Experimental and numerical study of fluid dynamic parameters in a jetting fluidized bed of a binary mixture

The solid circulation pattern, the voidage profile, and the jet penetration height have been investigated experimentally and computationally in a cold-flow model of jetting fluidized beds (JFBs) of a binary mixture in this paper. This rectangular two-dimensional bed is 0.30 in wide and 2.05 in high with a central jet and a conical distributor, which roughly stands for the ash-agglomerating fluidized-bed coal gasifier. A video camera and coloured particle tracer method were employed to explore the fluid dynamics in the bed. In terms of the average physical properties of binary mixtures, a hydrodynamic model describing the gas-solid flow characteristics in a jetting bed is resolved by using a modified Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure-Linked Equation (SIMPLE) algorithm. This paper focuses on three features of the fluid dynamics-solid circulation pattern, voidage profile, and jet penetration height. The solid circulation pattern is composed of three regions: the jetting region, the bubble street, and the annular region. Above the central nozzle the time-averaged isoporosity contours are almost elliptic, while near the walls of the bed, the voidage in high solid concentration region is approximately equal to that at the minimum fluidization state. The jet penetration height increases with increasing jet gas velocity and with decreasing average particle diameter. The increase in weight percentage of the lighter component in the binary system reveals that reduction of average density causes the enlargement of jet penetration height. The simulated results show good agreement with the experimental data. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.