Important mesoscale phenomena in gas phase fluidized bed ethylene polymerization

Gas phase fluidized bed processes have been widely applied to polyethylene production.In these processes,the flow,mass transfer,and reaction rate on the microscale and macroscale are strongly coupled because of the multiphase and multiscale nature of the fluidization system.Understanding mesoscale phenomena is therefore essential to the quantitative translation of the knowledge obtained from the microscale to the macroscale.This paper reviews the development of ethylene polymerization gas phase processes while focussing on studies regarding mesoscale phenomena.These include experimental characterizations,mathematical modelling and control strategies.Trends and future developments in this field are also discussed.

Activity and characteristics of ＂Oxygen-enriched＂ highly reactive absorbent for simultaneous flue gas desulfurization and denitrification

An ＂Oxygen-enriched＂ highly reactive absor- bent was prepared by mixing fly ash, lime and a small quantity of KMnO4 for simultaneous desulfiarization and denitrification. Removal of SO2 and NO simultaneously was carried out using this absorbent in a flue gas circulating fluidized bed （CFB）. The highest simultaneous removal efficiency, 94.5% of SO2 and 64.2% of NO, was achieved under the optimal experiment conditions. Scanning Electron Microscope （SEM） and Accessory X-ray Energy Spectrometer （EDX） were used to observe the surface characteristics of fly ash, lime, ＂Oxygen-enriched＂ highly reactive absorbent and the spent absorbent. An ion chromatograph （IC） and chemical analysis methods were used to determine the contents of sulfate, sulfite, nitrate and nitrite in the spent absorbents, the results showed that sulfate and nitrite were the main products for desulfurization and denitrification respectively. The mechanism of removing SO2 and NO simultaneously was proposed based on the analysis results of SEM, EDX, IC and the chemical analysis methods.

Hydrodynamic behavior of an internally circulating fluidized bed with tubular gas distributors

To better understand the hydrodynamic behavior of an internally circulating fluidized bed, solids holdup in the down-comer （Eso）, solids circulation rate （Gs） and gas bypassing fraction （from down-comer to riser y^R, and from riser to down-comer yRD） were experimentally studied. The effects of gas velocities in the riser and in the down-comer （UR and UD）, orifice diameter in the draft tube （dor）, and draft tube height （HR） were investigated. Experimental results showed that increase of gas velocities led to increase in Gs and yDR, and slight decrease in yeD. Larger orifice diameter on the draft tube led to higher 8sD, Gs and yDR, but had insignificant influence on YRD. with increasing draft tube height, both Gs and YDR first increased and then decreased, while yRD first decreased and then increased. Proposed correlations for predicting the hydrodynamic parameters agreed reasonably well with experimental values.

DISCRETE PARTICLE SIMULATION OF SIZE SEGREGATION OF PARTICLE MIXTURES IN A GAS FLUIDIZED BED

This paper presents a study of the mixing/segregation behaviour of particle mixtures in a gas fluidized bed by use of the discrete particle simulation. Spherical particles with diameters 2 mm （jetsam） and 1 mm （flotsam） and density 2 500 kg.m^-3 are used as solid mixtures with different volume fractions. The particles are initially packed uniformly in a rectangular bed and then fluidized by gas uniformly injected at the bottom of the bed. The gas injection velocities vary to cover fixed, partially and fully fluidized bed conditions. Segregation/mixing behaviour is discussed in terms of flow patterns, solid concentration profile and mixing kinetics. The results show that segregation, as a transient fluidization process, is strongly affected by gas injection velocities for a given particle mixture. With the increase of the volume fraction of flotsam, size segregation appears at lower velocities.

Modeling of hydrodynamics in a bubbling fluidized-bed gasifier and evaluation of the inter-phase gas exchange rate under different operating conditions

A fluid dynamic model of a bubbling fluidized-bed coal gasifier is presented considering two-phase theory of fluidization. The effects of the gasifier temperature and bed particle size on the hydrodynamic char- acteristics of both the bubble and emulsion phases of the gasifier bed are studied. The bubble diameter, bubble velocity, and bubble area fraction are evaluated for the bubble phase, whereas the gas velocity and porosity are studied for the emulsion phase, along the height of the bed. Finally, the rate of inter-phase gas exchange from the emulsion phase to bubble phase is calculated under different operating conditions.

Fluidization stability and periodic fluctuations in gas–solid separation fluidized bed using Geldart A dense medium

Gas–solid separation fluidized bed is a typical method for coal separation without water utilization.Geldart A particles is also considered as the ideal dense medium to strengthen separation efficiency.Fluidization stability reflects the bed pressure fluctuations and the distribution of bubble and emulsion phases,affecting the separation performance.And the main frequency of pressure fluctuations can directly reflect the degree of pressure fluctuations.Therefore,the detailed fluidization stability is analyzed combined the method of standard deviation of pressure fluctuations,power spectral density,etc.,for Geldart A particles.The results showed that maintaining an appropriate gas velocity resulted in an average bed pressure of around 2000 Pa.The main frequency is mainly concentrated around 1–1.5 Hz.Finally,a prediction model of the main frequency of pressure fluctuations is established,and the error can be controlled within±0.15.The investigation further proved the stable fluidization of Geldart A particles and provides a method for predicting the main frequency of pressure fluctuations in the gas–solid separation fluidized bed.

Local heat transfer properties in co- and counter-current G-L-S magnetically stabilized fluidized beds

Heat transfer coefficients were measured by immersed probes in co- and counter-current G-L-S magnetically stabilized fluidized beds （MSFBs） using air, water and nickel-alloy particles as the gas, liquid and solid phases. Influences of major factors, including magnetic field intensity, superficial gas and liquid velocities, liquid viscosity and surface tension, on heat-transfer properties were studied experimentally, indicating that both co- and counter-current G-L-S MSFB can provide relatively uniform radial distribution of heat transfer coefficients under appropriate operation conditions, thus controlling operation temperature for highly exothermic multi-phase reaction systems. Two correlations were provided to estimate accurately heat transfer properties in both co- and counter-current G-L-S MSFB systems, with an average error of less than 10%.

Heat and mass transfer study in fluidized bed granulation-Prediction of entry length

Fluidized bed granulation is a process by which granules or coated particles are produced in a single piece of equipment by spraying a hinder as solution, suspension, or melt on the fluidized powder bed. Heat and mass transfer correlation useful for designing a granulator has been derived based on the equivalence of evaporation rate of the liquid to the heat transferred from hot gas to particles： （m/A）Dp^2λ/Lmf（1-εmf）（Tg-Tl）Kg=hDp/Kg.This equation is applied to data on granulation experiments by different workers to calculate Reynolds number and Nusselt number to obtain a relation between heat and mass transfer from gas to particles during granulation on a logarithmic scale from which the following empirical relation is obtained： Nu=0.0205Re^1.3876 which is comparable to Kothari＇s correlation Nu=0.03Re^1.3.By using the heat and mass transfer correlation obtained, the entry length, that is the length of granulator up to which effective heat transfer from gas to bed particles takes place, is estimated, which is also validated with experimental study. The correct estimation of entry length is useful in optimal design of a granulator.

A modified wake model in bubble-induced three-phase inverse fluidized bed(BIFB)

A modified wake model was proposed for the newly developed bubble-induced three-phase inverse fluidized bed(BIFB),by combining the generalized wake model and the gas-perturbed liquid model.On the basis of the modified wake model,the solids and liquid holdups and the complete fluidization gas velocity in BIFB system have been successfully predicted with two established correlations.The predictions achieved very good agreements with the experimental data.