Effect of sand sizes on the fluidization behavior in circular and rectangular columns

• Main Authors: Johari, Anwar, Taib, Mohamad Rozainee
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Faculty of Chemical and Natural Resources Engineering, UTM 2007
• Subjects: TP Chemical technology
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/5756/1/AnwarJohari2007_EffectofSandSizesontheFluidization.pdf; http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/5756/; http://www.fkkksa.utm.my/jcnre/images/Vol2/2anwarjoharifinalformateditted.pdf

The effect of different sand sizes on the fluidization behavior in circular and rectangular columns was investigated. Three groups of sands with different mean diameters (Sand Sieve No. 10/20 (dpmean = 0.870 mm), Sand Sieve No. 20/30 (dpmean= 0.670 mm) and Sand Sieve No. 30/60 (dpmean= 0.340 mm) were used. The. experiment was conducted using circular and rectangular columns of same the cross-sectional area. The quality of fluidization was categorized into three flow regimes, namely laminar, turbulent and slugging flow. Results showed that large particle of group D (Sand Sieve No. 10/20) provided less resistance to the bed expansion due to its physical properties and the occurrence of slugs were more pronounced. Group D particles exhibited large bubbles compared to Group B particles of Sand Sieve No. 30/60. Particles of Group B showed good fluidization behavior. Fluidization quality was affected by the column size but it does not have any effect on the shape of columns being used.