Fluidized beds take on new life
Chemical & Engineering News · 1970
After a period of waning interest in fluidization technology, the fluidized bed is experiencing renewed attention. Though petrochemical processing remains the principal area of interest in applying fluidization techniques, other areas promise to test the mettle of design engineers. Research during the past decade has provided new tools for the engineer but he must still rely on some empirical methods to predict the behavior of commercial units. One of the frustrations of fluidization technology is explaining why bubbles form at all. The surface tension of liquids makes it comparatively easy to explain bubble phenomena in liquid columns. There is no corresponding property in columns of solid particles. Some investigators have postulated the existence of interparticle forces at the periphery of bubbles. Others have found that, if such forces exist, they are too small to account for bubble integrity. Prof. P. N. Rowe and his colleague J. G. Yates, at University College, London, tell C&EN's Joe ...