Some experimental observations on the fluidization characteristics of nanoparticles in the form of agglomerates with magnetic assistance are presented. The nanoagglomerates consist of Degussa Aerosil R974 fumed silica, with a primary particle size of 12 nm. An oscillating AC magnetic field is used to excite large (mm size) permanent magnetic particles mixed in with the nanoparticle agglomerates...

The fluidization characteristics of binary mixtures containing tobacco stem (TS) and cation exchange resin (a substitute for coal) were studied in a rectangular bed with the cross-section area of 0.3 × 0.025 m(2). The presence of herbaceous biomass particles and their unique properties such as low density and high aspect ratio resulted in different fluidization behaviors. Three fluidization vel...

An accurate prediction of the minimum fluidization velocity is a crucial hydrodynamic aspect of the design of fluidized bed reactors. Common approaches for the prediction of the minimum fluidization velocities of binary-solid fluidized beds are first discussed here. The data of our own careful experimental investigation involving a binary-solid pair fluidized with water is presented. The effect...

The present work is focused on the study of fluidization behaviour of biomass and sand mixtures in a laboratory scale test set up. The biomass materials used during the experimentation were rice husk, bagasse and sawdust. Two different particle sizes of silica sands were used in forming the mixture. The percentages of biomass in the mixtures were 2%, 5%, 10% and 15% by weight. The minimum fluid...

The onset of surface fluidization of granular material in a vertically vibrated container, z = A cos (ωt), is studied experimentally. Recently, for a column of spheres it has been theoretically found [1] that the particles lose contact if a certain condition for the acceleration amplitude z̈ ≡ Aω/g = f(ω) holds. This result is in disagreement with other findings where the criterion z̈ = z̈crit = c...

A computational study has been carried out to assess the influence of pressure on the flow behaviors in dense gas-fluidized beds. Therefore the discrete particle simulation approach has been employed to study the regime transitions, local two-phase flow structures and the energy dissipation distribution. The results show that high pressure reduces the incipient fluidization velocity, widens the...

Nanopowders are applied in a wide range of processes, and their use continues to increase. Fluidization is one of the best techniques available to disperse and process nanoparticles. However, nanoparticles cannot be fluidized individually; they fluidize as very porous agglomerates. Often, it is needed to apply an assisting method, such as vibration or microjets, to obtain proper fluidization. I...

Fluidized beds are used in a variety of process industries because they provide uniform temperature distributions, low pressure drops, and high heat/mass rates. Minimum fluidization velocity is an important factor in understanding the hydrodynamic behavior of fluidized beds, and this characteristic may be modified through high frequency (sound) vibrations. The effects caused by sound wave frequ...

Melosh [1996] has suggested that acoustic fluidization could provide an alternative to theories that are invoked as explanations for why some faults appear to be weak. We show that there is a subtle but profound inconsistency in the theory that unfortunately invalidates the results. We propose possible remedies but must acknowledge that the relevance of acoustic fluidization remains an open que...