Powder Technology.

39 (1984) 69 - 75 69

Bubble Velocities in Fluidized Beds of Fine, Dense Powders

R J_ DRY
SawZ Technology. (Pty) Limited. Sasolburg (South Africa)
M. R_ JUDD

Depnrtnwnt of Chemical Engineering. U-niversity of Natal. Durban (South Africa)

T. SHINGLES
SasoZ TcchnoZogy (Pty) Limited, SasoZbug (South Africa)
(Received September 7, 19S3; in revised form October 26. 19S3)

SUMMARY

A method is presented for measuring be controlled by mass transfer between the

bubble uelocities in gas-fluidized beds of fine bubbles and the dense phase- In this instance,
powders at high bubble concentrations_ The conversion is commonly assumed to be
technique effectively quantifies the transmis- related to the so-called crossflow ratio by
sion time of a packet of tracer-rich gas be-
X, = 1 - exp(-X,) (I)
tween two points in the bed, and is shown to
yield results consistent with those obtained where Xn is the fractional conversion of the
by other methods_ limiting reactant and X,, the crossflow ratio
Bubble and slug uelocities in 0.64 and 0.05 defined by
m diameter beds of a fine iron o.xidepowder
are presented. In the small unit, shzgs are X, = (k’,), g (2)
shown to rise at a velocity independent of bed b
height but somewhat higher than might be From eqn. (2), it is clear that the interphase
expected from literature predictions. The slug mass transfer coefficient (liti& and average
flow results are well described by bubble velocity U, assume equal importance
in determining Xb. Both (h’,), and U, are
US = 1.15( CT, - U,,) + 0.63 mL
espected to change with vessel geometry and
It is suggested that the high siug rise coeffi- powder type, since hydrodynamic effects are
cient (0.63) is the result of a low dense phase reflected in both_
viscosity associated with a high dense phase In this paper, attention is focused on
uoidage- bubble velocity, and a fine iron oside powder
BubbIe velocities in the large unit display a which may be regarded as a Geldart [l] class
strong dependence on axial position, and are A material is employed-
higher than might haue been expected- To the naked eye, this powder fluidizes less
Beyond about. 2 m above thegrid, bubble smoothly than does an FCC type powder of
velocities in excess of 2 m/s are observed. similar or moderately greater mean particle
These data also suggest the presence of a low size, and relative pressure fluctuations in the
retarding force associated with a low dense iron oside powder are more severe- This dif-
phase viscosity or, alternatively, the existence ference in behaviour could be important when
of bubble chains and preferred bubble tracks_ considering gas-solids contact in a fluidized
bed. The work reported here forms part of a
broader research programme aimed at quan-
INTRODUCTION tifying the hydrodynamic differences between
bubbling and slugging systems, and differ-
In a fluidized bed system involving a solid ences between powders of similar size but dif-
catalysed, gas-phase reaction, conversion can ferent particle characteristics.

@ Eisevier Sequoia/Printed in The Netherlands

BACKGROUND
Certain well-established relations between
excess gas velocity and bubble or slug rise
velocity exist in the literature. For slugging
systems, the Nicklin [ 23 espression
US = (U. - U,,) -i- 0.35 mt
and its analogue for wall slugs [ 33
US = (Us- U,,) + 0.35dZg&
are commonly employed. For bubbling beds,
the analogous expression of Davidson and
Harrison [4]
&= (Ucl - Unl,) +9&G
is widely accepted despite Rowe’s 15, 61
repeated warnings that the form has never
been proven. The constant p in eqn. (5) is
often taken as 0.71 es suggested in Davidson
and Harrison’s 143 early work.
Most reported bubble velocity measure-
ments are based on either X-rays or small,
local bubble probes of some kind [7 - 11).
These methods are limited to relatively low
bubble concentrations, and their resolution is
not really satisfactory for conditions more
representative of those industrial operations
which involve higher gas velocities and corre-
sponding bubble concentrations. Moreover, a
bubble may not retain its individual identity
for long due to coalescence and splitting -
the local velocity of the average individual
bubble is perhaps of less consequence (partic-
ularly in reactor studies) than some average
which embraces possible coalescence and
splitting effects.
EXPERIMENTAL
Two fluidized bed cold models were em-
ployed. The smaller consisted of a 4.7 m glass
cokunn with an internal diameter of 0.05 m,
with a porous metal plate as the gas distrib-
utor. The larger of the two was constructed of
clear PVC, and had an internal diameter of
0.64 m and a height of 6.14 m. The distrib-
utor was a multi-orifice plate_ This column
was operated with vertical dummy coil pairs
in the bed, giving a hydraulic diameter of
0.19 m. Superficial velocities were computed
on the basis of open area between these coils.
The fluidizing medium in all cases was air,
and the powder milled iron oxide with an
average particle size of 40 pm and U,,
0.0025 m/s.
The technique employed for measuring
bubble velocities was based on tracking an
inert gas tracer_ A small amount of methane
(3) was injected into the bed immediately above
the distributor, and a continuous analysis per-
formed higher up es shown in Fig. 1_ The
(4)
sampling probe was connected to a flame
ionization detector (FID) uia a short (CQ.
0.4 m) sample line, and prior to each run the
dead and rise times of the sampling system
were determined by introducing a solenoid-
(5) controlled pulse of tracer at the sample point
via a small tube immediately adjacent to the
sample line.
-solenoid valve
Fig. 1. Experimental set-up.
Babble velocity was measured as follows: a
pulse of methane was introduced at some
fixed elevation, and the tracer signal observed
higher up. The appearance of the first local
tracer peak on the response curve was
monitored, and the lag between the introduc-
tion of the pulse and the emergence of this
peak measured. The transmission time of the
‘bubble’ through the bed was subsequently
calculated by subtracting the (previously
determined) sampling system dead and rise
times, and a velocity computed by dividing
the vertical distance between the injection
point and the sampling probe by this cor-

rected transmission time. Full details may be
found elsewhere [12].
T h e t e c h n i q u e d e s c r i b e d h e r e in e f f e c t
measures the transmission time of a tracer°
rich packet of gas through the bed, and this
may be interpreted as an appropriate bubble
velocity from a modelling point of view. This
method does not distinguish between single
bubbles and groups of bubbles undergoing
coalescence and/or splitting. The technique
was f o u n d t o b e w e l l s u i t e d t o h i g h gas v e l o c -
ities and bubble concentrations.
The stochastic nature of a bubbling bed
necessarily calls for replicate measurements,
and in this study some 40 to 60 individual
velocities were measured for each set of con-
ditions. An average was computed on the
basis of arithmetic mean transmission time.
RESULTS
S l u g v e l o c i t i e s in F C C c a t a l y s t
The accuracy of the tracer technique was
f i r s t t e s t e d in a s l u g g i n g s y s t e m o f F C C
catalyst in which slugs are known [13, 14] to
be well modelled by eqns. (3) and (4). Tracer
was introduced at about I m above the level
of the distributor in the 0.05 m cold model,
and transmission velocities measured over the
next 1.5 m: velocities in fully established slug
flow were thus obtained.
tube diameter 0.05 m
pcr~ler FCC catalyst [ 71 micron avg size)
1_2
0.8
equation [ z. }
slug
velocity
(mls}
O_&
0.2 Oh 0.6
superficial velocity Ira/s)
F i g . 2 . S l u g v e l o c i t i e s i n a n F C C powder.
71
The results shown in Fig. 2 confirm the
accuracy of the tracer technique and the
reliability of the sampling system dead and
rise time corrections.
S l u g v e l o c i t i e s in iron o x i d e p o w d e r
Slug velocities were measured in the 0.05 m
unit containing the iron oxide powder. Tracer
was introduced at the grid in each case and
velocities were measured for three different
b e d h e i g h t s a n d s e v e r a l gas v e l o c i t i e s . T h e
results are shown in Fig. 3 note that "test
section" refers to vertical separation between
the injection point at the grid and the sample
probe near the top of the bed. No apparent
a x i a l d e p e n d e n c e o f Us w a s o b s e r v e d , a n d this
was confirmed in an independent test: veloc-
ities in fully established slug flow, determined
as i n t h e c a s e o f F C C , w e r e f o u n d n o t t o
d i f f e r s i g n i f i c a n t l y f r o m t h o s e m e a s u r e d in
the bottom 1 m of the bed.
The absolute magnitude of the slug trans-
mission velocity in the iron oxide powder was
found to be significantly higher than that
predicted by eqns. (3) and (4). The data in
Fig. 3 are adequately described by
Us = 1 . 1 5 ( U 0 - - Umf) + 0 - 6 3 gx/~-Dt (6)
T h e e x c e s s g a s v e l o c i t y c o e f f i c i e n t ( 1 . 1 5 ) is
probably a velocity profile effect, and the
v a l u e r e p o r t e d h e r e is c l o s e t o t h e 1 . 2 r e -
ported by Nicklin [2] for an air-water sys-
tem. The slug rise coefficient (0.63} appears
to be very high indeed, and a possible
e x p l a n a t i o n f o r t h i s is d i s c u s s e d l a t e r .
B u b b l e v e l o c i t i e s in iron o x i d e p o w d e r
The results of measurements at four differ-
ent elevations in the 0.64 m cold model are
shown in Fig. 4. The bed height was adjusted
in each case such that the minimum expanded
height was between 5% and 20% greater than
the test section height, and tracer was intro-
duced at the grid. A strong axial dependence
is e v i d e n t a n d t h e v e l o c i t i e s a r e p e r h a p s h i g h e r
than might have been expected.
The axial variation in bubble velocity may
b e i n f e r r e d f r o m t h e s e d a t a i f i t is a s s u m e d
that the velocity in a shallow bed is equivalent
to that in the lower section of a deep bed.
Each measurement corresponds to an average
in the test section, and at a fixed superficial
velocity the differences in transmission time
measured for successive test sections suggest a
72

tube diameter : 0.051~1

test section I D 0.9-/m
I 251 m
0 3.461~1

shg
velocity

a 0.2 cu. 0.6 0.6

gas velocity Imfsl
Fig. 3. Slug velocities in milled iron oxide powder.

local velocity which increases as the bubbles

rise higher up the bed. If a mathematical form
for the local profile is assumed, an estimate of
the latter may be obtained by comparing the
data in Fig. 4 to the integrated (height-
averaged) expression and adjusting constants
for maximum closure. The form of expression
used here is
U,’ = a + b exp(-cz) (7)
where e, b and c represent constants to be
bubble
velocity adjusted and U,’ is the local bubble velocity-
There is no particular reason for choosing this
expression other than its generality: it is
asymptotic at large z, which is consistent with
Imlsl the existence of a maximum stable bubble
size, and does not impose any restriction at
z = 0. The height-averaged form is

Ub=a + -&- exd--c&II (8)

t
Equation (8) was fitted to bubble velocity
data from Fig. 4 at a superficial velocity of
0.3 m/s, and the constants adjusted for min-
imum deviation by the least-squares method.
This led to

-I U,’ = 3.24 - 2.38 exp(-0.322) (2)

0.6
where CT,’ and z are in m/s and m respectively.
Fig. 4_ Bubble velocities i= milled iron oxide po-der. This expression is plotted in Fig. 5, and it is
 73

2.5
gas velority : 0.30mls
-0 322
2.0 I Ub’ 325- 2.38e

1.0 20 30 LO0
height InI

Fig_ 5. Local axial profiles.

evident that the local bubble velocity exceeds
2 m/s beyond about 2 m above the grid_ The
limiting velocity (if one does in fact exist)
appears to be in the region of about 3 m/s.
For comparison with the accepted liter-
ature espression, eqn. (5) solved for d, is
plotted in Fig. 5 for g = 0.71. The resulting
bubble diameters are clearly unachievable
physically, and reasonable diameters result
only when cpis increased to about 1.5 - l-6.
tion between dense phase viscosity and slug
rise coefficient may in fact esist, at least for
fine powders. If it does, one might espect a
low dense phase viscosity to be associated
with a high slug rise coefficient and rice cerxr.
Dense phase viscosity is determined by
many factors but, all else being equal,
probably decreases as dense phase voidage
increases - Zenz [ 17’) discusses this in some
detail.

DISCUSSION

The slug rise coefficient q= of O-63 in eqn.

(4) is greater than the commonly accepted
value of 0.35 by a factor of 1.8 and greater
than the wall slug coefficient of 0.35 fl by a
factor of about 1.3. Slug rise coefficients of
the magnitude reported here are not, how-
ever, unique to this study. The data of Tsutsui
and Miyauchi (91 for example, suggest a coef-
ficient as high as 0.86 for a very fine FCC
powder. It seems that as fines level increases,
so too does the slug rise coefficient. I I 1 1
The inherent attractiveness of the accepted
slug rise coefficient (q= = 0.35) is the fact that
it is in close agreement with Layzer’s [153
model for potential flow in an inviscid
medium as adopted by Hovmand and David-
II / \ I
son [ 143 _ However, as has also been pointed
out by Jackson [ 161, the assumption of zero sin
1
dense phase viscosity in situations of this -
nature may not be justified_ A strong correla- Fig_ 6. Interrelationship between system variables.
74

The interrelationship between the slug rise CONCLUSIONS

coefficient and dense phase voidage and
viscosity is shown in Fig. 6. Pressure and fines In a slugging bed of milled iron- oxide
level are included as independent variables, powder (d, = 40 pm), the measured slug
and it is understood that this analysis applies velocity is independent of axial position and
to slugging beds of fine powders only. is adequately described by
Increasing the fines level F, as suggested by ti, = l.l5(U,, - U,,) + 0.63 a
Tsutsui and Miyauchi’s [ 91 work, probably in-
creases the slug rise coefficient ps. King and Existing expressions of the same form sub-
Harrison [lS] have reported a similar effect stantially underpredict V,, and it is suggested
when pressure is increased - it appears there- that the high slug rise coefficient is the result
fore that increasing pressure or fines level has of a low dense phase viscosity. The powder
the same qualitative effect. Dry, Judd and employed here has a high dense phase voidage
Shingles [ 191 have shown that increasing the (cd = O-622), and it is conjectured that this is
fines level F increases Ed, and Guedes de consistent with a low dense phase viscosity-
Carvahlo [ 203 has reported a similar effect on In a bubbling bed of the same powder,
increasing pressure P. King, Mitchell and bubble velocities display a strong axial depen-
Harrison 1211 have shown that increasing P dence and are higher than might have been
has the effect of decreasing dense phase expected. Velocities in excess of 2 m/s are
viscosity for fine powders, and earlier work achievable beyond about 2 m above the grid_
by Matheson et al. 1221 suggests the same The bubble rise coefficient p is high (of the
result for increasing F_ The assumed relation- order of l-6), and this could be the result of
ship between dense phase voidage and either a viscosity-related decrease in the
viscosity is indicated in Fig. 6 by a broken retarding force (as in the slugging bed) or the
line, as is that between dense phase viscosity presence of bubble chains and preferred
and the slug rise coefficient. The overall bubble tracks_
picture appears to be consistent with
published observations, and the very high
dense phase voidage observed by the bed LIST OF SYMBOLS
collapse experiment for the powder employed
hem (cd = 0.622) suggests a low dense phase a. b. c constants
viscosity. This could in turn explain the high db bubble diameter
slug rise coefficient. Dt tube diameter
Some speculation on the bubbling bed F fines level
results would also seem appropriate_ In Fig. 5, g gravitational acceleration
the bubble diameters as computed from eqn. &e)b bubble-to-dense phase mass transfer
(5) only appear reasonable when 9 is in- coefficient, ref. bubble volume
creased to about 1.5 - 1.6. Lt test section height
This could be the result of an inherent in- Lf expanded bed height
crease in the rise velocity of a single bubble P plX?sSUre
(by analogy with the slugging bed results), or UO superficial gas velocity
the formation of bubble chains of the type ub average bubble velocity (in z)
observed by Werther [23 J. Werther in fact ub' local bubble velocity
modelled the phenomenon of chain formation u mt minimum fluidization velocity
by allowing cpto increase, and suggested an us slug velocity
upper limit of 1.6 in beds of 1 m or more in xA fractional conversion of species A
diameter. It seems likely that chains and xb crossflow ratio
preferred bubble tracks were in fact present in 2 axial coordinate
the system studied, though it is not possible
to discrimin ate between the two proposed Ed dense phase voidage
mechanisms on the basis of the information pd dense phase viscosity
given- In any event, it appears that high cp bubble rise coefficient (eqn. (5))
bubble velocities are a characteristic feature tps slug rise coefficient (eqn. (3) ; rps=
of fine, dense particle systems. 0.35)
 75

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