THE INFLUENCE OF PERFORATED BAFFLES ON THE MIXING AND SEGREGATION OF A BINARY GROUP-B MIXTURE IN A GAS-SOLID FLUIDIZED-BED

This paper presents a method of influencing the axial mixing of partic les and promoting segregation in fluidized beds without otherwise chan ging the character of the bed substantially (at least at low to modera te gas velocities). The method is based on the introduction in the bed of horizontal screen-like baffles with a relatively large free area. It will be shown that such baffles promote the particle segregation si gnificantly, producing a layer of almost pure heavy/large particles in a binary mixture which would be well mixed when fluidized in a conven tional bed at the same velocity. The effect of three different types o f baffles, of the number of baffles and of the fluidization velocity o n the quality of separation is examined. A physical reason for the dem ixing effect is suggested.