Liquid Fluidized Bed

By: Anthony Rivas

This manual is for the liquid side of the Fluidized Bed Experiment in the Unit Ops Lab.
1. Operation
The safety instructions and manufacturers manual for this experiment can be found online at:
http://www.che.ufl.edu/unit-ops-lab/experiments/FB/FB-index.htm
Here you will find a layout of the device and its components. Make sure all the tubes are
correctly attached where they belong. This experiment will be focusing on the water
Rotameter, Double Tube Monometer, and the Test Vessel with attached ruler.
Above the Rotameter is the power switch for the Diaphragm Pump. When switched, it
will light up red to let you know the pump is operating. Below the Rotameter is the Water
Bypass Valve. This valve should be left in the open position (all the way out) when the
device isnt operating. Lastly, youll notice the small black valve on the Rotameter. This
should remain in the closed (all the way in) position when the device is off. In order to get a
water flow through the test vessel, the power switch must be on and the Rotameter valve
should be opened. In order to increase the flow through the Rotameter and into the Test
Vessel, you can begin to close the Bypass Valve, making sure the Rotameter valve is fully
open. The Rotameter reads in Liters per minute but must be converted to meters cubed per
second for our calculations. This is easily done by dividing by 60,000. When the pump is on,
the Bypass Valve is fully open, and the Rotameter valve is fully open, the flow should read
around 0.2 Lpm. At max flow, meaning the bypass valve is fully closed and the Rotameter
valve is fully open, the flow should read 1.6 Lpm. If these values are compromised, please
report it to your Unit Ops teacher.
The Double Tube Monometer is an interesting device that records pressure at the top and
bottom of the Test Vessel. However instead of recording them against some reference
pressure, they are recorded against each other. Youll notice 3 valves on the Monometer; 2 at
the bottom and one at the top. While running the experiment, you will want to have to have
the 2 on the bottom completely open and the one on the top closed. This allows the pressure
to build up in the air remaining at the top of the Monometer. The left pipe is attached to the
Test Vessel at the top and will therefore have the lower level when in operation because the
pressure is greater at the bottom, which is connected to the right Monometer pipe. The
readings however, increase from top to bottom, with 0 centimeters at the top and 50
centimeters at the bottom. In order to find our pressure drop across the pipe, we must subtract
the level in the left pipe (higher value/lower level) from the right pipe (lower value/higher
level) on the Monometer. This data value will be called Delta H. The initial levels of water in
each of these pipes is very important. To get the maximum amount of readings during your
experiments you will want the levels in both pipes to start around the 25 centimeter marks.
This will ensure that you can read the max pressure drop across the Test Vessel; 50

centimeters. If the levels in the Monometer pipes are not where they are supposed to be, there
are a few things you can do to change them. If they are too high, you can detatch the
connecting tubes at the test vessel by pushing the brass cuff towards the Test Vessel with one
hand and pulling the tube out with your other hand. With both tubes disconnected, you can
open the top valve and the water will vacate the Monometer through the tubes at the bottom.
You can reattatch the tubes by simply pushing them back into their respective cuffs. If the
levels are too low, simply open the top valve and the levels in both tubes will rise. If the
levels in the tubes differ while there is no flow through the Test Vessel, then one of the
bottom valves may be closed or there may be an air bubble in one of the connecting tubes.
Simply empty the tubes and try again. Once you have both of the water levels at 25
centimeters, you are prepared to start the experiment.
The Test Vessel is the last and most important part of our experiment. All the water that
flows through the Rotameter ends up in the Test Vessel and eventually finds its way back to
the Reservoir Tank that feeds the Diaphragm Pump. The Test Vessel consists of a long
Plexiglas tube where the particle bed will lie, and two sintered steel plates that contain the
particles within the Test Vessel; one at the top and one at the bottom. The plates act as sieves
for the particles and allow for the water to flow through but not the particles, so our pump
doesnt get clogged after every run. Of course the pressure it takes for water to flow through
these sintered plates is higher than if it flowed through an empty tube so we will have to
account for this pressure later in our calculations. Before running any experiments on packed
beds, make sure to do a few runs on the empty Test Vessel to assure you have the pressure
correction factor, K, which I will show how to get later. In order to fill the Test Vessel, you
will have to remove some water first. This can be done by opening the top valve on the
Monometer, waiting for the right Monometer pipe to fill with water, then disconnecting the
tube from the Test Vessel and draining the water in the right Monometer tube. This only
drops the water level by a little bit but successive attempts can remove as much water as
necessary. Alternatively, you can remove the two front facing screws as well as the
Monometer tubes and the water overflow pipe, then just turn the Test Vessel upside down to
remove the water. There are 2 knobs on the top of the Test Vessel that hold the top sintered
steel plate in place. In order to fill the Test Vessel, these screws must be removed and the
plate can be popped out with a pair of tweezers. If you are interested in the real porosity,
epsilon, of the Particle Bed, make sure to read the change of volume of water in the Test
Vessel before and after putting the particles in the Test Vessel water. This would be the actual
volume of the particles you are using. For now, we can use epsilon = 0.4 . The ruler on the
Test Vessel doesnt begin at 0 centimeters because it is designed to measure the length of
packed bed you have supplied so it actually begins at the bottom sintered steel plate. Once
you have your bed of particles in place and your readings are all taken, you are ready to
experiment. The only way to remove particles from the Test Vessel is to remove all the
screws and attached tubes, turn the vessel over, and insert a brush up into the vessel to scrape
any leftover particles out. Also running small amounts of water through the upside down
vessel can wash out extra particles.
2. Experimentation

The purpose of this experiment is to show how well the Ergen equation can match real
data and how fluidization of packed beds effects the pressure drop across the bed both
before and after critical velocity. We will be using multiple equations to record this data;

Pascals Law
Our Correction Factor equation
The Ergen equation
A force balance on the particles (Gives Qcrit)
Changing epsilon and Bed length equations (beyond Qcrit)

For clarification purposes:

Rho = density = , measured in: [kg/m3] for water at STP: 1000 kg/m3
Mu = viscosity = [kg/(m*s)] for water at STP: 0.001 kg/(m*s)
Epsilon = porosity = [no units] ratio of volumes of space between particles
L^ = Length of sintered steel plate = 3 millimeters = .003m (but there are two of them)
Lo = Initial height of bed (Remember this changes beyond Qcrit)
L = Height of bed beyond Qcrit
o = Initial porosity of bed (Also changes beyond Qcrit)
= Porosity of bed beyond Qcrit
Q = Mass Flow Rate = Velocity * Area [m3/s] (Lpm/60,000 = m3/s)
Qcrit = Critical Flow Rate = Rate at which the force on the particles from the water is
equivalent to the force on the particles from gravity. Beyond Qcrit, the particles are no
longer lying on one another but in fact only lying on the water.
Fd = Force on the Particles [N = kg*m/s2]
g = gravitational acceleration [m/s2] for earth: 9.81 m/s2
dp = diameter of particles [m] (Can be found on the bottle of particles you are using)
s = Density of solid particles [kg/m3] (Also on bottle of particles)

Pascals Law- * g * Delta H = (P1-P2)

[Pa = kg/(m*s2)]

Assuming we are always using water, whatever Delta H we find in centimeters

can be multiplied by about 10,000 to find the pressure drop, in Pa, across the Test Vessel

Correction Factor Equation- K = Q * * (2*L^) /(A * (P1-P2)) [m2]

This is for an empty Test Vessel. Pick a Q, record a Delta H, plug into Pascals
Law to get (P1-P2), and you get your Correction Factor. This K is for the sintered steel
plates and will not change when a packed bed is added. Therefore, now that we have our
K, we can switch up this equation to be used for any new Q and (P1-P2) we want to test:

Modified Correction Factor- (P1-P2) = Q * * (2*L^)/ (A * K) [Pa]

Subtract Pascals from the Modified Correction Factor and you have your
Experimental pressure drop across the Test Vessel in Pa.
The purpose of this experiment is to model an equation that will follow our
experimentally found data so we will begin with the Ergen equation. Normally, the Ergen
equation is given in terms of (P1-P2)/L but we can simply multiply through by L to get our
equation in terms of Pa. We will split the equation into two parts because its really long
and finding which half of the equation is more of a contributing factor can be really
helpful.

Ergen Equation 1- Lo * 150 * Q * * (1-o)2 / (A * dp2 * o3) [Pa]

Ergen Equation 2- Lo * 1.75 * Q2 * * (1-o)/ (A2 * dp * o3) [Pa]

Add these to find the Ergen equation predicted pressure drop across the bed of particles in
Pa
Next is the force balance on the particles.

Force Balance 1- Fd = (P1-P2) * A * o [N] (Force of the water on the particles)

Force Balance 2- Fd = (s ) * g * A * Lo * (1 o) [N] (Gravitational Force of
particles on water)

Force Balance 2 only takes effect beyond Qcrit. If Q < Qcrit, then the particles are resting
on each other and they are not applying all of their force on the water.

Epsilon and L changes- (1-o) * Lo = (1-) * L

This equation means the Porosity and the Length of the bed change proportionally to each
other as Q goes beyond Qcrit. This also means that although and L change with Q, the
expression, (1-)*L is always a constant. This means that our Force Balance 2 is going to
be a constant number, regardless of the Q we plug in. Force Balance 1, however, changes
with increased Q, so we can easily find our Qcrit by plotting Q vs. FB1 vs. FB2. When
FB1 and FB2 are equal, that is where your Qcrit will occur. Qcrit is now known.

New Epsilon beyond Qcrit- = o * Q / Qcrit

This equation only works when Q > Qcrit because although the porosity increases with
Q, it cannot decrease less than 0.4, the packed beds initial porosity o. Any equation that
we substitute our new epsilon into will only function correctly if Q > Qcrit. Knowing
this, we will plug our new epsilon into our Force Balances so we can get a (P1-P2) that
will correct the Ergen equation beyond Qcrit, where it begins to fail.

New Epsilon Force Balances- (P1-P2) = (s ) *g*Lo*(1 o)*Qcrit/(o * Q)

Now plot Q vs. Ergen vs. New FB and we will have our Delta P vs. Q plot. Just ignore
the Ergen beyond Qcrit and ignore New FB before Qcrit.
Keep in mind that our experiment might not even be able to reach Qcrit and the bed may
not fluidize at all, but we can still predict where it will occur and how the pressure will
change after using just the particle density and diameter.
Now take any Q << Qcrit and examine the Ergen equation for it. Which of the 2 parts of
Ergen contribute more to the total pressure drop? What about when Q>>Qcrit?
If youd like to eliminate as much error as possible, you may now go back and replace the
Epsilon we were given with the actual epsilon:
o = (Volume of Particles in air - Volume displaced water)/Volume of Particles in air
See the Excel Sheet for formula uses and values of A, D, and other constants.