ME 3022

PRESSURE DROP IN A PACKED BED AND A FLUIDISED BED

INSTRUCTED BY:

NAME COURSE FIELD INDEX NO DATE OF SUB

Gunasekera N.P.A. B.Sc. Engineering Mechanical 090160U 05.04.2012

Objective
To determine the relationship between pressure drop and superficial velocity for a packed bed. To calculate the minimum fluidisation velocity.

Theory
The upward flow of a fluid through a bed of particles give to a fixed bed (packed bed) at low flow rates but if the velocity is sufficiently great, the particles will be freely supported in the fluid to give rise to a fluidised bed. The forces acting on the particles in the bed are its own weight, buoyancy force and the drag force. At the start of fluidisation the (weight-buoyancy) force is equal to drag force. For a fixed bed, the Erguns equation is applicable. It is as follows: [ Where: ( ) ]

For laminar or stream line flow, ( ) ( ) ( ) [ ( ) ]

For turbulent flow, ( ) ( ) ( ) [ ( ) ]

Thus a plot of vs v on a log paper should be linear with a gradient of 1 for laminar flow and 2 for turbulent flow, and provides a method to determine the flow type. Erguns equation could also be applied at the start of fluidisation when applied for spherical particles at minimum fluidisation, equation get modified as follows: ( ) [ ( ) ]

Where:

Procedure
1. Check all pipe connections 2. Check whether the appropriate orifice plate is placed on the orifice plate flowmeasuring instrument. 3. Check water levels in the manometer 4. Feed the material into the packed bed/ fluidised chamber. 5. Switch on the blower by inserting the plug to the holder. 6. Measure, a. Pressure drop across the orifice plate. b. Pressure drop across the bed with material. c. Fixed bed height at packed bed experiments and varying bed height at fluidisation. 7. Take the above readings for various air flow rates. 8. Stop the blower by removing the plug 9. Remove the material from the packed / fluidised chamber. 10. Start the blower and for the same air flow rates (note: to the same pressure drop values across the orifice plate) measure the pressure drop across the perforated bottom plate of the bed (without material). 11. Stop blower 12. Measure the essential dimensions of the packed fluidised bed, 13. Note the orifice plate diameter 14. Measure the density and voidage of particles used in fixed bed experiments.

Calculation
Superficial velocity (v), Where,

Actual bed pressure drop (

),

Voidage

( )

Density of particles( ),

Orifice diameter (cm) Area of the bed (cm ) Weight of 100 particles (g) Volume of 100 particles (ml) Bed height (cm) Density of fluid ( f) (kgm-3) Viscosity of fluid (f) (kgm-1s-1) Coefficient of discharge (Cd) g (ms-2) density ( water) (kgm ) density ( s) (kgm-3) voidage ( )
-3 2

19 132.25 0.35 0.4 3 1.2 0.000016 0.62 9.81 1000 875 0.998991808

Packed Bed Fluidized Bed -1 P (Orifice) (cm) P (Empty bed) (cm) P (Total) (cm) P (Total) (cm) Bed Height (cm) v (ms ) Pbed (cm) Pbed (Pa) 2 0.7 2 24.04 1.3 127.53 5 1.8 5 38.00 3.2 313.92 5.7 1.9 3.5 3.1 40.58 1.6 156.96 6.5 2.1 3.9 3.2 43.33 1.8 176.58 7.6 2.6 4.4 3.7 46.86 1.8 176.58 8.8 2.9 4.8 4 50.42 1.9 186.39 9.5 3.2 5.1 4.5 52.39 1.9 186.39 10.7 3.5 5.4 5.2 55.60 1.9 186.39 10 3.2 5.1 5 53.75 1.9 186.39 8.4 2.8 4.6 4.4 49.26 1.8 176.58 7.5 2.4 4.2 3.8 46.55 1.8 176.58 5.8 2 3.9 3.5 40.93 1.9 186.39 3.5 1.2 2.6 3 31.80 1.4 137.34 2 0.8 1.7 24.04 0.9 88.29 1.4 0.5 0.9 20.11 0.4 39.24 1.2 0.4 0.8 18.62 0.4 39.24

log (v) 1.380867 1.579837 1.608289 1.636809 1.670759 1.702593 1.719214 1.745044 1.730352 1.692492 1.667883 1.612066 1.502386 1.380867 1.303416 1.269943

log (P) 2.105612 2.496819 2.195789 2.246942 2.246942 2.270423 2.270423 2.270423 2.270423 2.246942 2.246942 2.270423 2.137797 1.945912 1.593729 1.593729

Decreasing

Increasing

P vs v
1000

Maximum Fluidisation Velocity

100

P (Pa)

Increasing Decreasing 10

1 9.00 v (ms-1) 90.00

Gradient = tan () = 0.97 Log10 ( )

Discussion
1. Cause for the hump in the graph of log ( ) vs log (v)

In the beginning granules are packed inside the bed. When air flow velocity increases passing through those granules, then they start to mobilize after some point. But the pressure drop needed to mobilize them is greater than the pressure drop needed to pack them from fluidised bed to packed bed when increasing the air flow velocity. This is the reason to have an overshoot in the increasing side of the graph.

2. Deviation of fluid pressure drop when increasing the fluid flow and when decreasing the fluid flow Particles are in a static state in the initial state. When the air flow velocity increases particle has to mobilize from a static state. In the static state particles are packed and reaction forces are acting on particles due to mass of the particles. This cause the pressure difference needed is higher compared to the decreasing air flow. When the air flow is decreasing the particles are already in a dynamic state where negligible reactions occur due to masses. So its easy to reach static state compared to increasing flow velocity instance. This is the reason to follow different routes by fluidised bed when flow rate increases and decreases.

3. Applications of fluidised bed

Reactors A fluidized bed reactor (FBR) is a type of reactor device that can be used to carry out a variety of multiphase chemical reactions. In this type of reactor, a fluid (gas or liquid) is passed through a granular solid material (usually a catalyst possibly shaped as tiny spheres) at high enough velocities to suspend the solid and cause it to behave as though it were a fluid. o Cracking hydrocarbons o Coal gasification o Carbonizing o Calcination Drying operations The process air is supplied to the bed through a special perforated distributor plate and flows through the bed of solids at a velocity sufficient to support the weight of particles in a fluidized state. Bubbles form and collapse within the fluidized bed of material, promoting intense particle movement. In this state, the solids behave like a free flowing boiling liquid. Very high heat and mass transfer values are obtained as a result of the intimate contact with the solids and the differential velocities between individual particles and the fluidizing gas.

Food industry Fluidized beds are used to accelerate freezing in some IQF tunnel freezers. IQF means Individually Quick Frozen, or freezing unpackaged separate pieces. These fluidized bed tunnels are typically used on small food products like peas, shrimp or sliced vegetables. Heat transfer Fluidized bed combustion (FBC) is a combustion technology used in power plants. Fluidized beds suspend solid fuels on upward-blowing jets of air during the combustion process. The result is a turbulent mixing of gas and solids. The tumbling action, much like a bubbling fluid, provides more effective chemical reactions and heat transfer. Growth of particles Adsorption/desorption Bio fluidisation