4120

Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 1999, 38, 4120-4122

Bed Voidage in Conical Sawdust Beds in the Transition Regime

between Spouting and Jet Spouting
Martin Olazar,* Mara J. San Jose , Roberto Aguado, Beatriz Gaisa n, and
Javier Bilbao
Departamento de Ingeniera Qumica, Universidad del Pas Vasco, Apartado 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain

From the results obtained for different geometric factors of the contactor (angle and inlet
diameter) and for different operating conditions (particle size, stagnant bed height, and air
velocity), the validity of a linear correlation based on the ratio between drag and gravitational
forces is proven for the calculation of bed voidage in conical spouted beds when they operate in
the transition between the regimes of a spouted bed and a jet-spouted bed. The parameters of
this equation are calculated from the correlations previously proposed for the calculation of the
bed voidage corresponding to these extreme regimes. The dependency on these parameters of
the geometric factors and operating conditions has been determined.
Introduction
Of the characteristics of conical spouted beds, their
operation versatility in a wide range of gas flow rates
is noteworthy, as a stable bed is obtained between two
regimes, spouted bed and jet-spouted bed, corresponding
to two different levels of fluid velocity.1-3 The solid flow
corresponding to these regimes is outlined in Figure 1a
(spouted bed regime) and Figure 1c (jet-spouted bed
regime). In applications involving the handling of solids
of irregular texture (such as combustion or pyrolysis of
plant biomass residues),4,5 or in catalytic polymerization
where the solid is sticky and has a wide particle size
distribution,6 it is advisable to operate within the
transition regime (outlined in Figure 1b), in which solid
flow characteristics are intermediate between those
corresponding to a spouted bed and a jet-spouted bed
but still maintaining the cyclic particle movement
characteristic of the regime of the spouted bed and its
performance. In this paper, the transition regime has
been characterized by using bed voidage as a magnitude
to quantify bed evolution, whose values range from 0.60
to 0.99. Bed voidage is required in gas and solid flow
models and in the design of units for the aforementioned
applications.

Figure 1. Solid flow outline: (a) spouted bed regime; (b) transition
regime; (c) jet-spouted bed regime.

Experimental Section
The study was carried out at a pilot plant unit with
contactors of different geometry (angle, inlet diameter,
and base diameter) (Figure 2) and in a wide range of
values of stagnant bed height and air velocity (above
that corresponding to minimum spouting). The equipment has been described in detail in previous papers.1-3
Several fractions of sawdust with different particle size
ranges have been studied. The operating conditions are
set out in Table 1.

Figure 2. Geometric factors of the contactor.

forces, FD/FG (a function of air velocity):

Results
The expansion of the spouted bed results in an
increase in bed voidage, which follows the following
relationship with the ratio of drag and gravitational
* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Telephone: 34-4-46012527. Fax: 34-4-4648500. E-mail:
iqpolaum@lg.ehu.es.

 ) a + b log(FD/FG)

(1)

This relationship has already been proven for the

expansion of both fluidized and conventional spouted
beds.2,7,8
In this paper it has been proven that eq 1 is fulfilled
for the incipient states of the spouted bed and jet-

10.1021/ie990228z CCC: $18.00 1999 American Chemical Society

Published on Web 09/11/1999

Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 38, No. 10, 1999 4121
Table 1. Values of Parameters a and b of Equation 1 for
Different Experimental Systems

Table 2. Results of the Analysis of Variance Carried Out

to Parameters a and b
a

25

30

40

D0
(mm)

dp
(mm)

H0
(cm)

6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10

0.05-0.3
0.05-0.3
0.05-0.3
0.3-0.8
0.3-0.8
0.3-0.8
0.8-2.0
0.8-2.0
0.8-2.0
0.05-0.3
0.05-0.3
0.05-0.3
0.3-0.8
0.3-0.8
0.3-0.8
0.8-2.0
0.8-2.0
0.8-2.0
0.05-0.3
0.05-0.3
0.05-0.3
0.3-0.8
0.3-0.8
0.3-0.8
0.8-2.0
0.8-2.0
0.8-2.0

5
10
15
5
10
15
5
10
15
5
10
15
5
10
15
5
10
15
5
10
15
5
10
15
5
10
15

0.779
0.809
0.831
0.899
0.939
0.968
1.027
1.079
1.117
0.764
0.791
0.812
0.878
0.915
0.942
1.001
1.048
1.083
0.754
0.778
0.798
0.863
0.898
0.924
0.981
1.026
1.059

0.246
0.262
0.273
0.246
0.263
0.275
0.246
0.264
0.277
0.237
0.253
0.263
0.237
0.253
0.265
0.236
0.253
0.266
0.229
0.246
0.256
0.220
0.246
0.257
0.229
0.246
0.257

0.801
0.834
0.859
0.925
0.969
1.002
1.057
1.115
1.156
0.784
0.815
0.838
0.902
0.944
0.974
1.029
1.082
1.121
0.773
0.801
0.823
0.887
0.926
0.954
1.009
1.059
1.095

0.252
0.269
0.280
0.252
0.270
0.283
0.251
0.271
0.285
0.242
0.259
0.270
0.242
0.260
0.272
0.241
0.260
0.273
0.235
0.252
0.263
0.235
0.252
0.264
0.233
0.251
0.264

0.839
0.878
0.906
0.970
1.023
1.060
1.110
1.177
1.226
0.820
0.857
0.884
0.946
0.995
1.030
1.079
1.141
1.187
0.807
0.842
0.867
0.928
0.974
1.008
1.056
1.115
1.158

0.261
0.280
0.292
0.261
0.282
0.296
0.260
0.283
0.299
0.252
0.270
0.282
0.251
0.271
0.285
0.249
0.271
0.286
0.244
0.263
0.274
0.244
0.263
0.276
0.242
0.262
0.276

spouted bed and throughout the transition between both

regimes. Consequently, parameters a and b of eq 1 may
be calculated from the values of bed voidage corresponding to the states of the incipient spouted bed, ms, and
incipient jet-spouted bed, mj, that is, by solving the
following set of equations:

ms ) a + b log(FD/FG)ms

(2)

mj ) a + b log(FD/FG)mj

(3)

Bed voidages ms and mj are calculated from the

following correlations determined in previous papers:
-3.20 0.857
(ms - 0)/(1 - ms) ) 3.40(FD/FG) 1.74

ms (Db/D0)
(4)
1.35 1.95
(mj - 0)/(1 - mj) ) 215(FD/FG) 1.74

mj (Db/D0)
(5)

In eqs 4 and 5, the ratio between drag and gravitational forces is calculated from

FD/FG ) (3/4)CDRe2/Ar

(6)

CD ) (24/Re)(1 + Re0.687)

(7)

where

The values of a and b obtained for all the experimental systems are set out in Table 1. It is observed that a
and b take characteristic values for each contactorparticle system (that is, for given geometric factors of
the contactor and particle size). Consequently, when
these characteristic values of a and b are used, eq 1
allows for calculating the values of bed voidage corresponding to any bed state or expansion (any air velocity
above that of minimum spouting).

variable

SS

df

MS

total
H0
D0
dp

residual

1.17
7.59 10-2
2.64 10-2
9.74 10-1
8.55 10-2
8.20 10-3

80
2
2
2
2
72

1.46 10-2
3.80 10-2
1.32 10-2
4.87 10-1
4.27 10-2
1.14 10-4

333.26
116.09
4277.60
375.16

variable

SS

df

MS

b
total
H0
D0
dp

residual

10-2

2.15
1.28 10-2
4.47 10-3
1.40 10-5
4.06 10-3
1.56 10-4

80
2
2
2
2
72

10-4

2.69
6.40 10-3
2.24 10-3
6.98 10-6
2.03 10-3
2.17 10-6

2954.53
1032.60
3.22
935.99

As is observed in Table 1, the values of parameter a

are within 0.773 (for ) 30, D0 ) 10 mm, H0 ) 5 cm,
0.05 < dp < 0.3 mm) and 1.226 (for ) 40, D0 ) 6
mm, H0 ) 15 cm, 0.8 < dp < 2.0 mm). Parameter b is
within 0.229 (for ) 25, D0 ) 10 mm, H0 ) 5 cm, any
sawdust size) and 0.299 (for ) 40, D0 ) 6 mm, H0 )
15 cm, 0.8 < dp < 2.0 mm).
By use of the statistical package STATGRAPHICS
5.0, the analysis of variance was carried out to separate
the effects on the values of parameters a and b of both
the geometric factors of the contactor and the experimental conditions. This technique allows for calculating
the contribution to the total variance corresponding to
each factor. Table 2 shows the results obtained for the
sums of squares, degrees of freedom, and mean squares
for each of the factors.
When the calculated values of the F ratio (sampling
distribution of Fisher) are compared to the tabulated
value of F for 2 and 72 df, which is 3.05 at a 95%
confidence level, it is concluded that parameter a
depends mainly on the particle diameter, which is due
to the different bed voidages of the stagnant bed, 0. The
contactor angle and stagnant bed height also have an
effect, though to a lesser extent, and the inlet diameter
is the factor with least effect.
Parameter b, whose value is an index of expansion
difficulty or of flow rate needed for expansion, depends
mainly on the stagnant bed height and to a lesser extent
on both the inlet diameter and contactor angle. The
particle size hardly has any effect.
To show the validity of eq 1 and of the corresponding
parameters a and b, the experimental values of bed
voidage (points) are compared in Figure 3 to the values
calculated using eq 1 (lines). Each plot corresponds to
a different particle size and to three values of stagnant
bed height, H0 ) 5, 10, and 15 cm, and are for the same
values of geometric factors: ) 30, D0 ) 10 mm.
It is noteworthy that eq 1 is fulfilled in a very wide
range of bed voidage, as its lower applicability limit,
which corresponds to the incipient spouted bed, ms, is
slightly higher than the stagnant bed voidage, 0, and
that the bed voidage corresponding to the incipient jetspouted bed, mj, may be as high as 0.99.
The relationship between bed voidage and gas velocity
allows for calculating the parameters depending on both
variables, such as the gas dispersion coefficient in the
bed.9,10

4122

Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 38, No. 10, 1999

Nomenclature
Ar ) Archimedes number, gdp3Fg(F - Fg)/2)
CD ) drag coefficient
Db, D0 ) upper diameter of the stagnant bed and inlet
diameter, m
dp ) particle diameter, mm
FD/FG, (FD/FG)ms, (FD/FG)mj ) ratio between drag and
gravitational forces, referred to Db
F ) values of the sampling distribution of Fisher obtained
as the ratio of MS for each of the factors to the residual
MS
df ) degrees of freedom
H0 ) height of the stagnant bed, m
MS ) SS/df or mean squares for each factor
Re ) Reynolds number referred to Db, Fudp/
SS ) sums of squared deviations
Greek Letters
, 0 ) bed voidage and loose bed voidage
ms, mj ) bed voidage of minimum spouting and of
minimum jet spouting
) contactor angle, deg
) viscosity, kg m-1 s-1
F, Fg ) density of the solid and of the gas, kg m-3

Literature Cited

Figure 3. Comparison of the experimental results of bed voidage

(points) with those calculated using eq 1 (lines). Experimental
systems: ) 30; D0 ) 1 cm. (Plot a) 0.05 < dp < 0.3 mm. (Plot
b) 0.3 < dp < 0.8 mm. (Plot c) 0.8 < dp < 2.0 mm.

Acknowledgment
This work was carried out with the financial support
of the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Spanish
Government (Project QUI98-1105) and of the University
of the Basque Country (Project G34-98).

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Received for review March 29, 1999

Revised manuscript received July 23, 1999
Accepted August 5, 1999
IE990228Z