Expansion of three-phase fluidized bed

Abstract

This article reports on experimental studies of the expansion of a three-phase fluidized bed, used in hydroprocessing heavy petroleum residual stocks, in relation to the catalyst bed height and the linear velocities of liquid and gas. The height of the settled bed of catalyst was varied from 200 to 1000 mm. The rising gas-liquid flow fluidizes and expands the catalyst bed. The height of the three-phase fluidized bed in the column with transparent walls was determined visually by passing a light beam through the column. It is determined that the dependence of the height of the spray zone on the gas velocity is due to the fact that the gas flow emerges from the upper level of the fluidized bed in the form of a jet, capturing solid-phase particles and ejecting them from the bed with an energy that is proportional to the linear velocity of the gas.