Mass & Heat Transfer Lab

BKF3721

Faculty of Chemical & Natural Resources Engineering

Experiment 6
DETERMINATION OF HEAD LOSS IN FIXED AND
FLUIDIZED BED

Name
Matric No.
Group
Program
Section
Date

Semester II - Session 2013/2014

Mass & Heat Transfer Lab

BKF3721
EXPERIMENT6:DETERMINATIONOFHEADLOSSINFIXEDANDFLUIDIZEDBED

EXPERIMENTA
OBJECTIVE(S)

1. Toinvestigatethecharacteristicsassociatedwithwaterflowingverticallyupwardsthrougha
bedofgranularmaterial
2. Todeterminetheheadloss(pressuredrop)
3. Toverify,theCarmanKozenyequation
4. Toobservetheonsetoffluidizationanddifferentiatebetweenthecharacteristicsofafixedbed
andafluidizedbed
5. Tocomparethepredictedonsetoffluidizationwiththemeasuredheadloss
EQUIPMENT/APPARATUS/MATERIAL
1. Weighbalance(typicalrange1kg)
2. Measuringcylinder
3. CELWiththewatercircuitfilledwithcoarseballotini(glassbeadswithanominaldiameterof
485microns).

Mass & Heat Transfer Lab

BKF3721

Figure1.0:CELWiththewatercircuitfilledwithcoarseballotini
EXPERIMENTALPROCEDURE

1. Switchonwaterpump.
2. Adjustthewaterflowrateinincrementsof0.1L/minfrom0.1L/mintomaximumflowrate.At
each setting allow the conditions to stabilize and then record the height of the bed, the
differentialreadingonthemanometerandthephysicalstateofthebed.
Table1:ExperimentalData
FlowRate

BedHeight

BedPressure

(L/min)

(mm)

Drop(mm.H20)

BedState

Mass & Heat Transfer Lab

BKF3721
Determinetheparticledensitybyweighingaknownvolumeoftheballotini.
Note:Forthefinerballotini=0.367andDp=0.285m.

DensityW
=
ViscosityW
=
KinematicsviscosityW
ParticlesizeDP
=
ParticledensityS
=
BedheightL
=
BedcrosssectionA =
Massofparticles
=

DISCUSSION

1. Drawthegraphofbedpressuredropagainstwaterflowratefromtheexperimentalvalues
obtained.
2. Comparethepredictedfluidisationpointwiththeactualfluidisationpointobtainedfromthe
graph.Givereasonsforanydiscrepanciesbetweenthetwovalues.
EXPERIMENTB
OBJECTIVES

1. Toinvestigatethecharacteristicsassociatedwithairflowingverticallyupwardsthroughbedof
granularmaterial.
2. Todeterminetheheadloss(pressuredrop).
3. ToverifytheCarmanKozenyequation.
4. Toobservetheonsetoffluidizationanddifferentiatebetweenthecharacteristicsofafixedbedand
fluidizedbed.
5. Tocomparethepredictedonsetoffluidizationwiththemeasuredheadloss

EQUIPMENT/APPARATUS/MATERIAL
1. Weighbalance(typicalrange1kg)
2. Measuringcylinder
3. CELWiththeaircircuitfilledwithfineballotini(glassbeadswithanominaldiameterof285

Mass & Heat Transfer Lab

BKF3721

microns).

Figure2.0:CELWiththeaircircuitfilledwithfineballotini

Mass & Heat Transfer Lab

BKF3721
EXPERIMENTALPROCEDURE

1. Switchontheairpump.
2. Adjusttheairflowrateinincrementsof1.0L/min.from1L/mintomaximumflowrate.Ateach
settingallowtheconditionstostabilisethenrecordtheheightofbed,thedifferentialreadingon
themanometerandstateofthebed.Increaseflowrateinstepsof1.0L/minandtabulateresults.
Table2:ExperimentalData
FlowRate

BedHeight

BedPressure

(L/min)

(mm)

Drop(mmH20)

BedState

Determinetheparticledensitybyweighingaknownvolumeoftheballotini.
Note:Forthecoarserballotini=0.425andDP=0.485m.

DensityofwaterW
=
Densityofaira
=
Dynamicviscosityofaira =
Kinematicviscosityofaira =
ParticlesizeDP
=
ParticledensityS
=
BedheightL
=
BedcrosssectionA
=
Massofparticles
=

DISCUSSION

1. Drawagraphofpressuredropagainsttheairflowratefromtheexperimentalvaluesobtained.
2. Comparethepredictedfluidizationpointwiththeactualfluidizationpointobtainedfromthe
graph.Givereasonsforanydiscrepanciesbetweenthesevalues.