Fractal aspect of hydrodynamics in a three-phase fluidized bed

The deterministic chaotic motions of bubbles and particles in 3-D gas-liquid-solid fluidized bed were studied by the fractal analysis of time series data of bubble and particle frequencies measured with a novel optical transmittance probe with a narrowed laser beam. The correlation dimensions of gas and solid phases obtained from the time series data of the time intervals between the successive passing of bubbles and particles by the embedding method were found to be significantly dependent on superficial gas velocity. The transition between the homogeneous bubbly flow regime and the churn-turbulent flow regime was characterized quantitatively by the correlation dimension.