Effect of injection-nozzle operating parameters on the interaction between a gas–liquid jet and a gas–solid fluidized bed

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to provide insight into the effect of operating conditions on the performance of gas-assisted nozzles injecting liquid into gas–solid fluidized beds. Acquisition of such knowledge is relevant to many industrial applications where liquid injections into fluidized beds of solid particles are performed via spray nozzles. In the fluid coking process, for example, product yields and reactor operability strongly benefit from a rapid and uniform distribution of the liquid feed on fluidized solid particles, which, in turn, is greatly affected by the performance of the liquid-injection system used. A novel experimental technique was employed to investigate the effect of varying the air-to-liquid ratio (ALR), the liquid mass flow rate, and the nozzle size on the contact efficiency of injected liquid on fluidized bed particles. Increasing the ALR or the liquid flow rate increased the nozzle spraying efficiency. On the contrary, increasing the nozzle size while keeping the gas and the liquid flow rates constant, and hence decreasing the pressure at the nozzle tip, lowered the liquid–solid contact efficiency. The effect of increasing the ALR on the liquid–solid contact resulting from nozzle-injections into the fluid bed, was correlated to both the nozzle atomization performance, as determined by open-air tests using a laser-photocell equipment, and the solids entrainment into the gas–liquid jet, as predicted by a model.