Thesis (Ph. D.)--Technische Universiteit Delft, 1997. / Summary and acknowledgements in Dutch.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Technische Universiteit Delft, 1997. / Summary and acknowledgements in Dutch.

Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010. / Full text also avaiable online. Scroll down for electronic link.

Thesis (doctoral)--Technical University of Delft, 2007. / "Gas-cooled fluidized bed nuclear reactor ... (FLUBER)"--P. 3. Includes bibliographical references (p. [139]-148).

Heat transfer in circulating fluidized beds was studied in both a 7.3 m high, 152 x 152 mm square, pilot-scale combustor and a 9.3 m high, 152 mm ID transparent cold model unit. Results were obtained for particles of mean size 171-299 µm at superficial gas velocities from 4 to 9.5 m/s and for solids circulation rates up to 70 kg/m².s. For the combustor, results obtained by using membrane walls and a vertical tube as heat transfer surfaces show a strong influence of the cross-sectional area-averaged suspension density on time-averaged, length-averaged suspension-to-surface heat transfer coefficient. The influence of superficial gas velocity is found to be small. Radiation becomes significant at suspension temperatures higher than 400 C and at low suspension densities. Heat transfer coefficients were also found to vary with the lateral position of the tube. The vertical length of heat transfer surface is shown to be an important parameter, allowing seemingly discrepant published results to be reconciled. For the cold model unit, sudden and dramatic peaks in instantaneous heat transfer coefficients were measured using an instantaneous heat transfer probe. Simultaneous heat transfer and capacitance measurements suggest that these peaks are caused by the arrivals of particle strands at the heat transfer surface. Two-probe heat transfer measurements suggest the existence of a characteristic residence length for the strands at the wall in this column. A proposed heat transfer model, based on an overall core-annulus flow structure in the riser, and periodic formation, movement along the wall, and disintegration of strands in the annulus, gives reasonable agreement with a wide range of published data. It accounts successfully for the effects of heat transfer surface length and particle sizes. However, the effect of the heat transfer surface configuration on the flow pattern of particles must also be taken into account to give improved agreement with experimental data. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of / Graduate

The effect of particle size distribution (PSD) on the performance of a fluidized bed reactor was investigated using the ozone decomposition reaction, combined with the study of hydrodynamics, for fresh and spent fluid cracking catalysts, each having three particle size distributions - wide, narrow and bimodal - all with nearly the same mean diameter (60 µm), the same particle density and the same BET surface area. The superficial gas velocity was varied from 0.1 to 1.8 m/s to include the bubbling, slugging, turbulent and fast fluidization regimes. The catalytic rate constant, based on the volume of the particles, ranged from 2 to10 s⁻¹, while the static bed height was varied from 0.15 m to 1 m. Four different multi-orifice gas distributors with different hole diameters (2.2 to 5.1 mm) and hole numbers (4 and 21) were also tested to evaluate the influence of gas distributor on the performance of fluidized bed reactors. The particle size distribution was found to play a larger role at higher gas velocities than at lower velocities. At low gas velocities (Uf ≤ 0.2 m/s), the reaction conversion was not greatly affected by the PSD. However, with an increase in gas velocity the PSD effect became larger. The wide size distribution gave the highest reactor efficiency, defined as the ratio of the volume of catalyst required in a plug flow reactor to that required in the fluidized bed reactor to achieve the same conversion, while the narrow blend gave the lowest. The differences are not solely a function of the "fines content". The influence of particle size distribution on the hydrodynamics of fluidization was evaluated by measuring particle concentrations in voids, bubble sizes, and dense phase expansion. When the superficial gas velocity exceeded 0.1 m/s, the bed with the wide size distribution usually gave the highest particle concentration inside the voids, the smallest bubble size and the greatest dense phase expansion at the same operating conditions. There is evidence that there is a greater proportion of "fines" present in the voids than in the overall particle size distribution. This has been explained in terms of the throughflow velocity inside bubbles being of the same order as the terminal velocity of typical "fines", causing these particles to spend longer periods of time inside the voids. The effect of the PSD on the fluidization regime and its transitions was determined by measuring pressure fluctuations along the column. The earliest transition from bubbling or slugging to turbulent fluidization occurred in the bed of wide size distribution, while the latest corresponded to the narrow PSD. For particles of wide size distribution, higher conversion was achieved for the turbulent and fast fluidization regimes than for the bubbling fluidization regime under otherwise identical conditions, while for particles of narrow size distribution, the dependence of conversion on regime was small. Hence, for reactors of wide PSD, the performance can be improved significantly by operating in the turbulent or fast fluidization regime, while for particles of narrow size distribution, the benefit of operating at high gas velocity is slight at best. The PSD influence should be considered in modelling fluidized bed reactors. The "Two-Phase Bubbling Bed Model" has been modified to account for PSD effects. For the reactor of wide particle size distribution operated at high gas velocities, a single-phase axial dispersion model with closed inlet and open outlet boundary conditions appears to be suitable to predict the performance. It was also found that a high pressure drop across the gas distributor was not sufficient to maintain good performance of the distributor. The reactor efficiency in the entry region was higher for a distributor with a greater number of orifices, even though it had a lower pressure drop, than for a distributor plate with fewer larger holes. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of / Graduate

Heat transfer tubes suffer erosion when immersed in fluidized beds. This has caused problems, especially in fluidized bed combustors. The mechanism of erosion for horizontal tubes in fluidized beds is not well understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the erosion mechanism in fluidized beds and to investigate the influence of operating parameters and the mechanical properties of the particles and tube materials. Horizontal tube erosion tests were carried out in a room temperature three-dimensional fluidized bed with a cross-section of 216 mm by 203 mm and height of 1.52 m. Sample rings of ten different materials were mounted on a solid bar and were weighed before and after each test to determine the erosion rate. The parameters tested were particle size (0.30 to 1.51 mm), particle sphericity (0.84 to 1.0), particle density, particle hardness, superficial air velocity (0.88 to 2.52 m/s), tube diameter (15 mm to 32 mm), tube configuration and material mechanical properties. Two additional types of experiments were also conducted to help understand the mechanism of erosion. In one particles were dropped freely in an empty column to impact on test specimens at different velocities determined by the dropping distance, in order to investigate erosion due to solid particle impact under known conditions. In the other the particle movement was filmed in the vicinity of a horizontal tube in a two-dimensional fluidized bed in order to investigate the particle flow pattern around a tube. A small number of tests were also conducted at high temperatures. The erosion of a horizontal tube in fluidized beds was found to be caused mainly by the impact of solid particles on the lower surface. Erosion was found to be strongly dependent on the particle impact velocity, which is closely related to the void (bubble or slug) rise velocity. The void rise velocity, in turn, is determined by the mean void size which depends on the superficial air velocity, column size and other fluidizing conditions. Particle diameter also has a strong influence on erosion. The target material Young's modulus appears to be the major mechanical property which is closely related to the erosion rate caused by solid impact erosion. Of the materials tested, all non-ferrous metals suffer much more erosion than ferrous metals. Localized high particle velocities due to jets and at bends or near feed points can be extremely harmful. The mechanism of erosion caused by low velocity (< 6m/s) solid particle impacts appears to be different than that caused by high velocity (> 30m/s) impacts reported in the literature, although there are some similarities in trends. The erosion at low impact velocities appears to be mainly due to a surface fatigue process, which, instead of plastically deforming a small amount of target material for every impact, deforms the target materials in the elastic range and causes them to crack on or underneath the surface leading to removal of materials. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of / Graduate

A two part study was undertaken to explain the performance of cyclones operated in circulating fluidized bed combustion (CFBC) systems. In the first part, collection efficiency tests were performed on a one-ninth scale polyacrylic cyclone model of the industrial scale cyclone at the 22 MWe CFBC facility at Chatham, New Brunswick. Emphasis was placed on scale-up considerations, loading effects, inlet geometry effects, and flow visualization trials. Experiments were performed at room temperature with inlet velocities between 3.7 and 5.5 m/s, solids loading between 0.05 and 7.5 mass solids/mass air with two different solids systems. There was disappointing agreement between the results from the Chatham unit, scaled according to Stokes Number scaling, and the findings obtained from the cold model unit. There was a minimum in the particle collection efficiency for particles of diameter 2.5 to 3.0 µm, apparently associated with agglomeration effects in the cyclone. Particle collection efficiency was found to increase with increased particle loading for the conditions studied. Changes in the inlet geometry gave inconclusive results. The experimental results were limited by problems associated with feeding and recycling the fines solids system used. In the second part radial gas concentration profiles of a secondary cyclone serving the UBC pilot scale Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustor were performed at temperatures of about 870 ℃. Concentrations of O₂ , CO₂ , NO[formula omitted] , CH₄ , CO and SO₂ were measured. An increase in [CO], and to a lesser extent [CO₂], was measured near the cyclone wall. There appeared to be little radial variation in the concentration of other species. Further work is required to allow the cold model to operate continuously, with particles which can be fed more freely, and to obtain radial gas concentration profiles within the primary cyclone of the UBC CFBC system. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of / Graduate

In gas-solid fluidized bed reactors, such as those employed for polyethylene production, the generation of electrostatic charge is almost unavoidable. Electrostatic charges are generated due to the continuous contacts between particles and particles and the reactor wall. In such processes, accumulation of electrostatic charge causes a layer of particles to adhere to the reactor wall, a problem known as “sheeting” in polyolefin industry. Sheeting results in frequent reactor shutdowns for clean-up and in turn significant economic loss. The overall focus of this research is to better understand the underlying mechanisms of charge generation in gas-solid fluidized beds to ultimately be able to find means to reduce or eliminate this problem. The specific objective of this thesis is to determine the effect of fluidizing particle size on the degree of bed electrification and reactor wall coating. The experimental program involved the fluidization of polyethylene resins received directly from commercial reactors (i.e., having a wide size distribution of 20-1500 micron), as well as mono-sized large particles (600-710 micron) and binary mixture of small particles (200-300 micron and 300-425 micron with fractions up to 20 wt%) and large particles (600-710 micron). Experiments were carried out under atmospheric conditions in 3D fluidization columns housing two Faraday Cups for electrostatic charge measurement. For all conditions, the charge, mass and size distribution of particles fouled on the reactor wall as well as the layer thickness were measured and compared. Fluidization of the resins as received resulted in a certain size of particles (400 µm and smaller) to adhere to the column wall. For binary mixtures, the particles layer formed on the reactor wall mainly consisted of the smaller particles. Although the extent of wall coating declined as the amount of the smaller particles increased, but the smaller particles had a much higher net specific charge and thus replaced the large particles within the wall coating. Such high charge of small particles accumulated on the column wall in turn prevented the wall coating growth due to repelling the oppositely charged particles to the bulk of the bed. Regardless of the charge polarity of the bulk and wall particles, the wall fouling formation mechanism was found to be similar. Between the two sizes of small particles tested, the 212-300 micron particles gained a higher net specific charge than 300-425 micron particles. Bipolar charging due to small and large particles contacts was detected within the bulk of the bed and the wall coating.

This thesis project studied a number of aspects relating to the fluid, mechanics of circulating fluidised beds. Studies of the macrostructure of a 9.3 m high x .15 m dia. riser showed a strong dependence of one important macroscopic descriptor, the density profile, upon the geometry of the gas/solids exit and the location of the solids return. It was found that abrupt exits promoted inertial solids separation from the conveying gas which generated strong internal circulation patterns and high slip velocities. Microstructural studies, in support of the macrostructural investigation, and using a needle capacitance probe, showed how the radial density profile develops with height causing a gradual density decay. The structure, characterised by an "intermittency index," was strongly radially non-uniform at all locations in the lower regions of the column with pronounced aggregation or clustering at the highest densities. However, the cluster-like structures present at the base rapidly gave way to a more dilute core-annular type flow slightly further up the column. This radially non-uniform structure was used to explain a number of macroscopic phenomena. These included the effects of exit type, solids return location, secondary air addition and gas mixing. The results of the various studies, drawn together, allow fast fluidisation to be defined tentatively with respect to its relationships to choking, pneumatic transport, and other fluidisation regimes. Separate studies were performed to examine gas mixing and the transition to turbulent fluidisation. The gas residence time distribution was found to be substantially different from plug flow and could be characterised crudely by a two-zone model. The turbulent transition was found to be gradual, but nonetheless a transition, although a developed turbulent zone did not exist until well beyond transport conditions. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of / Graduate