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Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy
Mechanical Engineering Department, Dalhousie University, P.O. Box 1000, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3J 2X4
Greeneld Research Incorporated, P.O. Box 25018, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3M 4H4
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history:
Received 31 July 2008
Received in revised form 15 November 2008
Accepted 17 November 2008
Available online 4 January 2009
Keywords:
Circulating uidized bed
Loop-seal
Standpipe
Minimum uidization velocity
Spread angle
a b s t r a c t
Loop-seal, considered heart of a circulating uidized bed (CFB), returns solids captured by cyclone to the
base of the riser while preventing direct ow of gas from high pressure riser to the low-pressure cyclone.
This non-mechanical valve is used in thousands of CFB systems yet only a limited information is available
on its working. Present research studies the ow of solids through a loop-seal and the effect of several
design and operating parameters on it. This experimental study was conducted in a loop-seal
110 mm 448 mm 400 mm high connected to a riser 152 mm diameter and 5180 mm high. Majority
of the experiments was done with 171 lm sand though several other size and type of solids were studied
for their owability. It was found that for the solids to ow through the loop-seal a minimum level of
aeration, in excess of that required for minimum uidization was required. The length of the horizontal
passage connecting the supply and recycle chambers of the loop-seal had an important effect on the solids ow. For example, the minimum aeration for the onset of solids ow increases with increase in this
length. The pressure drop per unit length across the passage also increased with the passage length. The
air fed into the supply chamber is split such that the supercial air velocity in the supply chamber (or the
standpipe) remained below the minimum uidization velocity of the particles while the remaining air
conveys solids through the horizontal passage. Present study showed that the solids owing through
the horizontal passage are neither fully uidized nor moving packed or suspended solids. It moves as a
segregated ow of solids driven by hydrostatic pressure and uid drag.
2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
In a circulating uidized bed (CFB) boiler, solid particles are circulated around a loop by high velocity gas injected into the bottom
of the riser. The solids exit the riser top and are separated from the
gas in a separation device such as a cyclone or impact separator
(Fig. 1). Gas exits the top of the cyclone while solids fall down into
its standpipe to be recycled to the riser by means of a non-mechanical valve. Loop-seals are one of the most commonly used nonmechanical valves used in CFB boilers and reactors. Loop-seals
move solids from the low-pressure standpipe to the high pressure
riser bottom and prevent gas from moving from high pressure riser
to the low-pressure standpipe [1]. Being a non-mechanical valve it
carries no moving part and as such requires minimum maintenance. The ow of solids is maintained by proper aeration of the
valve and the presence of appropriate amounts of solids in the
standpipe.
The loop-seal is a critical component of the CFB boiler and its
failure causes the boiler or reactor to cease operation as solids
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 902 494 3227; fax: +1 902 423 6711.
E-mail address: prabir.basu@dal.ca (P. Basu).
1
Present address: Chemical Engineering Dept., University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, Canada.
0306-2619/$ - see front matter 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2008.11.024
1724
Nomenclature
ASP
AH
C1, C2
dp
Gs
g
H
L
Ls
DPs
QH
QT
QSP
Du
U
UH
UH,rel
Umf
UV
usg
uss
W
Ar
a
b
e
l
Us
qg
qs
Fig. 2. Laboratory models of loop-seal with a negligible passage length used for
research in typical bench scale units.
of the wall separating the two chambers (Fig. 3). The refractory
walls and insulation around the standpipe and loop-seal recycle
chamber would typically require a thickness well exceeding 250
500 mm unless they are specically designed to have no external
wall between these two chambers. Thus a denite horizontal passage exists in all CFB boiler that has been overlooked in all studies
till date.
It was not known previous to this study whether the length of
this passage has any inuence on the solid ow rate between the
two chambers making it difcult to assess how well the data produced on loop-seals with negligible thickness (Fig. 2) can be applied to commercial loop-seals with nite thickness of the
passage. The present research attempts to investigate this unexplored area of loop-seal operations and provide a quantitative
assessment of the effect if any.
1725
into the standpipe. This splitting of aeration occurs such that the
pressure drop across the packed bed in the standpipe balances
the pressure around rest of the CFB loop. Thus, standpipe automatically adjusts the pressure drop across it by using the packed bed
pressure drop characteristics. Fluidization of the standpipe robs
the loop-seal of this important feature of loop-seal, and thus its
pressure seal offered by the loop-seal is lost. This will cause the
solids and gases to ow back from the riser up through the
standpipe.
1.2. Angle of repose
The angle of repose of a particle is a measure of the inter-particle frictional force. It has a major inuence on the ow of solids
through the horizontal passage b. For this reason, this property of
the solids was measured here in the context of the present
research.
Bulk solids of uniform grain size, free from surface moisture are
rated free-owing [12]. If free-owing bulk solids are discharged
through a vertical or horizontal opening in absence of aeration,
the angle formed by the free surface of the particles to the horizontal plane is called the angle of repose, b. If aeration is added to the
solids the inter-particle friction decreases, and the solids, therefore,
spread out further (Fig. 4). In the present work we call this angle
the spread angle (a), and dene it as the angle a pile of particles
make with the horizontal when subjected to a given airow, as
shown in Fig. 4. The spread angle at zero aeration is equal to the
angle of repose. If the velocity exceeds Umf of the particles then a
becomes zero and the solids behave like a liquid.
Both spread angle and the angle of repose vary depending on
the particle size and shape of particles. The spread angle depends
additionally on the airow through the bed of particles. As the angle of repose decreases the horizontal length (L) of the spread of
sands increases (Fig. 4). If it exceeds the length of the passage L,
(Fig. 4) the solids starts owing into the recycle chamber without
any aeration. For particles where this is not the case aeration is
added to decrease the spread angle such that the particles spread
beyond the length of the horizontal passage. Thus, if the length
of the horizontal passage is long then the solids must be aerated
to reduce the inter-particle friction to the extent that the resulting
spread angle a is below that created by joining the top edge of the
supply chamber to the bottom edge of the horizontal section (b in
Fig. 4). As the horizontal passage length increases, the angle b decreases and the resulting spread angle a needs to drop further below this value requiring even higher aeration rates for solids to
ow.
1726
Fig. 4. Loop-seal setup with nite passage length as used in current work. It also shows the spread angle (a) and the angle of repose (b).
2. Experimentation
Experiments were conducted in a circulating uidized bed (CFB)
test rig consisting of a riser, two gas/solid separators (a cyclone and
a U-beam separator), a standpipe connected to a buttery valve
and a loop-seal operated at room temperature (Fig. 1). A bag lter
is also installed to capture solid particles that escape the cyclone.
The riser is made of Plexiglas for clear visibility, and has an internal
diameter of 0.152 m and height of 5.181 m. More details of the
experimental setup are given by Butler [3].
2.1. Solids recirculation
The recycle system includes a standpipe (71 mm 80 mm
cross-section and 3355 mm high) connected to a loop-seal as
shown in Fig. 1. The supply (101 mm 101 mm) and recycle
chambers (101 mm 101 mm) are connected by a horizontal section of variable length, L (Fig. 4). The height of the passage, H is
82 mm, and its width passage 101 mm. It was made up of multiple
vertical slices of the passage cross-section for easy adjustment of
its length, L. Thus the length of the horizontal section, L could be
varied easily within 176246 mm by adjusting the number of vertical slices. The recycle chamber is 400 mm high, but one of its
walls is only 200 mm high to serve as the overow weir. Solids
ow over this weir to drop into the recycle pipe connecting to
the riser.
Equal amounts of air were fed under the supply and recycle
chambers of the loop-seal, with no aeration below the horizontal
passage. The uidizing velocity in the riser was kept constant at
5.86 m/s as the bottom aeration of the loop-seal was varied between 0 and 0.0063 m3/s. Airow rate in the riser was measured
using a duct-type ow meter. For the loop-seal aeration, three
rotameters were used, one measuring and controlling the total
ow rate feeding the two. Two other rotameters measured the ow
through individual chambers. Aeration in the horizontal passage is
expressed as UH that is the supercial horizontal air velocity
through the passage. It is calculated by dividing the airow rate,
U mf
i
l h 2
C 1 C 2 Ar0:5 C 1
dp qg
1
q q q gd3
1727
Fig. 5. Typical pressure drop measured across the bed of particles against
supercial gas velocity passing through it.
DP
1 emf qs qg g
L UUmf
DP S
1 e2 lDu
1 e qg Du2
150
1:75
2
3
LS
e
e3 Us dp
Us dp
Table 1
Properties of particles used in angle of repose experiment.
Silica sand
Particle type
Mean diameter (lm)
Initial angle of repose (deg)
Umf (m/s, measured)
Umf (m/s, calculated from Eq. (1))
Sphericity
a
Fine
92
33.9
0.0155
0.0087
1.0a
Glass beads
Medium coarse
184
33.3
0.0340
0.0343
0.7804
These two values are probably a result of approximation used in the indirect method used for measurement of sphericity.
Fine
124
24.0
0.0170
0.0157
1.0a
Coarse
645
26.0
0.295
0.3354
0.8446
1728
Du usg uss
UV
Gs
qs 1 e
Q H Q T Q SP
where QSP = UV ASP; and QH = UH AH ASP is the horizontal cross-section area of the standpipe AH is the vertical cross-section area of the
horizontal passage.
In instances where the velocity in the standpipe is negative QSP
is added to the total ow rate to get the ow through the horizontal passage.
3. Results and discussion
Solids collected in gassolid separator drops into its standpipe.
It then ows downward under gravity. Non-mechanical valves like
loop-seal help solids, collected in the standpipe, move horizontally
unaided but only to a certain distance because of the gravitational
force of solids acting on them and the opposition of the inter-particle friction to this motion. Airow into the solids help reduce the
inter-particle friction. So, to understand how solids ow from the
standpipe to the horizontal passage and then to the recycle chamber it is necessary to understand the effect of airow on the free
movement of solids from a xed pile.
3.1. Effect of velocity on spread angle
The spread angle at zero velocity that is equal to the angle of repose is a function of particle shape and size. Table 1 shows that for
silica sand the angle of repose is generally in the range of 33.334.
For glass beads the angle of repose is much lower in the range of
2427. Manufactured glass spheres are generally more spherical
and regular in shape than natural sand. For this reasons the inter-particle friction amongst glass particles is lower and hence
the lower angle of repose compared to that for sand particles. Thus,
glass particles will move out further into the horizontal passage. It
is interesting to note that within the present range of particle size
(92184 lm) for sand (124644 lm) for glass no clear effect of
particle size on the angle of repose is observed.
Fig. 6 shows that the spread angle reduced steadily with an increase in the aeration rate through the solids. Beyond a critical
velocity the spread angle dropped to zero. This critical velocity
marks the onset of free solids ow and is interestingly very close
to the Umf of the mean size of the particle. To verify this observation for all particles the spread angle is plotted against uidization
number, which is a ratio of the supercial velocity and minimum
uidization velocity measured for the particle (Fig. 6). It is interesting to note that the spread angle dropped to zero at a uidization
number of around 1.0 for nearly all sizes of both types of particles.
Thus, coarser particles, having higher Umf will need higher aeration
rate in the supply chamber than a ner particle for solids to ow
freely into the recycle chamber.
If there is no aeration directly underneath the horizontal passage, as is the case with the rest of this research, the solids in the
horizontal passage will be moved by both the hydrostatic pressure
from the solids in the supply chamber (and or standpipe) as well as
the drag force of the gas from the supply chamber to the recycle
chamber.
3.2. Effect of aeration and horizontal passage length on solid ow
The solids ow rate was measured for a number of different
loop-seal aeration rates (expressed as a ratio of supercial velocity
through the horizontal passage and the minimum uidization
velocity, UH/Umf). Fig. 7 shows that the solids ow started only
above a certain value of the aeration rate and the solids ow rate
increased with increasing aeration rate nearly linearly until it
reached a maximum value. No further increase in solids ow rate
was possible in spite of continued increase in the value of UH/Umf.
Fig. 7 shows a nite value for the intercept of the solid circulation vs. (UH/Umf) graph because the horizontal section offers a resistance to the solid ow, and the airow through the horizontal
passage must exceed this resistance before any solid ow is initiated. Other workers also observed such a presence of minimum
aeration for the initiation of solids ow [2,9].
Fig. 7. Changes in solids circulation ux with supply chamber aeration (UH/Umf) and
horizontal passage length (L/H).
1729
Fig. 9. Velocity for the onset of solids circulation against the horizontal passage
length.
ation below the horizontal passage, the solids may not become
uidized. Its lateral ow is dominated by the drag from the horizontal gas ow rather than free ow of solids under gravity from
the supply to the recycle chamber as would be expected of uidized solids. For this reason a (UH/Umf) higher than 1.0 was necessary
for the initiation of solids ow. And this value was higher for longer
passage lengths. In case of pneumatic transport also the minimum
airow required for transportation of solids is higher in a horizontal pipe than that required for a vertical column.
3.4. Effect of passage length on the maximum solid ow rate
As the length of the horizontal passage increases the airow required for the initiation of solids ow, increases as well. Fig. 9 plots
the airow ratio (UH/Umf) at the onset of solid ow against the total
length of the horizontal passage showing this effect. As this length
increases, the total friction in the horizontal passage increases. So,
the airow required to initiate the ow of solids through the passage increases with increasing length.
It may be noted that an airow exceeding (AH Umf) through the
horizontal passage do not necessarily render the particles fully mobile as one would expect in a vertical column. Since there is no aer-
Fig. 7 also shows that the solid ow rate increases with aeration
rate, but it levels off beyond a certain value, also shown by Basu
et al. [2] and Kim and Kim [7]. This suggests that airow through
the loop-seal reduces the resistance through the loop-seal only
up to a maximum when the particles are rendered fully mobile. Beyond this any additional air just ows through the horizontal passage without affecting the solid ow like it happens in the case of
vertical airow through a bed of solids. The overall pressure balance ultimately drives the solid ow across the CFB loop.
Fig. 7 shows that as the length of the horizontal passage increases, the maximum solid ow rate obtained in each case decreases. This is a result of the increasing frictional resistance
with the length of the horizontal passage. Fig. 10 presents the variation in the maximum solids ow rate against the passage length
obtained by four different aeration rates (UH/Umf ratio). It is interesting to note that the aeration rate did not have any direct inuence on the maximum ow rate. Also, the maximum obtainable
solid ow rate did not reduce to the same extent as the horizontal
Fig. 8. Typical pressure balance around CFB loop (H/L = 2.23, UH/Umf = 4.22).
1730
Fig. 12. A stagnant area of solids is developed at the base of the passage restricting
solids ow through it.
Fig. 11. Pressure drop across horizontal passage increases with increasing passage
length.
Fig. 13. Split of aeration velocity (U/Umf) between supply chamber and horizontal
passage. Here UV is the supercial velocity of gas owing up through the standpipe
and UH is the supercial velocity of gas passing through the horizontal passage. The
relative (U H;rel ) is also plotted on the same graph.
4. Conclusions
1. Solid ow through the horizontal passage is neither a ow of
uidized solids nor a ow of packed or suspended solids. It is
a segregated ow of solids driven by hydrostatic pressure and
uid drag.
2. A longer horizontal passage length offers greater resistance to
solid ow and therefore conveys a smaller amount of solids at
a given gas ow through the passage.
3. The pressure drop per unit length of the horizontal passage
increases with its total length. This suggests that additional
resistance is offered by the constriction of the passage by a zone
of stationary solids, whose size increased with total length of
the horizontal passage.
1731
4. The solid ow starts only after the airow through the supply
chamber exceeds a threshold limit that increases with the horizontal passage length. The threshold is a result of the effect of
aeration rate on the inter-particle friction forces. This amount is
higher than that required for minimum uidization.
5. As the passage length is increased the maximum obtainable
solid circulation rate decreases due to the increased resistance
in the horizontal passage.
6. Aeration into the supply chamber is split such that the supercial velocity of air in the supply chamber or the standpipe
remains below that required for minimum uidization. The
remaining airow conveys solids through the horizontal
passage.
7. At high solid ow rates the entire supply chamber aeration
ows into the horizontal passage along with air entrained by
the solids in the standpipe.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the supports received from Natural
Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Greeneld Research Incorporated. Dr. Augustus Leon helped prepare
the nal manuscript.
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