CHARACTERIZATION OF CHANNELING IN MULTIPHASE SYSTEMS - APPLICATION TOA LIQUID FLUIDIZED-BED OF ANGULAR BIOBONE PARTICLES

Liquid fluidized beds of angular particles exhibit channelling. Unstea dy-state tracer injection experiments do not allow accurate detection of channelling. Two new, more sensitive, techniques to estimate channe lling were developed: local conductivity measurements within the bed a nd cross-sectional average conductivity measurements from steady-state liquid tracer injections into the bed. The complete fluidization velo city can be estimated from local conductivity measurements and from th e fractal dimension of unsteady-state tracer injections both into the bed and upstream of it. Jet mixing is a practical and effective method for reducing channelling in liquid fluidized beds without increasing particle entrainment.