ANALYSIS OF CHAOS IN FLUIDIZATION USING ELECTRICAL CAPACITANCE TOMOGRAPHY

Fluidized beds display a degree of structure which it is vital to unde rstand in any design and scale-up of equipment. This paper is on the e mployment of chaos theory to describe this structure. The measuring te chnique of electrical capacitance tomography is used to determine the local porosity of a gas-solids fluidized bed and to monitor its fluctu ation with time; These raw data are translated into invariants charact eristic of the structure mentioned, such as the Kolmogorov entropy. In itial measurements have shown a strong variation in these chaotic inva riants with bed position and operational parameters. First results are compared with earlier data from pressure measurements.