Simulation of particle coating in the supercritical fluidized bed

Fluidized bed technology using supercritical carbon dioxide both as a fluidizing gas and as a solvent for the coating material makes possible the production of thin, uniform and solvent-free coatings. But operation at low fluidizing velocities, which is favorable to facilitate gas cleaning under the high pressure conditions, may lead to uneven distribution of the coating in the fluidized bed and to unstable operation due to agglomeration. Therefore a model has been developed which describes local fluid dynamics within the high pressure fluidized bed. Based on this model, the coating process is described and the distribution of the coating inside the fluidized bed is calculated. Furthermore a submodel for the calculation of local concentrations of liquid paraffin has been set up, which may be used as a basis for the prediction of agglomeration and thus stability of operation.