Characteristics of axial and radial segregation of single and mixed particle system based on terminal settling velocity in the riser of a circulating fluidized bed

Axial and radial segregation and mixing of single and mixed particle systems were studied for the various sizes and densities in a 10.16 cm diameter riser of a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) based on terminal settling velocity of particles. The gas velocities were maintained in the range of 2.01–4.681 m/s and solid circulation rate between 12.5 and 50 kg/m2s. Three quartz sand–FCC catalyst mixtures with different initial weight % of sand and two coal–iron ore mixtures were used. The difference in local mean particle sizes of the components of the binary mixture has been observed in the riser of a CFB. Due to the larger mean particle size of sand and due to their lower solid density, the measured particle sizes of this fraction show higher values than FCC. For the same size of bed materials consisting of coal and iron ore mixture the variation of the mean particle size for both has been found to be very narrow. Again the axial segregation for the coal/iron ore mixture has been studied in terms of terminal settling velocity of the particles. The result showed a continuous classification of bed materials along the riser of a CFB.