Experimental and Modeling Investigation of Liquid-Induced Agglomeration in a Gas–Solid Fluidized Bed with Liquid Spray
Jingyuan Sun, Sihang Tian, Shaoshuo Li, Yao Yang, Zhengliang Huang, Qiang Shi, Jingdai Wang, Yongrong Yang, Fang Wang
Abstract
Particle agglomeration induced by liquid bridge force widely exists in industrial fluidization processes involving liquid spray. To understand the agglomeration mechanism, a cold-mode fluidized bed loaded with wax-coated graphite particles is constructed and heated by an electromagnetic induction method. In the experiments, the wet agglomerate mass is obtained online through the pressure drop measurement and the heat conservation relationship. Besides, an energy balance model is proposed based on the kinetic energy of rebounding of wet particles and the dissipation energy of liquid bridge to further study the evolution of liquid-induced agglomerates via a Monte Carlo method. The simulation and experimental results agree well and indicate that the agglomerate mass decreases with the particle exothermic rate and superficial gas velocity and increases with the liquid injection rate. This work provides an effective method for online characterization of wet agglomerates and is beneficial for the stable operation of industrial fluidized-bed reactors.