Modelling of transport phenomena in the jetting region of fluidized be
ds requires the specification of several hydrodynamic parameters, one
of which is the divergent angle of the jets. A series of experiments w
as conducted to measure this angle for a vertical jet of gas as it ent
ers a fluidized bed, by the use of X-ray imaging techniques. In all th
e tests the material surrounding the jet was maintained in a fluidized
state by a separate gas flow. Results were obtained for a number of d
ifferent particulate materials fluidized at ambient conditions, and at
high temperature and high pressure. Variations were also made to the
orifice gas velocity and the orifice size. Generally the jet angle is
shown to decrease with increasing operating pressure, to increase with
increasing bed temperature, and to decrease with increasing orifice g
as velocity. The dependence of orifice size on the jet angle was somew
hat ambiguous, although larger orifice sizes resulted in significantly
larger jet angles in some cases.