Measuring the Gas-Solids Distribution in Fluidized Beds -- A Review

Abstract

In gas-solid fluidized beds, the distribution of the particles typically varies both in time and space. Since the gas-solids distribution and its variation have a strong influence on the performance of a fluidized bed for a given process, it is very important to accurately measure the gas-solids or voidage distribution. This paper reviews techniques for measuring the voidage distribution in gas-solid fluidized beds, with a focus on the developments during the last ten years. We will treat subsequently direct visualisation, tomography, optical probes, capacitance probes, and pressure measurements.Dense gas-solids flows are typically opaque to visible light. This makes optical techniques only of limited use in dense gas-solids flow. However, direct visualization can be useful for very dilute systems, pseudo 2-D beds, and the outer layer of dense, 3-D systems. Tomography is frequently used to obtain the voidage distribution in a horizontal cross-section of the bed. Electric capacitance tomography is fast, but its spatial resolution is limited and image reconstruction is still troublesome. Although some steps forward have been made, research is continuing at this point. For nuclear (X-ray and gamma-ray) tomography, the image reconstruction is much easier and the spatial resolution better, but its temporal resolution is typically much lower. Therefore, research efforts for nuclear tomography are mainly aimed at increasing the measurement frequency. Optical probes determine the voidage as a function of time in a small measurement volume, either by the degree of reflection or by the degree of transmission of a light bundle. Capacitance probes determine the voidage as a function of time in a small measurement volume by measuring the dielectric permittivity of the gas-solids suspension in the measurement volume. Both optical and capacitance probe techniques are reasonably well-developed; the current research effort spent at improving them seems limited, especially for capacitance probes. Time-averaged pressure measurements are commonly used to determine the average bed density and bed height. By sampling the local pressure at a sufficiently high frequency (typically in the order of 200 Hz), much more information can be obtained about the fluidized bed hydrodynamics. However, obtaining quantitative voidage data from pressure fluctuations measurement remains a difficult task; in-bed pressure fluctuation (and acoustic) measurements are mostly used to determine changes in the voidage dynamics and distribution.