A quantitative assessment of the effect of distributor type on particle circulation

Abstract Garncarek's quantitative index of inhomogeneity has been used to compare the effect of distributor type on the degree of uniformity of solids mixing in a gas-fluidized bed assessed by following a tracer particle using the technique of Positron Emission Particle Tracking. The bed was a sand of 475 μm diameter fluidized at 2 U mf and contained within a column of 150 mm diameter. A porous and perforated plate distributor are compared. The index shows that tracer locations are generally more homogeneously distributed throughout the vertical section of the bed with the porous plate distributor. Behaviour varies with height and horizontal sections of the bed show that there is little dif…