Breakage of macroporous alumina beads under compressive loading: simulation and experimental validation

Catalyst carrier beads used in the oil industry experience various kinds of breakage during their residence time in reactors. These beads are highly porous in order to have a large surface area and contain macropores to enhance the transport of the reagents within the beads. However, high porosity and the presence of macropores weaken the beads, and therefore an optimisation of these parameters is highly desirable.,In order to analyse the influence of these macropores on the particle strength, the behaviour of the beads under quasi-static compressive loading has been analysed and compared for three samples with different macroporosities, The distributions of the single particle crushing strength and Young's modulus have been obtained for each sample. The numerical technique of distinct element analysis (DEA) has been applied to analyse the bulk crushing strength (BCS) of each sample. The BCS of one of the samples has also been determined experimentally and the results are compared with the predictions from:DEA in an attempt to relate the bulk behaviour to the single particle characteristics in order to ultimately optimise the production of the beads.