Application of fluidization technology in productions of cemented carbides

• Describes applications of fluidization technology in cemented carbide industry.
• Discusses the mechanism and bottlenecks of BFB-SHS technique in production of cobalt.
• Foresees the development of cemented industry by employing new technologies.

The fluidization technique has advantages in rapid and high-efficiency heat transfer. Application of fluidization technology can significantly improve the productivity and product performance in the cemented carbide industries. This technique has become an attractive research topic within the issue of green and low-carbon technologies. Aiming at better understanding the principles of fluidization, in the present paper we demonstrate three typical cases of liquid–solid fluidized crystallization, bubbling bed combustion synthesis and reduction carbonization production. From these samples, we study the factors which play an important role in the fluid dynamics, fluidized state of materials and reaction thermodynamics during the process of cemented carbide production. The solutions and mechanisms of the practical problems such as the fluidized state of ultrafine particles, critical opening percentage of the distribution plate and adherent effect in multilayer bubbling bed are proposed. Moreover, the potential applications and prospects of the fluidization technology in the field of cemented carbides are presented.