Extension of PIV for measuring granular temperature field in dense fluidized beds

In this work a particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique has been extended to enable the simultaneous measurement of the instantaneous velocity and granular temperature fields. The PIV algorithm has been specifically optimized for dense granular systems and has been thoroughly tested with artificially generated images. The new PIV technique has been successfully applied to a fluidized bed at incipient fuidization conditions in which a single bubble is injected by a jet and to a freely bubbling fluidized bed. The instantaneous spatial distribution of the solids-phase velocity and granular temperature that can be measured with this new technique can be used to validate CFD models for dense granular systems, such as multifluid continuum models using the KTGF (kinetic theory of granular flow) to describe the internal momentum transport in the particulate phase. (c) 2006 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AlChE T, 53:108-118,2007.