Evaluation of a sectoral scaling approach for bubbling fluidized beds with vertical internals

In this paper, an alternative scale-up approach for fluidized beds with vertical heat exchanger tubes is presented. This sectoral scaling approach is based on the hydraulic diameter of a sector of vertical tubes in the fluidized bed. In this way, scale-up becomes independent of the total column diameter of the large-scale unit, and consequently any fluidized bed with the corresponding sector of vertical tubes can be scaled. In the same way, more stringent scaling laws can be applied. As a result, it is shown that in the mid-section of an industrial-scale and a lab-scale fluidized bed, similarity in terms of the incoherent output power spectral density (IOP) of pressure fluctuation measurements is achieved.

► Modified scale-up approach of fluidized beds with vertical tubes. ► Scale-independent autonomous sector of vertical tubes as characteristic length scale. ► Scale-up verification with dimensionless pressure fluctuation signal and spectral analysis. ► Agreement of modified scale-up approach in terms of incoherent hydrodynamic phenomena.