An experimental study of non-Newtonian fluid flow in fluidized beds: minimum fluidization velocity and bed expansion characteristics

Abstract

In this work, new experimental measurements of the minimum fluidization velocity and velocity-voidage characteristics are reported for a variety of liquid-particle systems in glass columns of two different diameters. Three types of liquids, namely, Newtonian, visco-inelastic, and visco-elastic fluids, were used to fluidize the beds of glass particles of four different sizes (1.27-15.8 mm). The results obtained with Newtonian liquids conform to the expected behaviour. The applicability of a variety of equations has been examined with a view to predicting the values of the minimum fluidization velocity and fluidization index for non-Newtonian systems. The experimental results reported herein embrace the following ranges of conditions: 1.27 < D_p < 15.8 mm; D_T = 50.8 and 101.6 mm, and 0.382 n 1.00.