Analysis of the fluid-dynamic behavior of fluidized and vibrofluidized bed containing glycerol

Abstract

The fluid-dynamic characteristics of fluidized and vibrofluidized beds of inert particles in liquids are being widely studied by researchers interested in understanding and modeling the paste drying process. In this work characteristic fluid-dynamic curves of pressure drop versus air velocity were obtained for fluidized and vibrofluidized beds with glycerol. Glycerol was used as a standard fluid to simulate a paste in the bed, and "ballotini" glass spheres were used as inert particles. The fluid-dynamic behavior as well as the quality of the fluidization regimes was analyzed through pressure drop versus air velocity and standard deviations of pressure drop versus air velocity curves and visual observation of the flow patterns in the beds. The results indicated that standard deviation curves are a useful tool for gaining an understanding of the fluid-dynamic behavior of a vibrofluidized bed. They allow detection of changes in the fluid-dynamic behavior which were not observed by analyzing only the pressure drop versus air velocity curves. For fluidized beds (γ=0.00), it was also observed that analysis of curves of standard deviations of pressure drop may help in the estimation of more accurate values of minimum fluidization velocities.