The effect of bed width on the hydrodynamics of large particle fluidized beds

Abstract Large sand particles with a 1 mm mean diameter were fluidized in large beds with different widths to determine the effect of wall spacing on bed hydrodynamics. The bed cross-section ranged from 1.2 m × 1.2 m to 7.6 cm × 1.2 m. When the open bed width was equal to or larger than five times the mean bubble diameter, the bubble behavior was independent of bed width. A maximum upper limit to the bubble size was not observed. When a horizontal tube bank was added to the bed, the bubble characteristics approached results at smaller open bed widths.