The effects of liquid properties and bed hydrodynamics on the distribution of liquid on solid fluidized particles in a cold-model fluidized bed

Uniform distribution of liquid feed on fluidized particles increases the yield of valuable products and improves operability in processes such as Fluid Coking™ and Fluid Catalytic Cracking. Contact between the injected liquid and the bed particles can be greatly affected by the liquid properties and local bed hydrodynamics. In this study, the effect of viscosity, contact angle, surface tension, fluidization velocity and atomization gas flowrate on the distribution of liquid sprayed into a fluidized bed was investigated with a reliable and fast response capacitance meter. This method was also extended to monitor the agglomerate breakup kinetics.