Estimation of the minimum spouting velocity based on pressure fluctuation analysis

Pressure fluctuation analysis has been used to identify different flow regimes in spouted beds. Although this is a promising cost-effective tool for process control and design purposes, it has hardly been used in spouted beds operating with fine and irregular particles. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to apply pressure fluctuation analysis to spouted beds operating with fine and irregular particles, either without tube or equipped with draft tube. The minimum spouting velocities estimated by the spectral analysis in systems without tubes differ from those obtained based on the characteristic curves in the range from 10.60% (sand) to 3.50% (glass beads). Thus, the main novelty of this study lies in the application of pressure fluctuation and spectral analyses in spouted beds operating with fine and irregular particles by considering the influence of the internal devices. Therefore, the methodology proposed based on both hydrodynamic and spectral analyses is a feasible and promising alternative for delimiting the minimum spouting velocity and stable operating conditions in industrial processes, especially when the aim is process control and scaling up. (C) 2020 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.