Particle velocity measurement of binary mixtures in the riser of a circulating fluidized bed by the combined use of electrostatic sensing and high-speed imaging

The flow dynamics of binary particle mixtures in the fluidized bed needs to be monitored in order to optimize the related industrial processes.In this paper,electrostatic sensing and high-speed imaging are applied to measure the velocities of polyethylene and sand particles in the binary particle mixtures in fluidization.Experimental studies were conducted on a lab-scale cold circulating fluidized bed.Correlation function between electrostatic signals from upstream and downstream electrodes placed along the riser shows two peaks that represent transit times for the two types of particles.To verify the above results,high-speed imaging was adopted to capture the flow images of particle mixtures.Particle Image Velocimetry and Particle Tracking Velocimetry algorithms were utilized to process the resulted images in order to measure the velocities of polyethylene and sand particles.The reasons for two-peak correlation functions are illustrated based on the frequency spectrums of the mono-solid-phase electrostatic signals and the velocity difference between polyethylene and sand particles.Finally,comparisons on the velocities obtained from electrostatic sensing and high-speed imaging demonstrate the electrostatic sensor can roughly estimate the particle velocity of binary particle mixtures in the near wall region of the circulating fluidized bed.

Experimental investigations of granular shape effects on the generation of electrostatic charge

In solid processing systems, electrostatic problems are commonly observed for granules of various shapes. However, a complete understanding of the basic dependence of electrostatic charge generation on particle shape has yet to be established. This observation motivated the present study on examining the effect of granular shape on electrostatics. In this study, polyvinyl chloride （PVC） granules （diameter 1.1-4.1 ram, in the shape of a triangle or trapezium） were first discharged to remove any residual charges and sub- sequently their electrostatic charging characteristics were studied by allowing a granule to slide along a pipe wall. Several factors such as granular front-facing angle, length-ratio, sliding area, sliding orienta- tion, sliding times, and relative humidity were considered when studying their effects on the electrostatic charging of granules. It was found that triangular granules with smaller front-facing angles tended to generate more electrostatic charge. The amount of electrostatic charge increased with granular length- ratio and sliding area but decreased with humidity. In addition, granular sliding in the orientation of the front-facing angle （for triangular granules） or the short side （for trapezoidal granules） generated more electrostatic charge than that in the orientation of the long side. For both granule shapes, the elec- trostatic charge increased with granular sliding times and reached a saturated state after around 8-9 sliding movements. The saturated electrostatic charge increased with either granular length ratio or sliding area.