Experimental investigation on the effect of superficial gas velocity on bubble dynamics properties of B particles in gas–solid fluidized bed reactor using digital image analysis technique

The bubble dynamics properties in gas–solid particle system play a crucial role in the design and optimization of gas–solid fluidized beds, and are significantly influenced by superficial gas velocity. In present study, the effect of superficial gas velocity on bubble dynamics properties in a classical B particle system were investigated at gas velocity ranging from (0.41 to 0.59) m·s−1 with umf = 0.067 m·s−1 in a quasi-two dimensional (quasi-2D) fluidized bed domain, including bubble equivalent diameter, bubble size distribution, bubble density, aspect ratio, bubble hold-up, bed expansion ratio, bubble rising and lateral velocity. Those were derived from the taken image by digital image analysis (DIA) technique. The results show that superficial gas velocity has a significant effect on the bubble equivalent diameter, while it has little effect on bubble size distribution (BSD), average bubble density distribution and bubble aspect ratio distribution for the same particle system. Both time-averaged bed expansion ratio and bubble hold-up increase with the increase of superficial gas velocity under the range of gas velocity in this work. Two uniform core-annular flows form in the bed for all cases. The bubble rising velocity coefficients of developed correlation range from 0.69 to 1.00. For bubble lateral movement, smaller bubbles may be more susceptible, and superficial gas velocity has a little influence on the absolute lateral velocity of bubbles. Overall understanding the effect of gas velocity on bubbles dynamics properties is good for the design and optimization of fluidized bed reactors, leading to the better process outcomes and performance.