Detailed parametric design methodology for hydrodynamics of liquid–solid circulating fluidized bed using design of experiments

Abstract

A design-of-experiments methodology is used to develop a statistical model for the prediction of the hydrodynamics of a liquid–solid circulating fluidized bed. To illustrate the multilevel factorial design approach, a step by step methodology is taken to study the effects of the interactions among the independent factors considered on the performance variables. A multilevel full factorial design with three levels of the two factors and five levels of the third factor has been studied. Various statistical models such as the linear, two-factor interaction, quadratic, and cubic models are tested. The model has been developed to predict responses, viz., average solids holdup and solids circulation rate. The validity of the developed regression model is verified using the analysis of variance. Furthermore, the model developed was compared with an experimental dataset to assess its adequacy and reliability. This detailed statistical design methodology for non-linear systems considered here provides a very important tool for design and optimization in a cost-effective approach.