Design of a Multi-Staged Swirling Fluidized Bed

The topic dealt with in this Final Year Project is the "Design of a Multi-Staged
Swirling Fluidized Bed". Fluidization is defined as an operation through which fine
solids are transformed into a fluid like state through contact with either a gas or a
liquid. Circulating fluidizf:d beds are used mostly in the Chemical process industry,
Mineral processing, pharmaceutical production, energy related processes and
catalysts also for drying. The aim of the project is to combine multi-staging with
counter~flow operation in the novel Swirling Fluidized Bed. The research done
entails deep theoretical encounters with acknowledged and published papers
regarding the stated topic. Ergun's equation is the co-relationship between all the
above parameters over the distance of a packed column. One main finding states that
by modifying the fluidizing pattern, it is possible to improve fluidization quality and
reduce elutriation simultaneously without the need of auxiliary equipment. The main
design aspects were analysed by the author from various recent articles and
theoretical understandings from hand books. Hydrodynamics of the novel swirling
fluidized bed was studied as well as aspects from the annular spiral distributor. Most
part of this project deals with the conceptual design of a multi-stage swirling
fluidized bed. The prototype will have three stages. The heights of each stage
decrease with each stage so as to cater for pressure drop and air flow resistance. The
downcomer-outlet has a zero angle of declination; relying on centrifugal forces for
particle flow thus it is mounted tangentially on the bed wall. The downcomer-inlet
enters each stage extended as close to the cone as possible for longer processing time
and to prevent damage to the distributor on impact. A multi-stage swirling fluidized
bed model was designed in CATIA and will be fabricated and experimented in
future.