Entrainment of fine particles with upward gas flow in a packed bed of coarse particles

A vertical column packed with glass spheres or pulverized coke was used as a cold model for a blast furnace, and the behavior of fine particles entrained by the ascending gas flow in the bed was investigated. The fines were sieved glass beads and FCC catalyst particles. Feed rates of the gas and fines, as well as the size and surface roughness of the fines and packing particles, were varied, and the effects of these on the dynamic and static holdups of the fines were determined. The pressure drop across the bed for the gas-solid flow was slightly larger than that for the gas flow. The dynamic and static holdups of the fines were correlated with empirical equations. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A.