AERODYNAMICS OF A FLUIDIZED BED OF FORESTRY BIOMASS PARTICLES WITH MECHANICAL AGITATION

The aerodynamic behavior of wet forestry biomass particles mechanically shaken in a fluidized bed was analyzed with turning velocity between 0.5 and 2 r.p.s. It was concluded that the agitation exerts an important effect on the fluidization of wet biomass particles. The effect of the agitator is not relevant if the particles have low humidity content. In addition, a methodology based on the Ergun's equation for the calculation of the specific biomass particle surface, with a degree of acceptable correlation (R(2) > 0.96) was proposed. For the prediction of the minimum fluidization velocity, a new correlation allowing fitting the experimental values with deviations of +/- 15% for dry and wet particles, was also proposed.