Use of piezoelectric pressure transducers to determine local solids mass flux in the riser of a cold flow circulating fluidized bed

A method to determine local mass flux measurements within the riser of a circulating fluidized bed using the rate of impingement of particles on the surface of a piezoelectric pressure transducer is described. Statistically designed experiments with various solids circulation rates and riser gas velocities were conducted in the riser of a cold flow circulating fluidized bed to verify the accuracy of the method. Also, various techniques to relate the impingement rate to mass flux were employed. It is believed that this method delivers results in situations where more standard methods, such as isokinetic sampling, fail.