Influence of bed material characteristics on fluidized bed properties

Date

2022

Authors

Dankwah, J.B.
Asamoah, R.K.
Zanin, M.
Skinner, W.

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Conference paper

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Proceedings of the 7th UMaT Biennial International Mining and Mineral Conference, 2022, pp.1-6

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7th UMaT Biennial International Mining and Minerals Conference (30 Jul 2022 : Tarkwa, Ghana)

Abstract

In this work, we investigate the feasibility of using denser bed materials for fluidization and their influence on fluidized bed cell parameters. Quartz in three size ranges (- 1180 + 850 μm, - 850 + 425 μm, - 425 + 250 μm) and aluminum oxide were used as bed materials for fluidization experiments. The existence of some upper size limit for fluidization was confirmed by attempting fluidization in the HydroFloat cell using the stated bed materials at a water rate of 1.08 cm/s, airflow rate of 0.04 cm/s, and a target bed level of 14 cm. The influence of bed material mass and density on bed level was also studied by running the fluidized bed cell with - 425 + 250 μm quartz and aluminum oxide at a water rate of 1.19 cm/s, airflow rate of 0.04 cm/s, and a target bed level of 15 cm. The potential influence of bed material on bubble size was investigated by analyzing images of the cell during experiments. Our results confirm the existence of some upper size limit beyond which fluidization is unfeasible i.e., the bed becomes packed and bubble dissipation is limited. However, using a denser bed material at a finer size remains a feasible strategy for increasing the apparent density of the bed at identical bed characteristics. Frother concentration is the dominant factor influencing bubble size with bed material showing a marginal influence on bubble size.

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Data source: Data set available, Upon reasonable request

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Copyright 2022 The author(s).

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