Fluidized bed reactor: design and application for abatement of Fluoride

Abstract

A laboratory scale fluidized bed reactor was designed and fabricated successfully. The reactor consists of three sections: (a) bed section, (b) freeboard section and (c) conical closure section with inlet cone. The design parameters which affect the performances are identified and discussed. However the objective here is to develop a fluidized bed reactor for the abatement of fluoride from industrial effluent gases. This project focuses on providing a cost effective method for the abatement of Fluoride. Fluorine is a toxic and corrosive chemical with a threshold limit value (TLV) of 1 ppm. The present method utilizes fluidized bed reactor using red-mud as bed material thereby utilizing wastes of aluminium industry. This also provides a simple alternative to Fluoride abatement while producing no hazardous waste. The fluidization characteristics of red-mud were studied. The ratio of red mud and alumina particles required to be used as the bed material was also determined by experimentation. This method of Fluoride abatement is most effective as wastes of Al- industry is used to minimise another problem thereby reducing the operating cost of the Al- industry.