Fluidisation Characteristics of Tapered Fluidized Bed Reactors with Different Distributors for PFBG Application

The fluidization characteristics of tapered fluidised bed depends on taper angle of reactor, distributor apex angle, particle density and static bed height. Although there are studies reported on fluidization characteristics in tapered reactors, not many studies are carried out on the effect of conical distributors with varying apex angles on the performance of tapered fluidized bed reactors. The paper presents the interdependent correlation between minimum fluidization velocity and taper angle of reactor along with the apex angle of conical distributor. It is observed that the minimum fluidization velocity (Umf) increases with increase of distributor apex angle (α) and taper angle of reactor (β). It is also found that bed expansion ratio decreases with increase of distributor apex angle and taper angle of reactor, for given bed material. The developed correlation has been validated with experimental values and the average & standard deviations of the correlation are 1 and 29% respectively.