Partic. vol. 10 no. 5 pp. 592-599 (October 2012)
doi: 10.1016/j.partic.2012.02.002

Sand attrition in conical spouted beds

Aranzazu R. Fernández-Akarregui^a, Jon Makibar^a, Isabel Alava^a, Luis Diaz^a, Fernando Cueva^a, Roberto Aguado^b, Gartzen Lopez^b, Martin Olazar^{b, *}

martin.olazar@ehu.es

Abstract

A study was carried out on the attrition in conical spouted beds using two sands with different properties for several bed heights and gas flow rates. Furthermore, the influence of a draft tube was studied at ambient and high temperatures. The main objective was to acquire knowledge on the attrition of sand beds for biomass pyrolysis in a pilot plant provided with a conical spouted bed reactor. A first-order kinetic equation is proposed for sand attrition in a conical spouted bed at room temperature. The predicted attrition rate constant depends exponentially on excess air velocity over that for minimum spouting. Both the draft tube and temperature increase contribute to reduction of attrition.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Attrition; Conical spouted bed; Draft tube; Sand attrition