PIV Study of Particles Motion in a Swirling Fluidized Bed

In this work, particle motion within stable swirling regime of operation of a swirling fluidized bed with annular blade distributor was studied by using Particle Imaging Velocimetry (PIV) technique. Velocity profiles of the resulting particle flows were analysed to understand the effects of blade angle, particle size, particle shape, and bed weight. It was generally found that the particle velocity increased with air flow rate at shallow bed height but decreased with bed weight. A 3° increase in the blade angle reduced the particle velocity by about 18%. It was also revealed that the particle shape and size, and bed weight would result in different characteristics of swirling regime, and hence could serve as a useful reference for design of effective swirling fluidized bed. The resulting correlation between particle and gas velocities can enable prediction of the rates of heat and mass transfer between the gas and particles.