A MODEL OF THE HYDRODYNAMIC INTERACTION BETWEEN INHOMOGENEITIES IN A FLUIDIZED-BED

The stationary planar problem of the perturbed motion of the phases of a fluidized bed, which is generated by a rising or sinking formation consisting of an ''adhering'' circular bubble and a circular cluster o f particles, is considered. An agglomerate of this type can serve as a model of the interaction between local inhomogeneities of a bed with different mean densities of the dispersed phase and, also, as a model of the transfer of solid particles in the bubble wake in a fluidized b ed. The velocity and pressure fields of the fluid and solid phases ove r the whole flow domain are constructed. Conditions for the occurrence of circulatory flow patterns of the fluid phase outside the agglomera te and inside the bubble are investigated. Estimates of the velocity o f motion of the agglomerate in the bed are obtained using the Davies-T aylor method.