Effect of particle size and particle loading on the mixing behavior of rod-like particles and spherical particles in a fluidized bed

Abstract

The spherical inert particles are typically added to a fluidized bed system to promote the fluidization of non-spherical particles. In this study, the mixing behavior of binary mixtures of rod-like particles and spherical particles in a bubbling fluidized bed was investigated using a computational fluid dynamics-discrete element method (CFD-DEM) simulation. The 2k factorial experimental design was used to study the effect of particle size and rod-like particle loading on the average mixing index, as measured by the Lacey mixing index. The use of smaller spheres and rod diameters resulted in a high average mixing index despite increasing the rod weight. The effect estimates from the factorial experimental design indicated that the rod diameter was the most crucial factor for the average mixing index. Furthermore, the sphere diameter also had a significant effect. Nevertheless, the rod weight and interaction of parameters had a slight effect on the average mixing index. These findings confirmed the significance of using inert spherical particles for improving the hydrodynamics properties of non-spherical particles, including the mixing behavior of the binary mixtures system.