STUDIES OF FLUIDIZATION OF MOIST PARTICLES

Abstract

In this paper, the effect of moisture content on the quality of fluidization in the gas-solid fluidized bed was investigated experimentally and theoretically, using nonporous particles such as glass bead, glass powder, silica sand and so on. It was confirmed that the minimum fluidizing velocity (u_mf) of moist particles can be estimated from existing theory with aid of the observed value of the minimum fluidizing voidage (ε_mf), provided the moisture content (w) is lower than 0.1 wt%.
Further, the expansion ratio of the bed proved well estimable on the lines of Ergun''s idea except in the case of high expansion ratio.