EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION AND MODELING OF AGGLOMERATING FINE POWDER FLUIDIZED-BEDS

The effects of fines on the behavior of a fluidized-bed reactor have b een investigated using a commercial catalyst for propylene ammoxidatio n. Experimental studies show that the catalyst powder agglomerates and that there exists a critical level of fines in the bed (around 30%) f or which the fluid-bed behavior in terms of bed expansion, aeratabilit y, and cluster size is optimum. The results also suggest that the dens e phase should indeed be treated as two distinct phases: cluster and e mulsion. A general mathematical model to account for these two phases is proposed.