Experimental and theoretical investigation of mass transfer in a circulating fluidized bed

Abstract

Catalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide over a Pt catalyst was employed as a model reaction to investigate the effect of meso-scale structure on gas-solid mass transfer in a circulating fluidized bed (CFB). Both experimental and theoretical analyses were performed to determine the conditions under which the reaction process was dominated by mass transfer. The experimental works involved the measurements of the axial distribution of carbon monoxide concentration, whereas the theoretical analyses were on the use of an Multi-Scale Mass Transfer (MSMT) model with considering effects of clusters on gas-solid transport phenomena in the CFB. The results of MSMT model show a good agreement with experimental data, suggesting that the particle clusters play an important role in the gas-solid momentum transfer and mass transfer in CFBs.