Experimental study of large scale fluidized beds at elevated pressure

Simultaneous electrical capacitance tomography measurements for two planes were performed to obtain detailed information on bubble characteristics in a pressurized fluidized bed. Average permittivity values were used to get estimates of bubble sizes, while cross correlation was applied to the signals of both planes to obtain average bubble rise velocities. At low pressures, a wide variation in bubble size was observed. Large stable bubbles tend to affect fluidization smoothness significantly. At higher pressure, bubbles possessed a more uniform size and were in general smaller. Consequently fluidization behavior was observed to be smoother at higher pressures.