A stochastic model for mixing and segregation in slugging fluidized beds

A stochastic model for particle transport in slugging fluidized beds is proposed in this study. This model is based on a description of the particle displacement in the system resulting from the formation and rise of a single slug. It disregards any interaction between successive slugs in the bed. Using this approach, the entire process can be broken up into two distinct phases, slug formation and slug rise. The cumulative effect of consecutive slugs is found by superposition. The model is validated with experimental data for the particle-mixing pattern in time. The predicted axial particle concentration profiles from the stochastic model are compared graphically with the experimental results. This work demonstrates how formulating a stochastic phenomenological model is possible even for a process that is too complex for analysis by the traditional method of setting up differential balance equations.