Advanced Powder Technology 21 (2010) 521528

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Advanced Powder Technology

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Original Research Paper

Hydrodynamics of a dual uidized bed gasier

M.K. Karmakar *, A.B. Datta
Thermal Engg Group, Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Durgapur 713209, India

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 17 October 2009
Received in revised form 31 January 2010
Accepted 6 February 2010

Keywords:
Dual uidized bed
Axial voidage
Pressure drop
Solid circulation
Modeling

a b s t r a c t
The hydrodynamics of a circulating uidized bed gasication system with dual uidized bed concept has
been studied through a cold model investigation. The article focuses on the axial voidage, the pressure
drops across various components and the solid circulation under different operating conditions. The control of solids circulation between the dual uidized beds has been done through an L-valve system. A
mathematical model of hydrodynamic behavior of the system has been presented. It is observed from
the investigated operating parameters that the aeration ow, the secondary air ow and particle diameter have the strongest inuence on system pressure drop and solid circulation.
2010 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder
Technology Japan. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Circulating uidized beds (CFB) now nd wide application in
biomass gasication. A dual uidized bed system, comprising of a
bubbling uidized bed gasier with steam as gasifying media
and a circulating uidized bed combustor with air as uidizing
media, produces syngas with medium heating value having low
tar content. The energy demand for the endothermic gasication
is provided by the combustion of residual char in the CFB combustor. The circulating bed materials act as heat carrier between the
two uidized beds and maintain the required temperature in gasier. Thus, the hydrodynamics of such a dual uidized bed system
has to be understood properly for the successful design and
operation.
Only a few studies on hydrodynamics of CFB loop predictions
can be found in literature. In CFB system, the ow structure of
gassolid mixture is very complex. Harris and Davidson [1] classied a variety of models of uidized bed system that have been
classied into three broad groups: (i) models predicting solids
suspension density in axial variation, but not in radial variation;
(ii) models predicting axial and radial variations by assuming
two or more regions, such as core-annulus or clustering annulus
ow models, (iii) models which employ the fundamental equations of uid dynamics to predict the two phase gassolid ow.
Of the three classications, the type (iii) seems to be most rigor-

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 343 6452157; fax: +91 343 2546745.
E-mail addresses: malay@cmeri.res.in, malay_karmakar@yahoo.com (M.K. Karmakar).

ous, but the mathematical complexity of solving the equations

limits its usefulness from practical design perspective. Pugsley
and Berruti [2,3] suggested that type (i) and type (ii) models
are the best suited as a design tool for CFB to investigate the effects of operating conditions and riser dimensions on the ow
structure. They showed that the models may be easily coupled
with reaction models to simulate the performance of CFB reactors. Bai et al. [4] investigated a dual circulating uidized bed
system with two risers, two downcomers and two valves. The
model shows how the solids circulation uxes are affected by
the operating conditions such as supercial gas velocities, particle diameter, density, solids inventory and fractional opening of
solids ow control valves as well as by geometry. Lofer et al.
[5] and Hofbauer and co-workers [6] studied the hydrodynamics
of a dual uidized bed system consisting of a fast bed riser with
the downcomer, a bubbling bed gasier and a transfer pipe. They
used the loop seals arrangement for solids ow control in the
CFB system.
In the present work, the hydrodynamics of a dual uidized bed
has been studied using the almost same system as described in
[5,6]. Two L-valves, in place of loop seals, have been incorporated
between the coupled reactors. The L-valves absorb a part of pressure that is built up due to static head of solids in the downcomer. Depending upon the pressure absorbed in L-valves, the solid
circulation rate changes to adjust the pressure balance of the
loop.
A detailed study has been carried out on the voidage, pressure
prole and solids circulation of a dual uidized bed system and
appropriate correlations have been applied from the literature to
predict the experimental ndings.

0921-8831/$ - see front matter 2010 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.apt.2010.02.001

522

M.K. Karmakar, A.B. Datta / Advanced Powder Technology 21 (2010) 521528

Nomenclature
a
aCYC
bCYC
c
dp
D
De
DLV
fs
g
hdz
hsz
htz
k
DP
Umf
Ut
Upa
U

decay constant in pneumatic transport zone in riser

cyclone inlet height (m)
cyclone inlet width (m)
a constant
particle diameter (m)
riser diamter (m)
cyclone gas outlet diameter (m)
L-valve diameter (m)
solid friction factor
acceleration due to gravity (m/s2)
height of bed in dense zone of riser above distributor
(m)
height of bed in splash zone of riser above distributor
(m)
height of bed in transport zone of riser above distributor
(m)
decay constant in splash zone in riser
pressure drop (Pa)
minimum uidization velocity of particles (m/s)
terminal velocity of particles (m/s)
primary air velocity (m/s)
supercial air velocity in riser (m/s)

US
Uh
UCYC
USDC
UGDC
USLDC

solid velocity in riser (m/s)

gas velocity in riser exit horizontal section (m/s)
air velocity at cyclone inlet (m/s)
solid velocity in downcomer (m/s)
gas velocity in downcomer (m/s)
gas solid slip velocity in downcomer (m/s)

Greek letters
a
velocity head co-efcient at cyclone inlet
bubble volume fraction in dense bed
db
qs
solid particle density (kg/m3)
qg
gas density (kg/m3)
/
sphericity of bed particles
emf
voidage for incipient uidization
ec
minimum voidage of solids
e/
voidage in innite height
edz
voidage in dense zone
esz
voidage in splash zone
etz
voidage in transport zone
eDC
voidage in downcomer
lg
viscosity of gas (kg/m-s)

2. Experimental test set-up

The dual uidized bed cold model made of transparent perspex
material has been used as the experimental apparatus. The system
consists of a fast bed riser, a cyclone to separate the solids, a down
comer with a L-valve, a bubbling uidized bed and a connection
pipe with a L-valve. The system is shown schematically in Fig. 1A
and pictorially in Fig. 1B. The riser exit is connected to the cyclone
in horizontal direction. The major dimensions of test set-up and
the range of operating ow rates are presented in Table 1.
4

6
7

8
9

Fig. 1B. CFB system in experimental set-up.

11
10
13

3
3
2

12

14
16 15

1
Fig. 1A. Schematic diagram of CFB system.

There are eight numbers of pressure taps along the riser height
to measure the static heads. Similarly, there is one pressure tap at
cyclone, ve in downcomer and L-valve section, two in bubbling
uidized bed and three in the connection pipe. The pressure heads
are measured by using water manometers. A blower has been used
to supply air to the system.
3. Materials and method
To investigate the hydrodynamic behaviour, four silica sand
samples (group-B particles as per Geldart classication) of
different Sauter mean diameters have been taken during the

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M.K. Karmakar, A.B. Datta / Advanced Powder Technology 21 (2010) 521528

Table 1
Geometry and operating conditions.
Parameter

Value

Unit

Height of riser
Inside diameter of riser
Height of secondary air injection above distributor
Height of bubbling uidized bed vessel
Inside diameter of bubbling uidized bed vessel
Length of downcomer stand pipe
Inside diameter of downcomer stand pipe
Inside diameter of connecting pipe:
fast bed and bubbling bed
Primary gas ow in fast bed riser
Secondary gas ow in fast bed riser
Gas ow in bubbling uidized bed vessel

5.95
0.050
0.200
1.200
0.100
5.0
0.025
0.025

m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m

35
2550
316

m3/h
m3/h
m3/h

experiments. These samples are prepared by screening the materials through the various wire mesh sieves and their properties are
presented in Table 2. The cumulative percentage distribution lesser
than curves for each mean particle size is shown in Fig. 2.
Air is introduced at two locations in riser. The primary air at the
bottom of riser maintains it either in bubbling or turbulent uidization regime. Addition of secondary air, at a height of 0.2 m above
the distributor plate, makes the solids move to the top of riser. Air
is simultaneously introduced at the bottom of gasier to maintain
it in bubbling bed condition.
Separate aeration ows have been used through two L-valves to
maintain the material balance in the dual bed system. The aeration
taps are placed near the valve bend in downcomer which yields the
maximum solids ow. The solids do not begin to ow immediately
upon injecting aeration ow; there is a threshold aeration rate to
produce a drag force sufcient to initiate solids ow. When this
drag force exceeds the force required to overcome the resistance
to solids moving through the constricting bend and gravity of the
particles, the solids begin moving through this non-mechanical
valve as per Knowlton [7].
Each run was characterized at a xed primary air ow with
variations in secondary air ow and aeration ow. The solids
inventory in all runs was maintained at 6.0 kg with negligible decrease (0.40.8%) of inventory at most. When the gassolids ow
was fully established in the system, the ow of material in downcomer was suddenly stopped by closing the L-valve for a short
duration. The increase in height of materials, piled up in downcomer, was measured to nd out the solid circulation.

4. Mathematical model
4.1. Riser
This axial pressure prole in riser is a key parameter and an
important characteristic of CFB; the prediction of such prole is a

Cumulative less-than distribution, (%)

100

80

60
Mean dp = 0.147 mm
Mean dp = 0.211 mm
Mean dp = 0.334 mm
Mean dp = 0.416 mm

40

20

0
0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

Particle diameter, mm
Fig. 2. Cumulative less than particle size distribution of used silica sand samples.

major task in modeling the system. The pressure drop in riser is

usually contributed by the pressure heads for solids suspension,
gas friction, and solids friction and particle acceleration.
The current model assumes the CFB riser to be divided into
three regions: dense bottom zone, splash zone and dilute transport
zone. When the gas passes through the bottom zone, a distinct bed
surface separates the bed which enables some particles of solids to
entrain into the splash zone. A part of these entrained particles becomes decelerated and return back to the bottom zone, while the
rest of the particles are accelerated to the transport zone. It is most
likely that acceleration on a time average is compensated for by the
corresponding deceleration. The only net acceleration is that
caused by the secondary air, and it is small in the present case. Secondary air helps in the process of solids transportation and the axial voidage is the major factor for determining the solids circulation
in the system.
4.1.1. Dense bottom zone
The dense bottom bed operates in bubbling uidized mode and
it comprises of two phases, namely a dense or emulsion phase
and a bubble phase. The volume fraction of solids in such bed is obtained by applying modied two phase theory as proposed by
Johnsson et al. [8]. The emulsion phase is formed by the bed particles as well as the interstitial gas ow in bed particles. The voidage
at minimum uidizing conditions, emf, is determined from the Ergun equation [9]. The bubble phase consists of up rising gas bubbles, assumed to be free of solids. The net voidage in the dense
zone, edz, is expressed as follows.

Table 2
Characteristics of the material.
Material

Sand I

Sand II

Sand III

Sand IV

Size range, lm
Sauter mean diameter, lm
Sphericity
Particle density, kg/m3
Bulk density, kg/m3
Voidage at min. uidization condition, emf
Minimum uidization velocity at 27 C, m/s
Particle terminal velocity at 27 C, m/s
Archimedes number
Group of Geldarts classication

50300
147
0.86
2650
1696
0.46
0.018
1.2
281
B

75425
211
0.86
2650
1696
0.44
0.037
1.7
835
B

106500
334
0.86
2650
1710
0.41
0.091
2.7
3292
B

150600
416
0.86
2650
1722
0.40
0.138
3.4
6347
B

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M.K. Karmakar, A.B. Datta / Advanced Powder Technology 21 (2010) 521528

edz db 1  db :emf

Where, the bubble volume fraction, db, can be calculated as per Eq.
(2).

db

1
1

1:30:15U pa U mf 0:33
0:260:7 exp3:3dp

:U pa  U mf 0:8

aU  U t 2 D0:6 0:88  420 dp

This correlation has been chosen for the present study.

The innite voidage in transport section, e/, in Eq. (7), depends
on supercial gas velocity, particle terminal velocity, particle density and elutriation rate and, this voidage at innity is given as [5].

1  e1

K1

This bottom zone is characterized by a constant pressure drop

versus height. This constant pressure drop, DPdz, is determined
by static heads of bed particles with the assumption that solids
acceleration and deceleration compensates each other and,
neglecting friction forces, and therefore, it is given as follows.

where, K/ is the particle elutriation rate constant for mono-sized

bed materials and it is obtained using following correlation of
Wen and Chen [14].

DPdz 1  edz qs hdz g

K 1 qS ai U  U t

qS U  U t

10

Where, hdz is the bed height in dense bubbling zone.

Where,

4.1.2. Splash zone

The existence of splash zone is assumed to happen when the gas
velocity is below the terminal velocity, Ut, of a single particle above
the dense zone. The bubbles erupt ejecting solids above dense bed,
some of which fall back again into the bed. This zone extends to
secondary air injection level, above which the gas velocity exceeds
the terminal velocity. The bed voidage in splash zone, esz, is calculated using the following correlation [6].

f U  U t 2
ai 1  1 s
2gD

esz  e
exp k hsz  hdz 
edz  e

As this zone has been considered up to secondary air injection

point and the gas velocity in the splash zone is below the single
particle terminal velocity, the value of e has been taken as unity
as suggested in Lofer et al. [5]. Since this splash zone originates
from the upper surface of dense bed, the actual bed height may
be taken as (hsz  hdz). The decay factor, k, for the zone has been taken from Johnsson and Leckner [10].

C Ut
U pa

where, C = 10 m1.
For pressure drop estimation in splash zone, one has to consider
the local solids hold up. However, there is experimental evidence
that the solids acceleration signicantly affects the pressure drop
across the splash zone as per Schlichthaerle and Werther [11]. Further work is still needed on this issue. The Eq. (6) gives the pressure
drop in splash zone for solids hold up [5].

DPsz

hsz
hdz

1  esz qs g dh

1
!4:7

11

Here, the co-efcient of friction, fs, is evaluated from the co-relations of Wen and Chen [14].

fs qS
2

dp
for

lg
qg

!2:5

"
5:17

qg UU t dp
lg

qg U  U t dp
lg

D2

12

 2:38
D

and

fs qS
2

dp

lg
qg

!2:5

"
12:3

qg U  U t dp
lg

#2:5
D

13

q UU d

t p
g
 2:38
lg
D
Wen and Chen [14] recommended the Eqs. 10, 12, 13 for bed
particles having diameters 373400 lm and density of 860
7850 kg/m3 with supercial velocity in the range of 0.110 m/s
in riser of diameter 0.0342.06 m. Therefore, these equations have
been used here matching the present experimental condition.
The pressure drop in transport zone of riser is determined from
the solids hold up and the solids friction, as stated by Hofbauer and
co-workers [5] using the following relation.

for

DPtz

htz

hsz

1  ehtz qs gdh

htz

hsz

fs

U 2S 4
1  ehtz qs gdh
2 D

14

Since the transport section in riser appears to behave like a fully

developed dilute-phase vertical pneumatic zone, the correlation
for estimating particle velocity beyond the acceleration region,
developed by Yang [15], has been employed.

4.1.3. Transport zone

The axial distribution of voidage prole in transport zone may
be obtained from the exponential correlation based on entrainment model proposed by Zenz and Weil [12].

v
!
u
2
u
f
U
s s
Us U  Ut t 1
e4:7
2gDt tz

etz  e1
expahtz  hsz 
esz  e1

where

where, a is the decay factor of solids fraction and, htz is the height of
any point in transport zone. The Eq. (7) is structurally same as the
Eq. (4), but the decay factor is based on solids ow in the transport
zone as discussed below.
Various correlations for the decay factor, a, are available in the
literature. Adanez et al. [13] conducted an experiment in a circulating uidized bed system having dimensions close to the present
study. They used sand and coal as bed materials under group B
of Geldart classication and proposed a correlation for the decay
factor.

#1:5

fs

e3tz
Ut
0:0126 1  etz
1  etz
Us

15

0:979
;

for

Ut
> 1:5
Us

16

and

fs

e3tz
Ut
0:0410 1  etz
1  etz
Us

1:021
;

for

Ut
< 1:5
Us

17

The Eqs. (7)(10), (12)(17) are solved iteratively to evaluate the

voidage etz, the solid friction factor, fs, and the solid velocity, Us.The
solids circulation rate, Gs, has been determined as the following
correlation.

525

M.K. Karmakar, A.B. Datta / Advanced Powder Technology 21 (2010) 521528

Gs qs 1  etz U s

18

4.2. Riser exit and cyclone

4.2.1. Riser exit
The pressure drop in horizontal section between riser and cyclone has been considered from Patience et al. [16].

DPRE Gs 2:84 0:0108U 2h

19

where Gs and Uh are the solid mass ux and the gas velocity in this
region, respectively.
4.2.2. Cyclone
The cyclone pressure drop is directly proportional to the square
of inlet velocity and it is employed as per Gimbun et al. [17].

DPCYC a

qg U 2CYC

20

where a is a function of cyclone dimension and it is expressed as

[17]

a 16

aCYC bCYC

21

D2e

4.3. Downcomer and L-valve

The determination of gas ow rate and the corresponding pressure drop through the down comer and L-valve sections of a circulating uidized bed system is not an obvious task as per Daous and
AI-Zahrani [18].
Variations of voidage in downcomer depend on solids ow
mode. Non-uidized bed ow is divided into a packed bed and
transitional packed bed ow. In present study, the solids movement in downcomer was considered to be transitional packed
bed ow in presence of aeration ow through L-valves. When these
aeration taps are turned off, the solids form a packed bed in the
downcomer causing no solids ow. While the aeration ow is on,
air ows through the particles and the relative movement between
gas and solids produces a drag force on the particles in the direction of ow. This phenomenon was also observed by Zhang and Ru-

dolph [19] that the transitional packed bed ow occurs when the
solids ow by aeration.
During the transitional packed bed ow, the voidage increases
linearly with slip velocity. The voidage in downcomer is more than
compact bed voidage (ec), but less than voidage at minimum uidization condition (emf). Therefore, this voidage above the aeration
point is taken as per the correlation given by Tong et al. [20].

1
2

eDC emf ec

22

Pressure drop due to solids ow by aeration can be expressed by the

Ergun [9] equation that is a function of slip velocity, Knowlton and
Hirsan [21].

DPDC 150l1  eDC 2 U SLDC 1:75l1  eDC U 2SLDC

LDC
/dp eDC
/dp 2 e2DC

23

The slip velocity can be expressed as, for gas owing up the
downcomer

U SLDC

Gs

qS 1  eDC

U GDC

24

eDC

The pressure drop across the L-valve, DPLV, between the aeration point and the solids discharge point to the gasier is correlated with the solid mass ux, L-valve diameter, mean particle
size and length of valve. This correlation is obtained from Geldart
and Jones [22].

DPLV
0:15
216G0:17
D0:63
dp
s
LV
LLV

25

Geldart and Jones [22] carried out measurements of valve pressure drops between the aeration and the solids discharge taking
silica sand materials with diameters 68341 lm with density
2550 kg/m3 and showed that the values estimated by Eq. (25) were
close enough with the experimental data.
4.4. Gasier
The gasier is considered as bubbling uidized bed, thus the
correlation for pressure drop is the same as it has been described
in Section 4.1.1.

0.16
1.0

Mean dp=0.147 mm
Mean dp=0.416 mm

0.14

(A)

Height, m

0.12

0.8

0.10
0.6

(B)
Mean dp=0.147 mm
Mean dp=0.416 mm

(C)

Mean dp=0.147 mm
Mean dp=0.416 mm

0.08

0.4

0.06
0.04

0.2

0.02
1

0.00

0.0

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

Riser voidage

0.9

0.90 0.92 0.94 0.96 0.98 1.00

Riser voidage

0.997

0.998

0.999

1.000

Riser voidage

Fig. 3. Riser voidage for sand # I and sand # IV (A) at bottom zone (Primary air: 0.16 m/s for sand # I and 0.59 m/s for sand # IV), (B) at secondary air injection zone, and (C) at
transport zone (supercial velocity of 4.434.45 m/s).

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M.K. Karmakar, A.B. Datta / Advanced Powder Technology 21 (2010) 521528

4.5. Connection between bubbling uidized bed and fast bed

6

Height, m

The main task of the connector is to prevent the gas slip between the gasier and the combustor and excess aeration at Lvalve must be avoided to prevent the dilution of product gas in
gasier. The solids circulation from bubbling uidized bed to fast
bed riser is done by an inclined connector pipe with a L-valve.
The determination of gas ow rate and the corresponding pressure
drop through this inclined connector and L-valve sections of a dual
uidized bed system is done in line with Section 4.3 as per Knowlton and Hirsan [21]. In this case, the angle of inclination has been
taken into account while calculating the pressure drop.
The pressure drop in L-valve has been determined in the same
way as described in Section 4.3 by Eq. (25).

Downcomer to Bubbling
fluidized bed and
bubbling bed to Fast
Riser bed
bed connector

3
Mean dp: 0.334 mm
Riser air velocity: 5.380 m/s

8 9
1310
14 15

11
12

2
1

16

0.3

0.4

0.5

3-3'

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

5. Results and discussions

1.0

5.1. Voidage prole

Voidage

The effect of bed particles of mean diameters 0.147 mm and

0.416 mm on voidage along the riser has been predicted as shown
in Fig. 3, where the primary air ows were maintained at 0.16 m/s
and 0.59 m/s respectively at the bottom zone to maintain the bed
in uidized state. It is evident from part A of Fig. 3 that the voidage
at the dense zone is more for smaller particles compared to larger
particles at low air velocity. This can be explained by the fact that
both the large and ne particles are present at the bottom zone and
ne particles are embedded in larger diameter particles which decreases the voidage.
Due to the secondary air injection, the voidage in the acceleration zone of riser increases to the level of 0.998 as shown in part B
of Fig. 3. Beyond this acceleration zone, the ow is fully developed
and behaves like a dilute-phase vertical pneumatic transport system. It is seen in part C of Fig. 3 that, for the supercial gas velocities of 4.434.45 m/s, the voidage is more in case of 0.416 mm
diameter particle as compared to 0.147 mm diameter particles.
This results in lower mass ux for larger particles.
Fig. 4 shows the axial voidage of dual uidized bed system using
sand # III. The system has two major sub-systems, (a) the fast bed
section riser, and (b) the section comprising of downcomer,
L-valve to bubbling bed, the bubbling bed and the connector to fast
bed riser. The voidage along the riser has been indicated from
point-1 to point-4 and the voidage in downcomer, L-valve to

Fig. 4. Axial voidage in dual uidized system for sand # III.

6
Sand # III
Riser air velocity: 4.81 m/s
2
solid mass flux: 8.36 kg/m s
Predicted
Experimental

Height, m

4
3
2
1
0
3

10

Static pressure, kPa

Fig. 5. Predicted and experimental pressure proles of dual uidized bed for sand #
III.

4
6

Silica Sand # IV
Riser air velocity: 6.161 m/s
2
Solid mass flux = 11.24 kg/m -s

6-7

Height, m

Silica Sand # IV,

Riser air velocity: 4.852 m/s
Gs=5.620 kg/m2-s

Height, m

Silica Sand # IV
Riser air velocity: 3.933 m/s
2
Solid mass flux=1.117 kg/m -s

Height, m

6-7

2
6-7

8-9

11

12-13
3'

3
2

0
3

16
1

10
14-15

3'

3
2

0
7

8-9

11

System static pressure, kPa

10
12-13
16
14-15

11

8-9
10

12-13
3'

10

System static pressure, kPa

0
4

l6

14-15

System static pressure, kPa

Fig. 6. Predicted pressure proles of dual uidized bed for sand # IV at different riser air velocities.

10

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M.K. Karmakar, A.B. Datta / Advanced Powder Technology 21 (2010) 521528

14

5.2. Pressure proles

12

Predicted, Sand# I
Experimental, Sand# I
Predicted, Sand# II
Experimental, Sand# II
Predicted, Sand# III
Experimental, Sand# III
Predicted, Sand# IV
Experimental, Sand# IV

Solid Mass FLux, Gs, kg/m -s

bubbling bed, the bubbling bed, connector and the L-valve to fast
bed riser is shown from point-7 to point-16.

The basic assumption is that the hydrostatic head of solids

contributes to the axial pressure drop. The suspension density is
related to the pressure drop through the axial distance. During
the experiment, the static heads were measured along the riser,
at the cyclone, along the downcomer and L-valve, the bubbling
uid bed, the connector and L-valve for every run. It was observed that the pressure drops in components of the loop were
affected due to changes in supercial air velocity or solid mass
ux.
Fig. 5 shows the predicted and experimental values of static
pressure for sand # III particles at supercial air velocity
4.81 m/s with solid mass ux of 8.304 kg/m2-s. The gure indicates
that the highest pressure is at downcomer L-valve aeration tap in
the loop.
In Fig. 6, the static pressure proles using sand # IV particles
have been shown along the dual uidized bed loop at different
rates of mass ux. The gure shows that the pressure drop in Lvalve is greater at higher mass ux due to higher aeration ow.
This is due to increase in the contribution of drag and weight forces
caused by solids ow. This behaviour agrees with Arena et al. [23].
Kim et al. [24] also studied that, at constant solids inventory, the
pressure drop across the down comer increases with increasing solid circulation rate.
According to Knowlton and Hirsan [21], the L-valve pressure
drop does not depend on the particle diameter, but, later on,
Arena et al. [23] reported that the pressure drops in L-valve
are less for larger particle diameters. They attributed this behavior to the fact that coarser particles produce larger inter particle
voidage, thus reducing the resistance to the gas ow. In Fig. 7, it
is seen that, in the same range of Gs, the L-valve pressure drop
was more when smaller particles were used. However, further
investigation should be conducted in order to conrm the
results.

10
8
6
4
2
0
1

Riser Air velocity, m/s

Fig. 8. Experimental and predicted mass uxes (Gs) of samples at various riser air
velocities.

5.3. Solid circulation rate

Fig. 8 shows the variations of solid mass ux with the change in
aeration ow and supercial gas velocity for different sizes of particles. The predicted values following Yang [15] and experimentally observed values of solid mass ux were compared and it
was found to be in good agreement between them. The solid circulation increases with increase in supercial gas velocity and this
may be explained by the fact that, the increase of upward drag
forces resulted in increase of net rising particle velocity (UUt).
The curves also show that the requirement of aeration ow was
more for larger particles to initiate solids transport in the system.
The aeration rates, which were needed to cause the minimum solids ow, were 0.08 m3/h and 0.268 m3/h for sand # I and sand # IV,
respectively. At higher solid mass uxes, the aeration ows were
more than the minimum air ow required to initiate the solids
ow.

6. Conclusion

Gs = 11.24-14.14 kg/m -s
dp=0.147 mm
dp=0.211 mm
dp=0.334 mm
dp=0.416 mm

Height, m

The cold model analysis of a dual uidized beds system using

L-valves has been done. This model describes the essential features of the gassolid ow structure. Evaluation with experimental data shows sufcient accordance of the mathematical model
regarding the pressure prole and the solids circulation. It was
observed that the longitudinal voidage proles in riser exhibit
an exponential decay nature. Solid circulation rate increases with
increase in aeration ow and also with increase in supercial
velocity. It was also seen that, for lower size particles, the solid
circulation is higher with the same supercial air ow. The Lvalve aeration air requirement increases with increase in bed particle size and the pressure drop across L-valve is more for higher
solid mass ux.

Acknowledgements
0
2

10

12

Static Pressure, kPa

Fig. 7. Predicted pressure proles in dual uidized bed for sand # I, II, III.

The authors thankfully acknowledge Director, Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI), Durgapur and Dr. P. K.
Chatterjee, Scientist & Head, Thermal Engg Group, CMERI for their
continuous support, enthusiasm and encouragement.

528

M.K. Karmakar, A.B. Datta / Advanced Powder Technology 21 (2010) 521528

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