STUDIES ON MODELING AND CONTROL OF

SPOUTED BED REACTORS-I

REACTOR MODELING

KEITH .I. SMITH, YAMAN ARKUN* and HOWARD LITTMAN

Department of Chemical Engineering and EnvironmentalEngineering,Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy,
NY 12181, U.S.A.

(Received 6 February 1981; accepted 19 August 1981)

Abstract-This paper presents for the first time a theoretical nonisothermal dynamic model for spouted bed
catalytic reactors. A pseudo-homogeneous on-dimensional model is developed for an adiabatic spouted-bed with a
first order reaction. The effects of various design parameters on the steady-state reactor performance are
established.

INTRODUCTION that for chemical cracking of petroleum spouted bed

Spouting was first introduced as a technique for contac-
ting coarse solid particles with fluids and its first use was
in the drying of wheat[l]. Since that time, it has found
application in grain drying, particle coating, granulation,
gas cleaning and heat transfer operations[2].
In spouting, a jet of fluid penetrates a bed of particles
forming a central spout surrounded by an annular
region[3]. As seen in Fig. 1, the fluid in the spout carries
a stream of particles upwards generally as a lean particle
phase. The particles leaving the spout form a fountain
and deposit on top of the annulus where they move
downward as a moving packed bed countercurrent to the
annular fluid flow. Fluid-particle contacting in the annu-
lus is excellent.
Spouted beds compete with packed and fluidized beds
as fluid-particle contactors and with the recent
development of fluid mechanical theories for predicting
the spout and annular flowrates and the geometry of the
annulus, spouted bed reactor performance can now be
addressed.
Spouted beds are commonly thought of as being useful
only for processes involving coarse particles (of the
order of 1 mm and up) but smaller particles may be
spouted using draft tubes (artificial spout tubes). In ad-
dition, spout gas by-passing can be eliminated using the
side-outlet design of Hattori and Takeda[4] (instead of a
top outlet). The limitations of conventional spouted bed
reactors can therefore be removed by design
modifications. Since gas by-passing or inefficient contac-
ting due to bubbles in fluid&d beds cannot be totally
eliminated, side-outlet spouted beds with draft tubes
have the potential to out perform fluidized bed reactors.
It should also be recognized that fluidized beds of coarse
particles without internals give poor performance
because of the large bubbles in them [5].
Some experimental results which attempt tD assess the
use of spouted beds as industrial catalytic reactors have
appeared in recent literature. Uemaki et al.[6,71 report
*Authorto whom all the correspondence shodd be addressed.
reactors are preferred to other catalytic reactors because
of better product yields and enhanced reactor operabil-
ity. The feasibility of the spouted bed as a coal gasifier
has been experimentally investigated at the University of
British Columbia[8] with encouraging results on reactor
performance when compared with fixed or fluidized bed
coal gasifiers.
Advances in understanding the fluid mechanics of
spouted beds[9-121 have been followed by modeling of
isothermal reactors. Matbur and Lim[l3] proposed a
theoretical one-dimensional flow model to characterize
the performance of an isothermal spouted bed reactor
involving a solid catalyzed first order reaction. Piccinini,
Grace and Mathus [14] have modified that model by
including diffusional mass transfer between the spout
and annular regions over and above bulk Row. They also
presented a streamtube model in which the exit con-
centration of reactant is determined using the gas resi-
dence time in streamtubes which originate at the spout-
annular interface and leave at the top of the annulus in
the manner described by Lim and Mathur[lS]. The
deviation of the predicted overall outlet concentrations
from the experimental ones (ozones conversion on iron
oxide catalyst) averages about 5% for all three models.
Recently Littman et a1.[16] used the Mathur and Lim
model and evaluated all requisite quantities in that model
in a completely general way. They were able to predict the
Piccinini et aI.s[14] conversions to within 11.2%.
Isothermal models serve as a test of the hydro-
dynamics but do not fully reflect some of the important
generic characteristics of spouted bed catalytic reactors.
For example, the isothermal model predicts[l6] that the
optimal inlet flowrate to the reactor is the minimum
spouting Rowrate. An inlet flowrate above the minimum
will cause some of the gas to by-pass the annulus and
remain virtually unreacted due to the high voidage in the
spout. This lowers the overall exit conversion. However,
higher inlet Aowrates cause increased particle circulation
making the reactor more isothermal and thereby improv-
ing the conversion. In this work, we extend the theory of
568 K. I. S?.UTH et al.

are well enough established to make calculations of the

performance of catalytic reactors for coarse spherical
particles.
The superficial annular gas velocity for a bed of height,
H, is taken from the theories of Mamuro and Hattori[l8]
and GrbavEiE et al. [19]

u,,(z)=~_+(l-&))I: HsH,,,. (1)

The annular velocity is to a first approximation

unaffected by the superficial velocity of the fluid entering
the bed (ui > u,,) so that by continuity, the fluid velocity
in the spout is

~~(*)=(~)U,-(~)u,(r). (2)

The minimum fluidizing velocity is given by[16]

u,,,p = 42.9(1 - E,F) $ 1+(3.111x lo-)

P [(
112
~1
> (I-E.F)
&AT
1 21
(3)

Fig. I. Cross-section of a spouted bed reactor.

and the minimum spouting velocity by [ 191

u_s=u_,(l-(l-x)l). (4)
spouted bed reactors to the non-isothermal case and
exploit the effects of the major design variables on The maximum spoutable height, H,,,, is defined as the
reactor performance. maximum bed height that the spout can penetrate in a
In addition, spouted bed reactor dynamics, control and particular reactor. It serves as the bed length scaling
operability characteristics are also unknown to the parameter in spouted beds. For coarse spherical parti-
designer. All available theoretical models deal with cles, H, is given by[Z]
steady-state performance and there is a strong need for
fundamental studies of dynamic analysis[l7] which will
%=0.218+? Az0.02 (3
provide guidelines for efficient design and control of b
these reactors.
Part I of this series is centered around reactor mode- where
ling and presents the following studies: (a) developing
distributed parameter dynamic models applicable to a
A=hT.
wide class of catalytic reactions; (b) analysis of the P8 I
effects of reactor design parameters on the steady-state
performance of a spouted bed reactor. In beds deeper than H,, the particles are Ruidized
In Part II, analysis of the transient response to operat- above H,,,.
ing conditions (e.g. feed composition, flowrates, reactor The spout diameter is[16]

0s=Ds,2 1I12
temperatures, etc.) together with the formulation of
generic control problems will be laid down and different
reactor control schemes will be studied. Within the [
(6)
guidelines they provide, the theoretical results remain
to be tested in a future experimental investigation. where the spout diameter in a bed of height, H,, in the
condition of minimum spouting denoted D,, is given by
FUJIDMECHANICAL THEORY the following transcendental equationI
The theory necessary for predicting the spout and
annular flowrates and the geometry of the spout and
2 rr,& = 0.345 (%)-? (7)
annular regions is available for the spouting of large & -Da,
particles. Although there is still some controversy
regarding the hydrodynamic relationships used to predict The particle circulation rate cannot be predicted with
the spout and annular flowrates[9,12], these quantities certainty[S, 231. As a first approximation, the interstitial
 Studies on modeling and control of spouted bed reactors--l 569

particle velocity in the spout will be assumed propor-
tional by a slip fraction, (I, to the interstitial gas velocity
at the top of the spout which is a function of I(+ There-
fore
v.(z) _ u.(H)
I- 42) IE,(H)
The spout voidage is assumed to decrease linearly with
z properties are assumed to be constant throughout the
s(z)=l-B$.
p and ~1are modeling parameters for which reasonable
estimates are 0.2 and 0.3 based on the results of [16] and
[5], respectively. We have performed a parametric study
to analyze the sensitivity of reactor performance to p
and a (see page 32) and discuss the effect of experi-
mentally more accurate spout particle velocity profiles
on the results.
The voidage in the annulus, E,,, is usually close to the
minimum fluidization condition[l6]. In our work, 6 =
0.42.
The superficial particle velocity in the annulus is
derived through continuity of the particle flow.
V,(z) = 2 V*(z).
a
THE REACTOR MODEL
Itis desirable to keep the model as simple as possible
but at the same time accurately represent the pre-
dominant static and dynamic behavior of the reactor
under realistic operating conditions. First of all, we
consider reactions occurring on porous catalysts which
have no heat and mass transfer resistances and
diffusional effects. This reduced the possibility of mul-
tiple steady-state temperature and concentration profiles
within the particle and it reflects the real industrial
practice more closely[24]. Secondly, axial diffusion of
mass and energy are considered unimportant when
compared to convective transport. We will also study an
adiabatic reactor and neglect any resistances to heat and
mass transfer in the radial direction. The spout and the
(8) annular regions are treated as two separate subsystems
which interact with each other via only bulk flow of gas
and particles across the spout-annulus interface. Physical
bed.
Under these conditions, the governing reactor equa-
(9) tions formulate a pseudo-homogeneous one-dimen-
sional model which forms the basis of our steady-state
and dynamic studies. The basic model described here can
be easily modified to include radial gradients in the bed
and interfacial, intraparticle gradients for the particles if
they ever become important. At present, our model is
kept as simple and realistic as possible without any
undue sophistications which would create computational
difficulties and hamper the interpretation of the pre-
dominant features of the reactor performance.
A first order irreversible reaction with the following
kinetics is considered
r = K exp (-E/RT)C (11)
(10)
where K is the pre-exponential factor based on the
volume of catalyst in the reaction region. In Fig. 2, a
material balance is illustrated on a cross-section of a
horizontal slab of a spouted bed reactor. We first assume
a flat bottomed cylindrical reactor to simplify the
geometry. From gas continuity on the spout, the
superficial radial gas velocity, u, at the spout-annulus
interface is given by
(12)

z
ANNULUS SPOUT

A (u +AU,)(Cs+AC,)

t
-~
ts

I
s
- -
AZ flDsL$C,Az
AaK(l-ca) exp C-E /RTa)CaAz
l
ASK (l-es) exp f-E /RTS)Cs~z

dC
A$z 2

Fig. 2. Differential material balance.

570 K. J. SMITH et al.

Using this relationship and assuming no volumetric

expansion or contraction effects, the dynamic material
balance equation for the spout becomes

~=-u,~-K(1_6)exp(-~/RT,)C,. (13)

To derive the dynamic material balance equation for the

annulus, u, has to be expressed in terms of the physical In order to derive the transient equation for the annulus,
variables of the annulus. From gas continuity of the V, is first related to V,(z) by making use of the Particle
annulus continuity on the annulus

A, duo (1%
U=nD,x

With the aid of (14), the following dynamic equation The transient annulus energy balance then becomes
represents the material balance for the annulus

-K(l -ea.) exp (-E/RT,)C.. (15)

- AHK(1 - co) exp (-E/RT.)C.. (201
Since isothermal condition is not assumed, an energy
balance is required as illustrated in Fig. 3. The gas and The boundary condiiions
particle flowrates are counter-current in t_heannulus and In Part I of this series, we will study the steady-state
co-current in the spout. The parameter C, is the weigh- reactor behavior; thus, the dynamic equations reduce to
ted gas/particle volumetric heat capacity defined by four first order nonlinear ordinary differential equations
in z, for which we need four boundary conditions The
c= 4pcP), +u - dbG), (16) first two are easy to derive by setting the temperature
and the concentration at the bottom of the spout, to the
T. and T. are the homogeneous gas/particle temperature inlet conditions
in the spout and annulus, respectively.
V, is the superficial radial velocity of particles T, = T,, (21)
entrained into the spout from the annulus. From particle cS = cS, at 2 = n. (22)
continuity on the spout, V. becomes
The other two boundary conditions are more involved.
v =A,%, First let us consider the concentration at the bottom of
?rD. dz
(17) the annulus, C.,. If the annular gas velocity at z = 0,
u,(O), is non-zero, the residence time at I =0 will be
The transient spout energy balance is then given by zero. This case corresponds to the case of a packed bed

Fig. 3. Differential energy balance.

 Studies on modeling and control of spouted bed reactors-I
with no diffusional effects for which the boundary con-
dition would be C,, = C,, = inlet concentration.
However, as eqn (1) dictates, the annular gas velocity at
z = 0 is zero; therefore, Coo cannot be taken equal to the
inlet reactor concentration. In order to determine the
residence time at z = 0, we take an infinitesimally small
reactor volume at the base of the annulus and treat it as a
continuous flow stirred tank reactor (see Fig. 4). The
residence time of this differential reactor is given by
differential 8 A dz
CFSTR volume u
I
79~8- flowrate through =
The theoretical residence time at z = 0 can then be found
from
after applying IHopitals rule. The result is the recipro-
cal of the slope of the annular velocity at z = 0.
Using a simple steady-state material balance on the
CFSTR, one gets
In order to complete the set of boundary conditions,
we need another restriction on the system. A simple
analytical expression for r., cannot be written since Z,,,
depends on the temperature of the particles flowing
down the annulus, which is unknown. An equivalent
restriction would be to satisfy the overall energy balance
around the reactor. This restriction combined with eqns
(21), (22) (24) determine the set of boundary conditions.
NUMERICAI. SOLUTION AND THEORETICAL RESULTS
Steady-state modeling equations were solved
numerically using the above boundary conditions[25]. In
numerical simulation, T,, was iterated until the overall
energy balance was satisfied. Nominal values for the
design parameters are given in Table I. We study an
endothermic reaction, dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene
to styrene carried out adiabatically[26]. The process
closely relates to the general assumptions of our reactor
model with the only simplification that only the main
reaction ethylbenzene going to styrene and hydrogen is
considered here. The reactor gas has the properties of
steam at 900K and the catalyst has the properties of
porous ferous oxide. The high ratio of steam to ethyl-
benzene minimizes the effects of the changes in mole
numbers of gaseous species on the calculations.
The initial runs indicated that the reaction in the spout
is negligible; therefore, everywhere in the spout the
571
Fig. 4. Boundary conditions at z = 0.
Table 1. Desien values for examDIe
n - ID ,t Umf = 1.85 wrec
I$). I@ tt unrr- 1.66 wsec
% - 3 ft u, y 8.03 ft,sec
ui- 0.3 n A - 0.02
Dp . 0.019 ft El . 0.12
OP- 30 lb/ff3 D = 0.3
(%'P - 21.6 Bt/ft3=K 0 - 0.2
concentration C.(z) is taken equal to the inlet concen-
tration C,,, simplifying the numerical computations. The
feed temperature T,, and composition C,, were chosen
as 1100K and 0.00014lb mole/ft to correspond to the
normal reaction conditions given in [26]. The inlet velo-
city, ui, is chosen to be ten percent above the minimum
spouting velocity, u,,. The temperature and concen-
tration profiles are shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The unique
shape of the profiles can be explained as follows.
The spout temperature decreases with Z since it
entrains cooler particles from the annulus where the
temperature is lower than the spout because of the
endothermic reaction occurring. As predicted by eqn
(18) the slope of the T, curve is the greatest where the
temperature difference between the spout and the annu-
lus is the largest. Note that the temperature of the
annulus becomes equal to the temperature in the spout as
the top of the bed is approached. This equalization of the
homogeneous temperatures at the top of the bed is due to
the fact that the particles are directly deposited on the top
of the annulus from the top of the spout. This phenomena
provides evidence that, instead of explicit use of overall
energy balance for the fourth boundary condition, we can
use the condition that the homogeneous annulus and spout
temperatures are equal at z = H. This new boundary
condition will be used in Part II during reactor dynamic
analysis. In order to understand the annulus temperature
profile, we must look at the governing differential eqn (20)
at steady-state. The term (pC,),V, dominates (PC,),&
everywhere along the length of the reactor. This means that

b $ z,
H
Fig. 5. Temperature profiles for the spouted bed reactor.
Fig. 6. Concentrationprofilesfor a spouted bed reactor.
the dominant energy flow is in the negative t direction
since the dominating particle energy flow which is propor-
tional to (PC,), V, is moving down the bed. Thus, eqn (20)
can be modified to express the temperature gradient in the
direction of the particle flow.
=
(pC,),~(T,-T.)-AHK(l-4)exp(-EiRT.)C.
(PCP),V. -(PC,)&
K. J. SMITH
et al
In the upper section of the annulus, the reaction term
dominates in the numerator because both the tem-
perature difference (T, - Ta) and the spout to annulus
gas flow which is proportional to du,/dz are small in the
upper reactor bed. Thus, the temperature gradient in -z
direction is negative in the upper section of the reactor.
As a result, T.(z) decreases for z > z(see Fig. 5) as one
moves down towards the reactor bottom. In the lower
annulus, the spout to annulus energy flow starts
dominating and the slope dTJd(-z) becomes positive for
z< z. Therefore, T. increases sharply as the reactor
bottom is approached.
Concentration profiles can be similarly interpreted if
one studies the governing differential equation,
dz -
I At the reactor bottom, the numerator becomes positive
since both spout to annulus flow du,/dr and the concen-
tration difference between the spout and the annulus
C, -C,, Lake lheir largest values there. Thus, as illus-
trated in Fig. 6, C.(z) first increases with z until the
reaction term dominates after which C.(z) starts to
decrease continuously as the top of the bed is ap-
proached.
The coned bottom reactor
The flat bottomed reactor which we have so far
analyzed is not very practical since it creates dead
zones at the corners of the reactor bottom. Usually, the
reactor bottom is cone-shaped in order to eliminate the
dead zones. Figure 7 shows the coned bottom reactor.
The new design introduces another independent
parameter, the cone angle 8. The cross-sectional area in
the annulus, A,, will now be a function of z in the
cone-section of the reactor.
Some reasonable first order approximation had to be
made for the gas and particle flowrates in the coned
region. It is assumed that the expression for u,(z)
remains the same. However, u, will change since the
cross-sectional area of the annulus is now a function of z
Similarly u.(z) will have the same functional form as in
eqn (2) except that A. will be a function of z in the
coned region. For the partial flow, V, will be the same as
in flat bottom case. V, will be functionally the same as in
(lo), again the only difference being that A, will be a
function of z.
All of the boundary conditions will remain the same
except for the annular concentration at z = 0. The gas
residence time of the infinitesimal CFSTR at the reactor
base changes due to the new geometry
fA,(z) dr
 Studies on modeling and control of spouted bed reactors--I 573

which gives T&= (H,,,/~u,,,,) for S--+0 after applying

LHopitals rule. This new residence time is substituted
into eqn (24) to evaluate C., for the cone bottom reactor.
The modifled differential equations where numerically
solved for the cone angle, 8, equal to a nominal design
value of 75[3]. The resulting temperature and concen-
tration profiles are shown superimposed on the flat bot-
tom reactor profiles in Figs. 8 and 9. The profiles have
the same basic shapes, the coned bottom reactor being
more isothermal in the cone which is attributed to the
increased circulation of particles. Also note that the
maximum in C, and the minimum in T, occur at the top
of the cone. This is due to the fact that the domination
between the two terms in the numerator of the governing
equations change at the top of the cone. The coned
bottom reactor will be used in the rest of the paper.

Effects of design parameters on steady-state reactor

pedormance
In this section the effects of design parameters H, D,,, 0
z/n
D,, ui, 8, a, /3 on the temperature profile and the frac-
tional exit conversion of the reactor will be investigated. Fig. 8. Temperature profiles for flat and coned bottomed spouted
bed reactor.
The fractional exit conversion is defined by

~~+~ (29)
SO

where C, is the exit concentration leaving the top of the

bed

Fig. 9. Concentration profiles for the coned Mtomed spouted

bed reactor.

(a) Efects of the inlet oelocity, 14;. Figure IO demon-

Fig. 7. The coned bottomed spouted bed reactor.
strates how the exit conversion changes with 4. There is
a maximum at ui/u,, = 1.07 which is due to two opposing
effects. The first effect is that as ui increases, the gas
by-passing increases which tends to reduce the overall
exit conversion. The second effect is that when ui in-
creases, the spout gas velocity and the particle circulation
increase which tends to increase the annular temperature
and conversion (see Figs. II and 12) and thereby the
overall exit conversion. As shown in Fig. 11, at low
514
.35-
%x
.3c-
.25- >
Fig. 10. The effects of q on the exit conversion.
Fig. 11. The effects of U, on the annular conversion.
uilum. ratios there is a large increase in annular con-
version as Us increases. This effect overcomes the effect
of gas by-passing from the spout: therefore, the overall
conversion improves with ui at low du,,,. ratios. At
higher 1(1s,the increase in annular conversion is less and
the by-passing is dominant. As a result, for udu,,,, above
1.07, the exit conversion declines as shown in Fig. 10.
910
Fig. 12. The effects of U, on the annular temperature prolile.
K. J. 9.m~ et al.
Also note that the catalyst circulation increases with Us
which tends to make the temperature profile more iso-
thermal.
(b) Eflecls of the bed height, H. In Fig. 13, the depen-
dence of the exit conversion on the bed height is given.
As one would expect, the conversion improves with bed
height due to longer residence times in the annulus. This
results in lower annular temperatures as shown in Fig.
14. Higher beds appear to be less isothermal since the
fraction of the bed that is coned is smaller.
(c) E&cts of the bed diameter, 4. The impact of Db
an reactor performance is more difficult to analyze since
most of the variables are being affected. In this in-
vestigation 0, Di and uJu,, are all kept constant at their
nominal design values as D,, is changed. When Db is
increased, H,,, will increase while the annular and the
minimum spouting velocities u,, u,, will decrease. This
results in reduced particle circulation velocities V,, V..
The combined effects are reflected on the reactor per-
formance as shown in Figs. 15 and 16. The exit con-
version is virtually unaffected by changes in the bed
diameter. This again can be attributed to two opposing
processes. Larger diameters would tend to increase the
overall conversion because of longer residence time of
the fluid in the annulus. At the same time, particle
circulation slows down as bed diameter increases which
tends to lower the spout and the annular temperatures
(see Fig. 16) and thereby the conversion. These two
opposing processes appear to nullify each other with a
net result of hardly any effect of Db on the exit con-
version. The larger diameter beds are slightly more iso-
thermal due to the larger coned fraction of the bed.
(d) Effects of the particle diameter, 4. The minimum
fluidization velocity u,,,, and therefore the annular velo-
city increases with DP as predicted by eqns (I) and (3).
According to Fig. 17, the exit conversion decreases with
D,, due to higher annular velocities which result in shor-
ter residence times. In Fig. I8 the bed temperature
increases with DP because of higher annular gas velo-
cities and lower residence times.
(e) Efleccts of the cone angle, 8. The effects of B on the
reactor conversion are shown in Fig. 19. As 0 is in-
creased (holding H and 4 constant), there is a small
z/H i
 studies on modelingand control of spouted bed reactors-1

I
1 I I 1
9
H-F%
O 11 12

Fig. 13. The effects of the bed height on X,.

Fig. 14. The effects of H on the annulartemperaturepro&

.25 J

I
2.75 30 525 35
@,-FT.

Fii. 15. The effects of the bed diameter on X,.

increase in the exit conversion. This is expected since as
the cone angle increases (holding H, D, constant), the
fraction of the bed that is coned decreases. This results
in more catalyst volume in the annulus and higher con-
versions. However, higher cone angles result in less
isothermal operation as depicted in Fig, 20.
(f) Effects of the slip fraction (Y and the spout uoidage
parumeter p. The effects of a and ,9 are shown in Figs.
21 and 22. The particle circulation increases with these.
parameters as predicted by the eqns (8)-(IO). This makes
the profiles more isothermal. The increased circulation
caused by changes in a or @ tends to increase the exit
conversion as illustrated by Figs. 23 and 24. The sen-
sitivity of the conversion to uncertainties in a is very
small. B has the greater effect on the profiles and for-
tunately its value is better known than u. While 0.1 is too
516 K. I. SMITH et al.

b 24 I

Fig. 16. The effects of Q, on the annular temperature profile.

small for p, in the neighborhood of more practical values this behavior is approximated by an idealized step-func-
for /3 such as 0.2 to 0.3 the sensitivity of the conversion tion of magnitude cru,(H)/eS(H) in eqn (8).
to B is again very small. Combining eqns (8) and (9). the superficial particle
Experimental data and the calculations by Lim and velocity in the spout becomes
Mathur[23] and Lefroy and Davidson[S] show that the
particle velocity V,/(l - E.) rises rapidly from zero at the
spout inlet passes through a maximum and then V.(z)= *.
* _p Q(H)$ (31)
decreases to a finite value at z = H. In the present work,

.25-

I
5 O,,-MM 7 4

Fig. 17. The effects of the particle diameter on X,.

Fig. 18. The efiects of Do on the annular temperature profile.

 Studies on modeling and control of spouted bed reactors--I

Fig. 19. The effects of the cone angle on X,.

Fig. 20. The effects of 6on the annular temperature profile

Fig. 21. The effects of u on the anmdar temperature profile

This linear variation of V*(z) is reasonable for most of
the spout except towards the top z = H where dV,/dz
decreases with increasing z/Z-I Considering the insen-
sitivity of the overall conversion to values of a between
0.2 and 0.3 and also the fact that the reactor behavior
including the temperature profiles are established for
different as, approximating the superficial particle
CES Vol 37. No. 4-+
velocity by (31) preserves the predominant behavior of
the reactor without affecting the results significantly.
CONCLUSION
This work is the first attempt towards modeling of
non-isothermal spouted bed catalytic reactors. The
theoretical model accounts for temperature changes and
518 K. I. SMITH et al.

Fig. 22. The effects of @ on the annular temperature

profile.

.35

1
XEX

I
3

25

_I , a2 Q3
,
0.4
4

Fig. 23. The effects of u on X,

.35-

.30-

.25-

Fii. 24. The effects of ,9 on X,.

includes explicitly the effects of solids circulation on the state reactor performance. A sensitivity analysis of un-
reactor temperature and concentration profiles. As the certain model parameters is also given. The theoretical
numerical results indicate, these effects should be care- results give encouraging guidelines to a future experi-
fully considered in the assessment of spouted beds as mental investigation.
industrial reactors. The results demonstrate how the
design variables such as bed height and diameter, cone Acknowledgement-The financial support from the Rensselaer
angle, particle size and inlet flowrate affect the steady- Polytechnic Institute is gratefulIy acknowledged.
 Studies on modeling and control of spouted bed reactors--I 579

NOTATION voidage in the annulus

cross-sectional area of annulus, ft* voidage at minimum fluidization
cross-sectional area of bed voidage in the spout
Archimedes number density of the gas
cross-sectional area of spout density of the particles
concentration of reactant, lb moles/ft3 volumetric heat capacity of gas
concentration of reactant in annulus volumetric heat capacity of particles
annular concentration at 2 = 0 cone angle
exit concentration of reactant at the top of the gas residence time in annulus at z = 0
bed gas residence time in annulus at z = 0 in a coned
heat capacity, Btullb-K bottom reactor
weighted gas/particle volumetric heat capacity kinematic viscosity
concentration of reactant in spout
spout concentration at I = 0
RFSERFiNCES
bed diameter, ft [ll Mathur K. B. and Gishler P. E., 1. Appl. Chem. Land. 1955 5
gas inlet diameter 264.
particle diameter [21 Mathur K. B. and Epstein N., Can. J: Chem. Engng 1974 52
longitudinal average spout diameter 129.
[3] Mathur K. B., Spouted beds In Fluidizotion (Edited by
longitudinal average spout diameter in a bed of
Davidson J. F. and Harrison D.), Chap. 17, pp, 711-749.
height H,,, at the minimum spouting Academic Press, London 1971.
activation energy [4] H$yi H. and Takeda K., J. Chem. Engng Japan 1978 11(Z)
gravitational acceleration
bed height [S] Lefroy G. A. and Davidson J. F., Trans. Inst.Chem. Engrs
1969 47 Tl20.
maximum spoutable height 161 Uemaki O., Fugikawa M. and Kuyo M., Kogyo Kagaku
pre-exponential factor, set? Zasshi 1910 73 453.
reaction rate per unit volume of particles [71 Uemaki O., Fugikawa M. and Kugo M., Kogyo Kagaku
homogeneous gas/particle temperature in Zasshi 1971 74 933.
annulus [S] Foong S. K., Lim C. J. and Watkinson A. P., Can J. Chem
Engng 1980 58 84.
homogeneous gas/particle temperature in annu- [9] Littman H. and Narayanan P. V., Proc. of the NSF Work-
lus at 2 = 0 shop on Fluidization and Fluid-Particle Systems, Research
homogeneous gas/particle temperature in spout Needs and Priorities, p. J27. Oct. 1979.
homogeneous gas/particle temperature in spout [IO] Mathur K. 6. and Epstein N., Spouted Beds. Academic
Press, New York 1974.
at z=O [III Mathur K. B. and Epstein N., Advance. Chem. Engng 1974
superficial annular gas velocity (W./A,), ftlsec 9 111.
superficial inlet gas velocity ( W/Ah) [I21 Epstein N., Lim C. J. and Mathur K. B., Can. J. Chem.
superficial minimum gas fluidization velocity Engng 1978 56 436.
[131 Mathur K. B. and Lim C. J., Chem. Engng Sci. 1974 29 789.
(WmflAJ [141 Piccinini N., Grace I. R. and Mathur K. B.. &WI. Engng
superficial minimum gas spouting velocity Sci. 1979 34 1257.
(W,,i&) WI Lim C. I. and Mathur K. B., A.I.Ch.E.J. 1976 22 674.
superficial radial gas velocity U61 Littman H.. Narayanan P. V., Tomlins A. H. and Friedman
superficial spout gas velocity (WJA,) M. L., A.LClrE. Symp. Ser. 1981 77(205) 174.
[17] Grace I. R., Proc. of the NSF Workshop on Fluidization and
superficial terminal gas velocity Fluid-Particle Systems, Research Needs and Priorities, pp.
superficial annular particle velocity, ftlsec 439-441. Oct. 1979.
superficial radial particle velocity [181 Mamuro T. and Hattori H., J. Chem. Engng Japan 1968 1 1.
superficial spout particle velocity [191 GrbavEiC 2. B., VukoviC D. V., Zdaaski F. K. and Littman
H., Can. J. Chem. Engng 1976 54 33.
volumetric flowrate to the bed [201 Kunii D. and Levenspiel O., Fluidization Engineering.
volumetric flowrate in annulus Krueger, Huntington, New York 1977.
volumetric flowrate at minimum fluidization [Zl] LittFan H., Morgan M., Vukovik D., Zdanski F. and Grbav-
volumetric flowrate at minimum spouting PiC 2. B., Huidizalion (Edited by Davidson J. F. and
volumetric flowrate in spout Keairns D.). Cambridge University Press 1978.
[221 Littqan H., Morgan M. Vukovie D., Zdanski F. and Grbav-
fractional exit conversion CiEZ. B., Can. J. Chem. Engttg 1977 55 497.
axial distance from gas inlet [23) Lim C. 1. and Mathur K. B., Proc. 2nd Engng Foundution
Conf. pp. 104-109. Cambridge University Press 1978.
Greek symbols [241 Froment G. F., Chem. React. Engng, Advan. Chem. Ser.
1972 109 1.
a slip fraction
[ZS] Smith
_ K. _I.,
~~ ~.MS. Thesis,
.~. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute,
p spout voidage parameter Troy, New York (1980).
AH heat of reaction, Btu/lb mole [261 Sheel J. and Crowe C., Can. 1 Chem. Engng 1969 47 183.