A novel dual-material probe for in situ measurement of particle charge densities in gas-solid fluidized beds

Particle charge density is vitally important for monitoring electrostatic charges and understanding particle charging behavior in fluidized beds. In this paper, a dual-material probe was tested in a gas-solid fluidized bed for measuring the charge density of fluidized particles. The experiments were conducted in a two-dimensional fluidized bed with both single bubble injection and freely bubbling, at various particle charge densities and superficial gas velocities. Uniformly sized glass beads were used to eliminate complicating factors at this early stage of probe development. Peak currents, extracted from dynamic signals, were decoupled to determine charge densities of bed particles, which were found to be qualitatively and quantitatively consistent with charge densities directly measured by Faraday cup from the freely bubbling fluidized bed. The current signals were also decoupled to estimate bubble rise velocities, which were found to be in reasonable agreement with those obtained directly by analyzing video images.

PRESSURE FLUCTUATIONS IN GAS-SOLIDS FLUIDIZED BEDS

Pressure fluctuation data measured in a series of fluidized beds with diameters of 0.05, 0.1, 0.29, 0.60 and 1.56 m showed that the maximum amplitude or standard deviation increased with increasing the superficial gas velocity and static bed height for relatively shallow beds and became insensitive to the increase in static bed height in relatively deep beds. The amplitude appeared to be less dependent on the measurement location in the dense bed. Predictions based on bubble passage, bubble eruption at the upper bed surface and bed oscillation all failed to explain all observed trends and underestimated the amplitude of pressure fluctuations, suggesting that the global pressure fluctuations in gas-solids bubbling fluidized beds are the superposition of local pressure variations, bed oscillations and pressure waves generated from the bubble formation in the distributor region, bubble coalescence during their rise and bubble eruption at the upper bed surface.

Hydrodynamics and solids mixing in fluidized beds with inclined-hole distributors

Experimental fluidization results were compared for three gas distributors with the same opening ratio but different orifice in clinations (30,45 , and 90 ). Hydrodynamic studies were con ducted with glass beads (diameter 154p.m) to evaluate the impacts of orifice inclination and static bed depth on pressure drop, pressure drop fluctuations, bed expansion, and minimum fluidization velocity. Solids residence time distributions were determined using phosphoresce nt tracer particles (mea n diameter 76 pm), activated by ultraviolet light. The bed pressure drop was higher with the inclined-hole distributors and increased with static bed height. In a shallow bed, the inclined-hole distributors gave less expansion;however, in deep beds, the orifice angle had negligible influence on bed expansion. The minimum fluidization velocity varied with static bed height for the inclined-hole distributors and was higher for steeper angles. The turnover time estimated using bubbling-bed equations matched the experimental results well for vertical mixing. Probes and ports at the walls of the fluidization column reduced the dense-phase downward velocity by up to 40%. The tangential particle velocity was highest for the 30 -hole distributor and decreased with increasing orifice angle. Tangential mixing was described by a dispersion model;the dispersion coefficient for the inclined-hole distributors was approximately twice that for the 90 -hole distributor in a shallow bed.

ELECTROSTATIC PHENOMENA IN GAS-SOLIDS FLUIDIZED BEDS

Electrostatic charges are generated by particle-wall, particle-particle and particle-gas contacts in gas-solids transport lines and fluidized bed reactors. High particle charge densities can lead to particle agglomeration, particle segregation, fouling of reactor walls and internals, leading to undesirable by-product and premature shut-down of processing equipment. In this paper, the charge generation, dissipation and segregation mechanisms are examined based on literature data and recent experimental findings in our laboratory. The particle-wall contact charging is found to be the dominant charge generation mechanism for gas-solids pneumatic transport lines, while bipolar charging due to intimate particle-particle contact is believed to be the dominant charge generation mechanism in gas fluidized beds. Such a bipolar charging mechanism is also supported by the segregation patterns of charged particles in fluidized beds in which highly charged particles tend to concentrate in the bubble wake and drift region behind rising bubbles.

NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF HYDRODYNAMIC BEHAVIORS IN CONICAL SPOUTED BEDS

The axial and radial distributions of static pressures and vertical particle velocities of conical spouted beds have been simulated and compared with experimental data. Simulation results show that, among all factors investigated, the Actual Pressure Gradient （the APG term） in conical spouted beds, introduced as the default gravity term plus an empirical axial solid phase source term, has the most significant influence on static pressure profiles, followed by the restitution coefficient and frictional viscosity, while other factors almost have no effect. Apart from the solid bulk viscosity, almost all other factors affect the radial distribution of the axial particle velocity, although the influence of the APG term is less significant. For complex systems such as conical spouted beds where a fluidized spout region and a defluidized annulus region co-exist, the new term introduced in this work can improve the CFD simulation. Furthermore, for other systems with the Actual Pressure Gradient different from either fluidized beds or packed beds, the new approach can also be applied.

Estimation of solids circulation rate and char transfer rate from gasifier to combustor in a dual fluidized-bed pilot plant for biomass steam gasification

Operation of a dual fluidized bed, consisting of a riser as combustor and bubbling bed as gasifier, for synthesis gas production from a solid fuel requires determination of the solids circulation rate and char transfer rate. The performance relies on supplying sufficient heat from the combustor to the gasifier by circulation of solids between these two reactors. The flow rate of char is required to track the heat generated in the combustor, which supports endothermic reactions in the gasifier. Direct measurement of these two critical parameters is difficult, with the number of reported techniques capable of working at high temperatures extremely small. An indirect method was developed, using mass and energy balances over the entire system and individual reactors, to estimate the solids circulation rate and char transfer rate. There was general agreement between heat losses estimated from energy-balance calculations and from direct measurement of the outer reactor surface temperature. Under typical gasification conditions, the solids circulation fluxes were estimated to be 45.2 and 55.6 kg/(m^2 s) in two independent tests, which were in good agreement with values obtained using a thermal tracer;char transfer rates were calculated to be 1.2 and 0.6 kg/h, which were in reasonable agreement with average biomass feed rates. This method can be applied to dual gasification systems at any temperature or flow rate.

Tribo-charging of binary mixtures composed of coarse and fine particles in gas-solid pipe flow

Experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of adding fines on the tribo-charging of coarse glass beads. Four types of fines, i.e., copper, stainless steel, uncoated and silver-coated fine glass beads, mixed w让h 240-830 μm glass beads were conveyed by air through a stainless-steel spiral pipe acting as a tribo-charger. Regardless of the type or electrical conductivity of the fine particles tested, adding small amounts of fines (up to 10wt%) to coarse glass beads resulted in a sharp increase in the mass and surface charge densities of the particles. In gen eral, the profiles of the mass and surface charge den sides of the fine-coarse particle mixtures as a function of the mixture composition were determined by the relative magnitude of contact potential differences and the total surface areas of all the comp on ents. The domi nant particle tri bo-electrification mecha nism switched from coarse particle-wall con tacts to fine particle-wall contacts when the fines weight percentage in the mixture exceeded 10%. A model was developed to predict the mass charge density of bi nary mixtures as a function of the mixture composition.

Electrostatic beneficiation of fly ash in a free-falling system

A systematic study of fly ash electrostatic beneficiation in a free-falling separation system was carried out to provide fundamental understanding of the separation efficiency for the design of a suitable process for industrial applications. The parameters investigated included feeding position, electric field strength, particle size and moisture content. Particles larger than 105 μm presented the best separation efficiency among four different size fractions, whereas particles smaller than 44μm showed minimal separation. However, sonication treatments helped separation by liberating more carbon from ash particles, although particle sizes were reduced as well. Experiments also showed that exposure to moisture significantly altered charging behavior of fly ash and its subsequent separation due to more free mobile ion-induced charge exchanges. The optimal feeding position was found to be slightly on the side of the negative electrode, leading to a 30% reduction in loss-on-ignition （LOI） and a 45% recovery in a single pass. A simplified mechanical model based on trajectory analysis for charged particles in an electrical field was in reasonable agreement with experimental results.