| There are many large-scale contacting methods for gas reactions requiring a solid catalyst. The catalytic gas-solid Fluidized Bed Reactor (FBR) is one of the popular methods in industry. In FBRs the bulk of the gas throughput is present as lean bubbles, mostly deprived of solids, bubbling through a solids-rich emulsion phase. The movement of gas into and out of the emulsion often dictates the performance of an FBR. During the past five decades major contributions have been made towards the understanding of FBRs, although numerous gaps still exist, especially at higher bubbling regime velocities.;This work follows an integrated approach for the simultaneous measurement of hydrodynamics and reactor performance. Hydrodynamics are measured using fast X-Ray Tomography (XRT), pressure analysis techniques and an optical fibre probe. Reactor performance is measured by utilizing the ozone decomposition reaction. Performance is quantified using a basic two-phase reactor model with an apparent overall interphase mass transfer (K0) parameter. Two 14 cm (ID) fluidized bed columns are used, one setup supporting the ozone decomposition reaction and the other installed within a fast XRT facility. Special emphasis is placed on superficial velocities (U0) spanning the entire bubbling regime up to the onset of the turbulent regime (Uc). The particle types employed are Geldart B sand particles and highly dense ferro-silicon (FeSi) particles. Fines are added to both particle types, resulting in a total of four particle systems (sand baseline; sand with fines; FeSi baseline; FeSi with fines). Time constraints on the XRT equipment limited the tomography measurements to the sand baseline particle system. The hydrodynamics of the other particle systems were limited to the pressure signal and optical probe measurements of the ozone decomposition setup. (Abstract shortened by UMI.). |
