Fluidization Behavior of Cohesive Ca(OH)2 Powders Mixed with Hydrophobic Silica Nanoparticles

Dry mixing with hydrophobic silica nanopowders was used to improve the fluidization quality of Ca(OH)(2) particles which belong to the Geldart C group and, thus, normally cannot be fluidized. Three parameters, i.e., sieved size of Ca(OH)(2) particles and sieved size and weight percentage of SiO2 nanoparticles were selected for experiments. A direct proportionality was found between the coverage quality of materials over each other and the fluidization behavior of their corresponding adsorbents. Optimum SiO2 size and concentration values were determined for the improvement of Ca(OH)(2) fluidizability. The sieved size of Ca(OH)(2) powder had no consequential effect on the coverage quality. The Richarson-Zaki equation and fractal analysis combined with a modified Richardson-Zaki approach were proposed for prediction of the fluidization quality and agglomerate size.