An Experimental Investigation of Slugging Phenomenon in 2D Binary Gas–Solid Tapered Fluidized Beds

Abstract

Gas–solid fluidized beds are widely employed in metallurgical industries to produce direct reduced iron. For such practical applications, tapered fluidized beds are most suitable for handling particles with wide size distribution due to the axial velocity gradient. Herein, the slug behavior in binary tapered fluidized beds has been studied using a high-speed camera and digital image analysis method. The influence of taper angle, air velocity, and fine fraction on local parameters such as slug size, rise velocity, and aspect ratio, and bulk parameters such as slug number and its area fraction, and bed expansion ratio has been investigated. The local parameters increase with taper angle, air velocity, and fine fraction. The slug area fraction and the bed expansion ratio increase with air velocity and fine fraction. The bed expansion ratio increases while the slug area fraction decreases with taper angle. The slug number fraction, slug area fraction, and bed expansion ratio range from 0.027–0.241, 0.20–0.63, and 1.11–1.42, as taper angle, air velocity, and binary composition vary from 0°–15°, 0.20–0.35 m s?1, and 0.25–0.75, respectively. An empirical correlation is proposed for bed expansion ratio prediction. Based on the present investigation, the optimum taper angle is 5°–10°. © 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.