A theory for predicting the maximum spoutable height in a spouted bed

Abstract

Abstract A theory is presented for predicting the maximum spoutable height, in a spouted bed where fluidization of the annular solids limits the penetration of the fluid jet entering the bed. The quantity (H m d s /(D – d ) is found to be a function of d s /D c only for spherical particles and \[ \frac{{H_m d_S }} {{(D_c^2 ‐ d_S^2 )}} = 0.345\left( {\frac{{d_S }} {{D_c }}} \right)^{ ‐ 0.384} \] where the spout diameter is calculated using McNab's correlation (7) . Insertion of McNab's correlation into Equation (1) shows that H m is proportional to D and the effect of d p on H m varies from d to d as the particle Reynolds number increases assuming 1 ≥ (d s /D ). Using experimental value of d s , the calculated values of H m differ from the experimental ones by 8.5% on average. When small particles are spouted with air, the penetration of the jet is limited by the formation of a slug in he spout and the theoretical value provides an upper limit for H m .