INDIAN CHEMICAL ENGINEER Copyright © 2007 Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers

Vol. 49 No. 1 January-March 2007, pp. 1-10

Effect of Distributor Area on the

Dynamics of Gas-Solid Fluidised
Beds: A Statistical Approach

Y.K. Mohanty,1* K.C. Biswal2 and G.K. Roy2

1 Department of Chemical Engineering, G.I.E.T., Gunupur - 765 022, India
2Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology
Rourkela - 769 008, India

Abstract: Experiments have been carried out extensively to study the effectiveness of
distributors in reducing bed fluctuation in gas-solid fluidised bed. The flow rate, bed
height, particle size and four distributor plates of varying open area – 6, 8, 10 and 12%
– of the column cross-sectional area have been used. Correlations for fluctuation ratio,
expansion ratio and pressure drop at minimum fluidisation velocity have been developed
by using statistical approach method. The values of fluctuation ratio, expansion ratio and
pressure drop obtained from the developed correlations compare fairly well with the
experimental values. It is observed that in case of distributor plates, cross-sectional area
varies directly with expansion ratio and pressure drop, but inversely with fluctuation ratio.

Keywords: Gas-solid fluidised bed, Distributor effect, Factorial design.

Nomenclature
Ado Open area of distributor, m2
Ac Area of column, m2
AA Distributor annular area, m2
do Orifice diameter, m
dp Particle diameter, m
Dc Column diameter, m
Gf Fluidisation mass velocity, kg/m2s
Gmf Minimum fluidisation mass velocity, kg/m2s
GR Mass velocity ratio, (Gf – Gmf )/(Gt – Gmf)
Gt Terminal mass velocity, kg/m2s
hs Static bed height, m

*Author for Correspondence. E-mail: yashobantkumar@yahoo.com

Paper received: 01/04/2006; Revised paper accepted: 04/11/2006
2 MOHANTY, BISWAL AND ROY

h1 Minimum height occupied by the particles of the bed, m

h2 Maximum height occupied by the particles of the bed, m
∆Pmf Pressure drop at minimum fluidisation velocity, N/m2
r Fluctuation ratio
R Expansion ratio
Rep Particle Reynolds number, dimensionless

Greek Symbols
ρS Density of solid, kg/m3
ρf Density of fluid, kg/m3

Introduction
Fluidisation is the operation by which fine solids are transformed into fluid-like state. It
has extensive industrial applications, primarily, due to the enhancement of the rate of any
transfer process. Under gas flow, more than minimum fluidisation velocity, the top of the
fluidised bed may fluctuate considerably leading to instability in operation. Bed fluctuation
and fluidisation quality are interrelated. The quality of fluidisation can largely be improved
by introducing distributors of varying cross-sectional areas in a gas-solid fluidised bed.
Out of the two methods viz. uniformity index and fluctuation ratio, the latter has
widely been used to quantify fluidisation quality. The use of suitable distributor can
improve fluidisation quality with better gas-solid contact through minimisation of channeling
and slugging and limit the size of bubbles. A number of investigations have stressed the
use of distributors to improve fluidisation quality and increase the range of applicability
of gas-solid fluidised beds. This article attempts to bring the effect of distributors on the
dynamics of gas-solid fluidised bed with reference to pressure drop at minimum fluidisation,
expansion ratio and fluctuation ratio – which is a measure of fluidisation quality.

Literature Review
Ghose and Saha [1] showed that quality of bubble formation is strongly influenced by the
type of gas distributor used. Saxena et al. [2] studied the effect of distributors in a gas-
solid fluidised bed. Swain et al. [3] used distributors having 3 mm diameter orifices distributed
in two zones – annular and central – with equal open area, varying from 2.28-6.36% of the
column cross-section. They proposed the following correlation for bed fluctuation ratio
0.60 −0.35 −0.43 −0.11 −0.23
 Gf   ρS 
0.24
 hs   dp   Ado   AA 
r = 3.316             (1)
 Gmf   Dc   Dc   Ac   Ac   ρf 
   

Although many studies have been reported on bed dynamics – improvement obtained
in the homogeneity of the fluidised bed, bubble phenomenon, particle motion, fluid-solid
mixing, pressure drop for different types of distributors – limited information is available
on the improvement of fluidisation quality in terms of fluctuation ratio for such beds.
Kumar and Roy [4] concluded that the quality of fluidisation can be improved
through distributor parameter and proposed the following correlation for fluctuation ratio

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 Effect of Distributor Area on the Dynamics of Gas-Solid Fluidised Beds 3

0.63 0.41 −0.36

ρ 
0.21
 Ado   dp   hs 
r − 1 = 0.24GR0.85  s        (2)
 
 ρf   Ac   do   Dc 

Murthy and Sekhar [5] used statistical approach method and found that due to
stirring speed at minimum fluidisation velocity the pressure drop and power consumption
decreases and increases, respectively, with increase in stirrer speed. Singh and Singh [6]
predicted the expanded bed height and suggested the following equations for the lower
and upper sections of the column, respectively

 1.25 −0.49 
.58  dp  ρ 
Rlower = 4.7 × 10 −2

(
 Re p )    s
ρf



 (3)
  Dc    

  dp 
−1.407
 ρs 
0.39 

(
 Re p ) 
−3 .782
Rupper = 5.166 ×10    
  Dc   ρf   (4)
   

Davis [7] explained the statistical approach as one of the important methods for
processing of experimental data due to its interaction effects among the variables and a
less number of data are required for the development of model equations.

Experimental
The experimental set-up consists of an air compressor of adequate capacity, air accumulator
for storage of air at constant pressure and silica gel column after accumulator to arrest
the moisture. Figure 1 shows the schematic representation of the experimental set-up.
Rotameter is used to measure the airflow rate. The air distributor consists of cylindrical
portion followed by conical bottom having cone angle 80-85°. The fluidiser is a transparent
perspex column (9.9 cm internal diameter and 96 cm length) with one end fixed to a perspex

1: Compressor 6: Calming section

2: Storage tank 7: Manometer 5
3: Silica gel column 8: Valve
4: Rotameter 9: Pressure gauge
5: Fluidised column
4
9 9 8
7
3 4
1 2
6

Fig. 1. Schematic representation of the experimental set-up.

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4 MOHANTY, BISWAL AND ROY

flange. Two pressure tapings are provided for measuring the bed pressure drop through
differential manometer in which carbon tetrachloride is used as the manometric fluid.
Four distributors of varying open area of cross-section for air flow – 6, 8, 10 and 12%
of column cross-sectional area – (Fig. 2) have been used. During fluidisation, the bed
pressure drop, fluctuation and expansion data have been noted. The experimental runs
are repeated with different bed heights and particle sizes for all four types of distributors.
The scope of the experiment is given in Table 1.

Fig. 2. Schematic representation of the distributor plates of different open areas.

Table 1. Scope of the experiment

Properties of bed materials

Materials dp × 103 m ρs × 10–3 kg/m3
Dolomite 0.55, 0.725, 1.29 2.817
Bed parameter
Initial static bed height hs × 102 m 8, 10, 12
Distributor parameters
6% open area Ado × 104 m2 = 4.618
8% open area Ado × 104 m2 = 6.158
10% open area Ado × 104 m2 = 7.697
12% open area Ado × 104 m2 = 9.237
Flow property
Mass velocity Mass velocity
minimum, kg/m2s maximum, kg/m2s
Gmf = 0.596 Gf = 0.681 to 1.957 for particle size 0.0055 m
= 0.851 = 0.935 to 1.957 for particle size 0.00725 m
= 1.361 = 1.446 to 2.555 for particle size 0.0129 m

The variables affecting fluctuation ratio, expansion ratio and pressure drop are static
bed height, particle size, mass velocity and free area of the distributor plate. Thus, the
total number of experiments required at two levels for four variables are 16. Each experiment
is repeated three times and the average of the three values is reported as response value.

Development of Model Equations

The fluctuation ratio r is defined as the ratio of highest to lowest bed heights of the fluidised
bed in expansion, i.e. r = h2/h1. The expansion ratio R is defined as the ratio of average
of highest and lowest bed height to the static bed height for a particular gas flow rate
R = (h2 + h1)/2hs

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 Effect of Distributor Area on the Dynamics of Gas-Solid Fluidised Beds 5

In the present work, a mathematical model has been developed for the prediction of
fluctuation ratio, expansion ratio and pressure drop. The model equations are assumed
to be linear and they take the general form
Y = a0 + a1A + a2B + a3C + a4D + …+ a12ABD + a13ACD + … + a15ABCD (5)
(i) Coefficients are calculated by Yate’s technique

ai = Σ αi yi N (6)

where ai is the coefficient, yi the response, αi the level of variables and N the total number
of treatments.

(ii) Calculation of the levels of variables

A: Level of distributor = [distributor area, m2: 0.08]/0.02
B: Level of static bed height = [bed height, m: 1.01]/0.202
C: Level of particle size = [particle size, m: 0.00725]/0.0018
D: Level of mass velocity = [mass velocity, kg/m2s: 1.098]/0.036 (7)

The experimental data based on factorial design and analysis, as well as nature of
the effects are presented for fluctuation ratio, expansion ratio and pressure drop in Tables
2 and 3, respectively. The following equations have been developed for fluctuation ratio,
expansion ratio and pressure drop, respectively
r = 1.083 – 0.00743A + 0.0033B – 0.0053C + 0.0145D – 0.00518AB
– 0.00406AC – 0.00168AD + 0.00893BC + 0.00931BD + 0.00318CD
– 0.00381ABC + 0.001ABD + 0.00168ACD – 0.00056BCD + 0.00243ABCD (8)
R = 1.706 – 0.0214A – 0.0451B – 0.019C + 0.209D – 0.072AB + 0.034AC
– 0.069AD + 0.039BC – 0.026BD – 0.0164CD – 0.0813ABC + 0.0343ABD
– 0.03ACD + 0.0266BCD – 0.0734ABCD (9)
∆P mf = 2.712 + 0.2437A – 0.0562B + 0.4625C + 1.525D + 0.1625AB + 0.1187AC
+ 0.1812AD + 0.1312BC – 0.0562BD + 0.65CD – 0.025ABC + 0.1625ABD
+ 0.1812ACD + 0.1312BCD – 0.025ABCD (10)

Table 2. Factorial design analysis

Variable name Variable Factorial Minimum Maximum Magnitude of

general design level level variables
symbol symbol (– 1) (+ 1)

Distributor area Ado/Dc A 0.06 0.12 0.06, 0.08, 0.10, 0.12

Static bed height hs /Dc B 0.808 1.212 0.808, 1.01, 1.212
Particle size dp /Dc C 0.0055 0.0129 0.0055, 0.00725, 0.0129
Mass velocity Gf /Gmf D 1.062 3.283 1.062 to 3.283

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6 MOHANTY, BISWAL AND ROY

Table 3. Analysis of fluctuation ratio, expansion ratio and pressure drop data

S. No. A B C D r D R D ∆Pmf

Experimental Experimental Experimental

1 0.06 0.08 0.0055 1.142 1.093 1.427 1.25 0.713 1.25

2 0.12 0.08 0.0055 1.142 1.093 1.427 1.312 0.713 1.5
3 0.06 1.212 0.0055 1.142 1.062 1.427 1.208 0.713 1.25
4 0.12 1.212 0.0055 1.142 1.062 1.427 1.229 0.713 1.5
5 0.06 0.08 0.0129 1.062 1.056 1.188 1.25 0.312 1
6 0.12 0.08 0.0129 1.062 1.058 1.188 1.25 0.312 1
7 0.06 1.212 0.0129 1.062 1.088 1.188 1.291 0.312 1
8 0.12 1.212 0.0129 1.062 1.04 1.188 1.187 0.312 1
9 0.06 0.08 0.0055 3.283 1.1 3.015 2.5 0.857 3.75
10 0.12 0.08 0.0055 3.283 1.092 3.015 2.531 0.857 3.25
11 0.06 1.212 0.0055 3.283 1.114 3.015 2.166 0.857 2.25
12 0.12 1.212 0.0055 3.283 1.095 3.015 2.312 0.857 3.25
13 0.06 0.08 0.0129 1.877 1.081 1.689 2.156 0.937 4.75
14 0.12 0.08 0.0129 1.877 1.069 1.689 2.468 0.937 5.65
15 0.06 1.212 0.0129 1.877 1.134 1.689 2.0 0.937 4.5
16 0.12 1.212 0.0129 1.877 1.1 1.689 1.895 0.937 6.5

Columns A, B and C are common for all set of calculations.

Results and Discussion

The method of experimentation is based on statistical design of experiments (factorial
design and analysis) in order to bring out the interaction effect of variables, which would
not be found otherwise by conventional experimentation and to explicitly find out the
effect of all the four variables quantitatively on the response. In addition, the number of
experiments required is far less as compared to the conventional experimentation.
When a bed of particles is fluidised by an upward flow of air, the surface of the bed
is forced upward to a higher level than the level prior to fluidisation. The expansion
beyond the point of incipient fluidisation is primarily due to gas bubbles, which increase
the bed volume. It is observed that there is a reduction in fluctuation ratio for the
distributor having a large free area of cross-section, i.e. for 12% at lower velocity, maybe
owing to the reduction of channeling and slugging effects, and 10% for higher velocity
ranges as gas bubbles break up at greater heights (Fig. 3) while the fluctuation ratio
increases with increase in particle size and static bed height (Fig. 4).
There is a gradual increase in expansion ratio for distributor having cross-sectional
area ranging from 6-12% for all velocity ranges, which may be attributed to the formation
of small length spouts (at the origin) in case of small diameter orifices. On the other hand,
lower expansion is observed for 10% distributor for lower velocity ranges (Fig. 5). Further,
it is also observed that expansion ratio is large for small particle sizes (Fig. 6).
The pressure drop increases with increase in particle size for the distributor having
large area of cross-section, i.e. for 12% except for 10%, where the pressure drop is less
(Fig. 7) and remains constant for different static bed height.

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 Effect of Distributor Area on the Dynamics of Gas-Solid Fluidised Beds 7

1.22
1.20
1.18 6% distributor
Fluctuation ratio 1.16
1.14 8% distributor
1.12 10% distributor
1.10
1.08 12% distributor
1.06
1.04
1.02
1.00
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
Mass velocity
Fig. 3. Effect of distributor on fluctuation ratio for 0.00055 m particle size.

1.17
1.16
1.15 0.08 m bed height
Fluctuation ratio

1.14
1.13 0.10 m bed height
1.12
1.11 0.12 m bed height
1.10
1.09
1.08
1.07
1.06
0 1 2 3
Mass velocity
Fig. 4. Effect of bed height on fluctuation ratio.

3.5
3.0
Expansion ratio

2.5 6% distributor
2.0 8% distributor
10% distributor
1.5
12% distributor
1.0
0.5
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
Mass velocity
Fig. 5. Effect of distributor on expansion ratio.

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8 MOHANTY, BISWAL AND ROY

4
3.5
3
Expansion ratio
0.00055 m particle size
2.5 0.00073 m particle size
2
0.00129 m particle size
1.5
1
0.5
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Mass velocity
Fig. 6. Effect of particle size on expansion ratio.

450
400
350 6% distributor
Pressure drop

300 8% distributor
250 10% distributor
200 12% distributor
150
100
50
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
Mass velocity
Fig. 7. Effect of distributor on pressure drop for 0.00129 m particle size.

The comparison of fluctuation ratio, expansion ratio and pressure drop are shown in
Figs. 8, 9 and 10, respectively. The values obtained from the developed equations are
compared with experimental data taken at conditions other than those used for development

1.2
1.0
0.8
Calculated

0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 0.5 1 1.5
Experimental
Fig. 8. Comparison of fluctuation ratio.

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 Effect of Distributor Area on the Dynamics of Gas-Solid Fluidised Beds 9

3.0

2.5

2.0
Calculated
1.5

1.0

0.5

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Experimental
Fig. 9. Comparison of expansion ratio.

4
Calculated

0
0 1 2 3 4 5
Experimental
Fig. 10. Comparison of pressure drop.

of correlations and they are found to agree within a standard deviation of ± 5% for
fluctuation ratio, ± 12.6% for expansion ratio and ± 15% for pressure drop. The deviation
is more in case of pressure drop and expansion ratio due to varying particle sizes and
distributor areas of cross-section.
It is evident from Eqs. (8) and (9) that mass velocity and distributor parameters have
a larger effect on fluctuation ratio and expansion ratio as compared to that of static bed
height and particle size. But Eq. (10) gives a different picture, i.e. mass velocity and
particle size have a larger effect on pressure drop as compared to that of the other two
variables.

Conclusion
It is apparent that the quality of fluidisation can be improved by lowering the bed height,
particle size and using a distributor of optimum cross-section area. But a 10% distributor
plate, in particular, offers the best fluidisation quality as is evident from the experimental
findings. The developed equations can be successfully utilised for the prediction of
fluctuation ratio, expansion ratio and pressure drop. The factorial design and analysis

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10 MOHANTY, BISWAL AND ROY

approach is suitable in these circumstances as it can take into account the individual and
interaction effects among the variables.

References
1. Ghosh, A. and Saha, R.K., Indian Chem. Eng., 29, p. 50 (1987).
2. Saxena, S.C., Chatterjee, A. and Patel, R.C., Powder Tech., 22, p. 191 (1979).
3. Swain, P., Nayak, P.K. and Roy, G.K., Indian Chem. Eng., 38, p. 39 (1996).
4. Kumar, A. and Roy, G.K., Inst. Engs. India, 82, p. 61 (2002).
5. Murthy, J.S.N. and Chandra Sekhar, P., Indian Chem. Eng., 46, p. 84 (2004).
6. Singh, S.P. and Singh, A.N., Indian Chem. Eng., 45, p. 268 (2003).
7. Davis, O.L., Design and Analysis of Industrial Experiments, Longman Publishers (1978).

INDIAN CHEMICAL ENGINEER Vol. 49 No. 1 January-March 2007