Hydrodynamics studies of inverse fluidised bed

Abstract

Fundamental research in hydrodynamic behavior of inverse fluidization are carried out in a laboratory unit and effects of different parameters on three-phase inverse fluidization systems are studied in this work. Poly Propylene beads of different sizes are fluidized in the inverse fluidized bed with counter current flow of water and air as fluidizing medium. The hydrodynamic characteristics are observed by measuring the pressure drop, bed expansion and minimum fluidization velocity as a function of flow rate and bed height with tap water and air as fluidizing medium. Attempt has been made to develop correlation for pressure drop using the observed data on the basis of statistical analysis. The observed pressure drop and bed expansion ratio indicate the application of inverse fluidized bed as the bio-reactor which can further be modified for the design of large scale effluent treatment for various industries.