FLUIDIZED BED TECHNOLOGY

Fluidization (or fluidisation) is a process similar to liquefaction whereby a granular material is

converted from a static solid-like state to a dynamic fluid-like state. This process occurs when a
fluid (liquid or gas) is passed up through the granular material.
When a gas flow is introduced through the bottom of a bed of solid particles, it will move upwards
through the bed via the empty spaces between the particles. At low gas velocities,
aerodynamic drag on each particle is also low, and thus the bed remains in a fixed state.
Increasing the velocity, the aerodynamic drag forces will begin to counteract the gravitational
forces, causing the bed to expand in volume as the particles move away from each other. Further
increasing the velocity, it will reach a critical value at which the upward drag forces will exactly
equal the downward gravitational forces, causing the particles to become suspended within the
fluid. At this critical value, the bed is said to be fluidized and will exhibit fluidic behaviour. By
further increasing gas velocity, the bulk density of the bed will continue to decrease, and its
fluidization becomes more violent, until the particles no longer form a bed and are "conveyed"
upwards by the gas flow.
When fluidized, a bed of solid particles will behave as a fluid, like a liquid or gas. Like water in
a bucket: the bed will conform to the volume of the chamber, its surface remaining perpendicular
to gravity; objects with a lower density than the bed density will float on its surface, bobbing up
and down if pushed downwards, while objects with a higher density sink to the bottom of the bed.
The fluidic behaviour allows the particles to be transported like a fluid, channelled through pipes,
not requiring mechanical transport (e.g. conveyor belt).

The geometrical, physical and aerodynamical properties of particulate solid materials all
affect the onset of fluidization, and the characteristics, behavior and the main parameters
of fluidized beds. The most important solid properties are:
 particle density (not taking porosity into account),
 skeletal (true) density,
 bulk density—mass per unit volume of fixed bed,
 porosity (or void fraction) of the fixed bed—ratio of volume of space between the
particles and the volume of the fixed bed,
 mean equivalent particle diameter—particle characteristic dimension,
 particle shape,
 particle size distribution—probability distribution of particle distribution due to their
size,
 free fall (or terminal) velocity—velocity of falling particle at which gravitational,
Archimedes and drag forces are in equilibrium.
For the exact definition of the term "fluidized bed," it is not sufficient to say that the
fluidized bed is a state of the two-phase mixture of the particulate solid material and the
fluid. Between two limiting states of the mixture—fluid percolation in the vertical
direction through a fixed bed of particulate solids and the free fall of the particles through
the stagnant fluid due to the gravitational force, a variety of different states of the solid-
fluid two-phase mixture exist. The common characteristic of all these states in vertical,
upward or downward, flow (of fluid, particles or both, in the same or opposite directions)
is the existence of fluid-to-particle relative velocity and drag force. The various states of
solid particle-fluid two-phase mixtures differ from each other by the following
characteristics:
 the solid particles can be stagnant, floating or moving chaotically,
 the solid particles movement can be in a preferred direction or chaotic—one phase or
both can be in movement,
 the flow direction can be vertical or horizontal,
 the fluid phase can be in co-current or counter-current flow,
 the movement of the solid material can be free or limited by some kind of mechanical
device (a perforated plate, for example),
 the density or concentration of the mixture may differ greatly from one state to another.

 Circulation
Fine particles of partly burned coal, ash and bed material are carried along with the flue gases to the upper areas of
the furnace and then into a cyclone. In the cyclone the heavier particles separate from the gas and falls to the hopper
of the cyclone. This returns to the furnace for recirculation. Hence the name Circulating Fluidized Bed combustion.
The hot gases from the cyclone pass to the heat transfer surfaces and go out of the boiler.

 Bed Material
To start with the bed material is sand. Some portion is lost in the ash during the operation and this has to be made-
up. In coal fired boilers the ash from the coal itself will be the makeup material. When firing bio fuels with very low
ash content sand will be the makeup bed material. For high Sulphur coals Limestone addition to the bed material
reduces SO2 emissions.