Modelling bed dimension for fluidized bed chemical vapour deposition

The present paper introduces a simple analytical model to predict the bed dimension of a continuous FBCVD (fluidized bed chemical vapour deposition) process. The expressions for column diameter and bed height were determined based on the target production rate, yield, conversion of the feed gas and gas volume change in the system. The model proposed in this article suggests that the diameter of an FBCVD column has to be reduced to enhance the conversion at a given production rate. To avoid linear expansion of the column diameter upon scale-up, the conversion or the superficial velocity of the feed gas has to increase, which results in an increase in the bed height. On the basis of the proposed model, a reasonable preliminary column dimension can be outlined when only a limited number of process parameters are available. CPFD (computational particle fluid dynamics) simulation results are presented to verify the model. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.