Detecting Sudden Changes in Fluidization by Wall Vibration

Abstract

Vibrations of fluidized bed walls reflect the nonlinear characteristics of bed hydrodynamics in gas–solid fluidized beds. Experiments were carried out in a lab-scale, two-dimensional fluidized bed operated at ambient conditions for three particle sizes, various gas velocities, three aspect ratios, and different probe locations. The S-statistic method, which is, in fact, the comparison of attractors of two dynamic signals in the state space, was used to determine de-fluidization condition in the bed. Different scenarios were tested to evaluate whether this method is able to detect changes in the hydrodynamics fluidized bed based on the bed vibrations, including change in the bed mass, particle size, and gas velocity. The results showed that this method is capable of detecting the de-fluidization state in the bed as a result of changes in gas velocity, particle size, and bed mass. However, an important factor is the location of probe, which can dramatically affect the capability of this method for detecting the de-fluidization state.