A PARAMETRIC STUDY OF A HORIZONTAL ROTATING FLUIDIZED-BED USING SLOTTED AND SINTERED METAL CYLINDRICAL GAS DISTRIBUTORS

The pressure drop in a horizontal rotating fluidized bed was measured using slotted and sintered metal cylindrical gas distributors as a fun ction of rotating speed, gas velocity and bed thickness. Experiments w ere conducted using polydisperse alumina particles and nearly monodisp erse glass beads. The pressure drop for the slotted distributor exhibi ted a much larger pressure overshoot at incipient fluidization than th e sintered metal distributor. This behavior was also studied using hig h-resolution photography. Physically consistent explanations are prese nted for the observed phenomena. The experimental results are compared to theoretical models available in the literature. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.