Minimum fluidization velocity growth due to bed inventory increase in an Air Dense Medium Fluidized Bed

Minimum fluidization velocity is one of the most important fluidization characteristics when applying an Air Dense Medium Fluidized Bed to dry coal beneficiation. Measurements were carried out for magnetite particles (150–300 μm) and the binary mixtures of magnetite mixed with sand/gangue/coal particles (300–425 μm) to determine the influence of bed inventory on the characteristics at incipient fluidization state. The experimental results demonstrate that the minimum fluidization velocities of both single and binary mixtures of solid particles increase with increasing bed mass, which has not properly accomplished by the existing equations. The correlation proposed by Wen and Yu has been modified to predict the minimum fluidization velocity as a function of bed inventory. It only requires the knowledge of Archimedes number and the pressure drop of fluidized bed. This correlation is in reasonable agreement with almost all available data in the literature and the present work.