean standard deviation is calculated by )y ) rN (
1 s ,cal s ,exp
( ) D. Bai, K. KatorPowder Technology 101 1999 183190 185
Fig. 1. Typical axial profiles of solid holdup in circulating fluidized bed risers.
from a pattern where all particles are traveling upwards
with no axial concentration profile of solids to a mode
where there is axial concentration profile of solids. The
solid holdups, and ), in this case increase as the
sd s
.
solid circulation rate increases, as shown in Fig. 1 b .
Further increase in the solid circulation rate will result
in a steep axial distribution in solids holdup and a continu-
ously increase in the solids holdup at both the lower and
.
upper regions G sG . When the solids circulation rate
s s4
.
is increased to a value termed as G ) in this paper at
s
which much of the solids begins to accumulate at the
bottom of the riser, a typical S-shaped solid holdup distri-
bution starts to form. Further increasing solid circulation
rate to go beyond this critical point will have negligible
effect on the solids holdup at the dense and dilute regions
..
see Fig. 1 b , although the dense region continues to
.
grow G sG , G . If sufficient driving force is avail-
s s6 s7
able to push the solids into the riser, the dense region may
eventually fill the whole riser.
It is clear that the variations of solids holdups, and
sd
), are significantly different according to the solid
s
circulation rate. In the case of G -G ), solids holdups
s s
increase with increasing G , while they change little with
s
G in the case of G GG ). This fact has to be taken into
s s s
account when developing correlations for the prediction of
solids holdups at the dense and dilute regions of circulat-
ing fluidized bed risers.
2.2. Variation of solids holdup at dense region,
sd
The solids holdup at the bottom of the riser, ,
sd
basically denotes the solids holdup when zsy`. It is
however determined as the value at zs0 from the axial
profiles of solids holdup reported in the open literature and
obtained in our laboratory.
The solids holdups, , for three risers of different
sd
diameters are plotted against the solid circulation rate in

Fig. 2. For a given operating gas velocity U s2.5 mrs in

g
Fig. 2. Variation of solids holdup at dense region with solid circulation
. rate for different riser diameters L s1.7 m . Data are obtained from
d
w x Nishino 8 .
( ) D. Bai, K. KatorPowder Technology 101 1999 183190 186
. ..
Fig. 2 a and U s3.0 mrs in Fig. 3 b , the solids holdup
g

is low and increases with G when G -G ) G ) is

sd s s s s
.
indicated by arrows in the figure . In this case, the corre-
sponding axial profiles of solids holdup can be described
by exponential function. When the solid circulation rate is
raised up to G ), becomes insensitive to change in the
s sd
solid circulation rate because of formation of the S-shaped
axial solids holdup profiles. It is interesting to note that
when G GG ), appears to be independent of the riser
s s sd
diameter, but may vary with gas velocity.
w x.
Earlier studies e.g., Refs. 13,6,812 have found
that the solids holdup are independent of solid inven-
sd
tory in the case of co-existence of a lower dense region
and an upper dilute region. Fig. 3 shows influence of solid

inventory represented by the static height of solid in the

.
downcomer on the solid holdup . It is evident that
sd sd
changes little with solid circulation rate and solid inven-
tory as long as G GG ).
s s
When the riser diameter and the solids inventory are
fixed, the solids holdup is plotted against the solid
sd
.
circulation rate for two slow bed or downcomer diame-
ters in Fig. 4. Apparently, the solid holdup keeps
sd
almost constant when G GG ).
s s
2.3. Variation of solids holdup at dilute region, )
s
Basically, ) denotes the solids holdup when zs`.
s
In this paper it is determined as the value at the top exit. It
Fig. 3. Variation of solids holdup at dense region with solid circulation
. w x rate for different L Ds0.097 m . Data are obtained from Nishino 8 .
d
Fig. 4. Variation of solids holdup at dense region with solid circulation
. rate for different slow bed diameters Ds0.097 m . Data are obtained
w x from Nishino 8 .
should be pointed out that in most experimental conditions
used in the present work, ) was found to be indepen-
s
dent on the riser height. Fig. 5 shows the variation of
solids holdup ) with solid circulation rate for three
s
risers of different diameters. As is observed in , under
sd
low solid circulation rates, the solids holdup ) is low.
s
An increase in the solid circulation rate results in an
increase in ). As the solid circulation rate increases
s
beyond the saturation carrying capacity of gas G ), the
s
solid circulation rate and the riser diameter appear to
influence little on ).
s
3. Evaluation of existing correlations
Correlations found in the open literature for the predic-
tion of and ) are listed in Tables 1 and 2. To help
sd s
evaluate the accuracy of these correlations, data on and
sd
) are collected form several research groups worldwide.
s
Table 3 summarizes the numerous experimental studies of
solids holdups. All the data collected here are used to
evaluate the existing correlations and obtain the general
correlations of the solids holdups and ). As shown
sd s
( ) D. Bai, K. KatorPowder Technology 101 1999 183190 187
Fig. 5. Variation of solids holdup at dilute region with solid circulation
. rate for different riser diameters L s1.7 m . Data are obtained from
d
w x Nishino 8 .
in Table 3, the experimental data covers a wide range of
operating conditions with different riser configurations and
solids employed. The data points are 204 for and 147
sd
for ), respectively.
s
It is seen that all the literature correlations did not
distinguish different variations of and ) at lower
sd s
and higher solid circulation rates. These correlations gener-
ally give poor prediction of and ), especially when
sd s
they are applied to high solid circulation rates where
unacceptable errors are derived. The root-mean standard
. .
deviation SD and the relative deviation RD between
experimental data in Table 3 and values calculated from
the literature correlations are provided in Tables 1 and 2. It
is seen that the relative deviation from the existing litera-
ture correlations is generally higher than 50%. Better
correlations are thus needed in order to give reliable
predictions of and ) in circulating fluidized bed
sd s
risers.
4. Development of new correlations for and )
sd s
To get reliable correlations for solids holdups, and
sd
. .
), two cases, 1 G -G ) and 2 G GG ), are
s s s s s
needed to be considered separately, because there are quite
different variation trends in and ) with solid circu-
sd s
lation rate. The solids holdups and ) are indepen-
sd s
dent of the riser diameter, the solid inventory, the solid
feeding system as well as the solid circulation rate, but
vary only with gas velocity and solid properties in the case
of G GG ). On the basis of this consideration, the litera-
s s
ture data have been catalogued into two groups in the light
of the solid circulation rate larger or lower than G ),
s
w x
which has been correlated by the authors 13 as follows:
y0 .44
G )d r yr
s p p g
1.85 0.63
s0.125 Fr Ar 1 .
/
m r
g
.
The correlation coefficient for Eq. 1 is 0.94, and the
relative deviation for calculation of G ) is within 30%. In
s
.
Eq. 1 , the Archimedes number defined by Ar s
3
.
2
)
d r g r yr rm ranged from 4.7 to 1019 and the
p g p g
.
0.5
Froude number defined by Fr sU r gd ranged from
g p
)
41 to 226. The ratio of densities r yr rr varied from
p g g
607 to 3607 in the correlation.
In trying to find a reliable and more general correlation
for , we have attempted various dimensionless groups
sd
that might give unified representation of the experimental
data. Since inevitable scatter exists between the data ob-
tained in different researchers under different experimental
apparatus, we ended up with the following empirical corre-
lations,
y0 .23 1.21
U r yr
sd g p g
y3
s1q6.14=10
X
/ /
U r
s d g
=
y0 .383
U
g
2 .
/
'gD
for G -G ), and
s s
1.13 y0.013
U r yr
sd g p g
s1q0.103 3 .
X
/ /
U r
s d g
for G GG ), where
X
represents the solids holdup for
s s s
the ideal case of uniform flow with slip velocity equal to
the terminal velocity of the individual particle.
X
can be
s
expressed as
G
s
X
s 4 .
s
r U yn .
p g t
Except for a few points, most of the experimental data can
. .
be predicted by Eqs. 2 and 3 within a relative deviation
less than 30%, as shown in Fig. 6. The average relative
deviation for all the experimental data listed in Table 3 is
17%. The deviation of this magnitude can be considered
small in view of the essential divergence among the data
used for the correlation. Compared to the existing literature
.
correlations Table 1 , it is evident that the present correla-
. ..
tions Eqs. 2 and 3 give much better predictions of
sd
in a wide range of operating conditions.
(
)
D
.
B
a
i
,
K
.
K
a
t
o
r
P
o
w
d
e
r
T
e
c
h
n
o
l
o
g
y
1
0
1
1
9
9
9
1
8
3

1
9
0
1
8
8
Table 3
w x w x w x List of experimental studies 1,2,6,8,10,11 15,18,2022 2326 regarding the solids distribution in CFBs used for correlating in the present work
( ) D. Bai, K. KatorPowder Technology 101 1999 183190 189
Fig. 6. Correlation of solids holdup at dense region under the cases of
G -G ) and G GG ).
s s s s
To estimate the solids holdup ), earlier studies usu-
s
ally assumed the dilute region as fully developed flow,
X
w x.
giving )r s1 e.g., Ref. 14 . Recently, Ouyang and
s s
w x
Potter 15 studied the consistency of circulating fluidized
bed experimental data on solids holdup available in the
literature, and found that the average of )r
X
is 2.6
s s
with a standard deviation of 0.9. Given the fact that a
uniform dispersion of particles in a gas is always unstable
and can lead to formation of clusters of particles in a
w x
gassolid concurrent upflow 6,16 , which results in higher
slip velocity and thus a higher solids holdup
X
. Although
s
Ouyang and Potters approach, as a first approximation, is
a better way for estimation of
X
, its accuracy, however,
s
should be improved further from point of view of optimal
design and operation of CFB reactors. As described above,
a more general correlation with relatively high accuracy
could be obtained by taking the different variation trends
of
X
with G into consideration. Therefore, the collected
s s
experimental data including ours were catalogued accord-
ing to the solid saturation carrying capacity G ). As a
s
result, the following empirical correlations are proposed.
)
s
X 0.214
s4.04 5 .
X s

s
for G -G ), and
s s
0.5 y0.082
) U r yr
s g p g
s1q0.208 6 .
X
/ /
U r
s d g
for G GG ).
s s
The comparisons between the experimental data on
. .
solids holdup ) and the calculations of Eqs. 5 and 6
s
. .
are shown in Fig. 7 a for G -G ) and Fig. 7 b for
s s
G GG ), respectively. It is found that for all 147 experi-
s s
mental data points from seventeen literature publications,
. .
the average relative deviations for Eqs. 5 and 6 are 12%
and 15%, respectively. The relative deviations are greater
than 30% for only a few points. 75% of the experimental
. .
data is predicted within 10% by Eqs. 5 and 6 . This
error should be considered acceptable considering the in-
evitable divergence among the data used for the correla-

tion. Compared to the existing literature correlations Ta-

. . ..
ble 2 , the present correlations Eqs. 5 and 6 are
recommended for the prediction of
X
in a wide range of
s
operating conditions.
Fig. 7. Correlation of solids holdup at dilute region under the cases of
G -G ) and G GG ).
s s s s
( ) D. Bai, K. KatorPowder Technology 101 1999 183190 190
5. Conclusions
The variation of the solid distribution in CFB risers is
analyzed. It is found that for the given operating condi-
tions, the solids holdups at the bottom dense and the upper
dilute regions increase with increasing solid circulation
rate at lower G values. Once the solid circulation rate is
s
greater than G ) where the S-shaped profile is formed, the
s
solids holdups and ) appear to be independent of
sd s
the riser geometry parameters, the solid circulation rate, as
well as the solid inventory. In the light of these facts, more
general empirical correlations for estimation of and
sd
) are developed. Comparisons with experimental data
s
and the existing literature correlations confirmed the valid-
ity of the present correlations.
6. List of symbols

3
.
2
..
Ar Archimedes number Ar sd r g r yr rm
p g p g
.
D Riser diameter m
.
d Particle diameter m
p
)
0.5
.
Fr Froude number Fr sU r gd
g p

2
..
G Solids circulation rate kgr m s
s

2
..
G ) Saturation carrying capacity of gas kgr m s
s
.
H Riser height m
.
L Static bed height in slow bed or downcomer m
d
. .
U Superficial solid velocity U sGrr mrs
d d s p
.
U Superficial gas velocity mrs
g
.
n Terminal velocity of a single particle mrs
t
.
z Axial coordinate of the riser m
Greek letters
Average solids holdup
s

X
Solids holdup at uniform flow with slip velocity
s
equal to
t
) Average solids holdup at dilute region
s
Average solids holdup at dense region
sd
m Gas viscosity, Pa s
r Gas density, kgrm
3
g
r Particle density, kgrm
3
p
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