G Model

PARTIC-701; No. of Pages 8

ARTICLE IN PRESS
Particuology xxx (2014) xxxxxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Particuology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/partic

Effect of uidizing velocity on gas bypass and solid fraction in a dual

uidized bed gasier and a cold model
Mook Tzeng Lim a , Woei-Lean Saw b , Shusheng Pang a,
a
b

Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand
Centre for Energy Technology, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Adelaide, Adelarde, Australia

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 20 October 2013
Received in revised form 30 April 2014
Accepted 21 May 2014
Keywords:
Cold model
Hydrodynamics
Steam gasication
Dual uidized bed

a b s t r a c t
Dual uidized bed gasiers (DFBG) are effective in producing nitrogen-free syngas from biomass. However, to improve the gasier performance, pressure drops and solid fractions within the DFBG system
need to be controlled. In this study, the effects of varying the uidizing velocity in the fast uidized bed
(FFB) on the pressure drops and the solid fractions in the system were investigated in a 100 kW DFBG
and in a dual uidized bed cold model (DFCM). Based on the experimental results, empirical correlations
were developed to predict the height-averaged solid fraction in the bottom section of the FFB. Accuracy
and advantages of the correlations were analyzed. The correlation is useful for design and modeling of
the DFBG systems where the height-averaged solid fraction is required to be determined.
2014 Chinese Society of Particuology and Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of
Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Introduction
Depletion of fossil fuel resources and generation of greenhouse
gases from extensive use of these fuels have led to great interest in alternative energy sources (European Climate Foundation,
Sveaskog, Sdra, & Vattenfall, 2010). Biomass, in the form of wood
chips, sawdust, demolition wood, or agricultural residues, has been
recognized as a promising renewable energy source. Biomass gasication is an effective technology to covert the biomass to a gas
mixture consisting of H2 , CO, and CH4 (Gransson, Sderlind, He, &
Zhang, 2011; Koppatz et al., 2009; Miccio, Kalisz, Baxter, & Svoboda,
2008). This gas mixture, known as producer gas, has a lower heating value (LHV) ranging from 4 to 20 MJ/Nm3 , depending on the
type of gasier and gasication agent used. The producer gas can
be combusted in an internal combustion engine, in a gas turbine, or
in a boiler to produce heat and power (Yap & Wang, 2007). Producer
gas can also be converted into liquid fuels through Fischer-Tropsch
synthesis (Takeshita & Yamaji, 2008).
A dual uidized bed steam gasier (DFBG) is an advanced gasication technology that can produce hydrogen-rich producer gas
with high LHV of 1014 MJ/Nm3 (Pfeifer, Rauch, & Hofbauer, 2004;
Saw & Pang, 2012a, 2012b; Saw, McKinnon, Gilmour, & Pang, 2012).

Corresponding author. Tel.: +64 3 364 2538.

E-mail address: shusheng.pang@canterbury.ac.nz (S. Pang).

The DFBG consists of a fast uidized bed (FFB) combustor and a bubbling uidized bed (BFB) gasication reactor as shown in Fig. 1(a).
This conguration of DFBG allows the combustion and gasication
processes to be separated and, under optimized operating conditions, the system is able to produce N2 free producer gas (Hofbauer,
Rauch, Bosch, Koch, & Aichemig, 2003; Koppatz et al., 2009; Pfeifer
et al., 2004; Prll, Siefert, Friedl, & Hofbauer, 2005; Saw & Pang,
2012a, 2012b; Saw et al., 2012). High N2 content in the producer is
undesirable as it dilutes the producer gas, thereby decreasing the
LHV. In the DFBG, biomass is fed to the BFB at the bed position and
steam is fed to the BFB at the bottom. The char generated from the
initial stage of the gasication ows together with the bed material (normally sand) through a chute from the BFB bottom to the
FFB. In the FFB, the char is combusted to heat up the bed material which is then circulated by uidizing agents and separated in
the FFB cyclone. After this, the hot bed material returns to the BFB
through a siphon to provide heat for the biomass steam gasication.
DFBG performance is closely related to the uidizing velocity
in the FFB as it affects the char combustion rate, the bed material circulation rate, the solids fraction, and the pressure drop. An
excessive FFB uidizing velocity can cause a bypass ow of ue
gas and air from the FFB to the BFB through the interconnecting chute (Fig. 1(a)). Once this occurs, N2 content in the producer
gas is increased, causing the producer gas LHV to decrease (Kaiser,
Lfer, Bosch, & Hofbauer, 2003; Lfer, Kaiser, Bosch, & Hofbauer,
2003; Prll, Rauch, Hofbauer, & Aichernig, 2007; Xu, Murakami,
Suda, Matsuzawa, & Tani, 2006). However, quantication of the

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.partic.2014.05.007
1674-2001/ 2014 Chinese Society of Particuology and Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article in press as: Lim, M. T., et al. Effect of uidizing velocity on gas bypass and solid fraction in a dual uidized bed
gasier and a cold model. Particuology (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.partic.2014.05.007

G Model
PARTIC-701; No. of Pages 8

ARTICLE IN PRESS
M.T. Lim et al. / Particuology xxx (2014) xxxxxx

Nomenclature

PBFB
Pch
Pdz
b
g
p

Ar
dp
Deff
Do
g
I
m
S/B
UBFB
Uch
Uls
Upa
Usa
Ut,FFB
Ut,ch
Vr
BFB
DFBG
DFCM
FFB
GC
LHV
LPG
MDPE
SPE

BFB inclination angle

BFB pressure drop
chute pressure drop
riser dense zone pressure drop
bulk density, kg/m3
producer gas density, kg/m3
particle density, kg/m3
particle circularity
cross-sectional area of riser, m
particle diameter, m
effective reactor diameter, m
BFB bottom diameter, m
gravitational constant, 9.81 m2 /s
bed material inventory, kg
mass of particles, kg
steam to biomass mass ow ratio
supercial gas velocity in BFB, m/s
supercial gas velocity in chute, m/s
supercial gas velocity in loop seal, m/s
supercial gas velocity of primary air in FFB, m/s
supercial gas velocity of secondary air in FFB, m/s
terminal particle velocity in FFB, m/s
terminal particle velocity in chute, m/s
volume of reactor, m3
bubbling uidized bed
dual uidized bed gasier
dual uidized bed cold model
fast uidized bed
gas chromatography
lower heating value, MJ/Nm3
liquid petroleum gas
medium density polyethylene
solid phase extraction

Table 1
The chemical compositions of wood pellets in the present study.
Proximate analysis (%)
Total moisture
Volatile matter
Fixed carbon
Ash

8
77.4
14.2
0.4

Ultimate analysis (%, dry basis)

Carbon
Hydrogen
Nitrogen
Sulfur
Oxygen

51.3
5.81
<0.2
0.01
42.6

LHV (MJ/kg, dry basis)

19

Table 2
Bed material properties and operating conditions of the DFBG and the DFCM in this
study.
Operating conditions

DFBG

DFCM

Inert bed material

Total bed material (kg)
Bulk density, b (kg/m3 )
Particle density, s (kg/m3 )
Producer gas density, g (kg/m3 )
Average particle size, dav (m)
Terminal velocity in FFB, Ut,FFB (m/s)
Primary air velocity, Upa (m/s)
Secondary air velocity, Usa (m/s)
Chute air velocity, Uch (m/s)
BFB uidizing velocity, UBFB (m/s)
Loop seal uidizing velocity, Uls (m/s)

Silica
20
1600
2560
0.23
245
0.60
0.762.29
8.26
0.49
0.72
0.67

Copper
80
4000
8940

142
1.36
0.591.05
2.57
0.22
0.300.54
0.35

BFB
Gasication temperature ( C)
Steam to biomass (S/B) ratio (kgsteam /kgdry )
Biomass feed rate (kgdry /h)

750820
0.631.31
7.418.4

FFB
Combustion temperature ( C)
Supplementary LPG (kW)

825
1520

Experimental
Description of DFBG, DFCM, and test materials
effect of uidizing velocity on the gas bypass through the chute
and the N2 content in the producer gas is unavailable in literature.
For design and modeling purposes, models have been reported
in the literature that predict the axial solids fraction prole so
that the bed material circulation rate can be estimated as a
function of uidizing velocity (Guan, Fushimi, & Tsutsumi, 2010;
Monazam & Shadle, 2008). However, these models often require
additional tting of parameters, or involve parameters that need
to be determined from other correlations (Adanez, Gayan, De
Diego, Garcia-Labiano, & Abad, 2003; Colakyan & Levenspiel, 1984;
Kunii & Levenspiel, 1991). This approach can be cumbersome
when the prediction of the height-averaged solid fraction in the
FFB riser is needed, especially in industrial applications. Furthermore, these models are developed in cold model uidized
beds, and are rarely veried with experimental data from a
DFBG.
The objectives of this study were (i) to investigate the effect
of the uidizing velocity on the uid dynamics of the gas-solid
ow in the FFB and consequently on the N2 content in the
biomass gasication producer gas, and (ii) to develop correlations to predict the height-averaged solid fraction in the FFB and
in the BFB. Experiments were performed both in a DFBG system for biomass gasication and a dual uidized bed cold model
(DFCM).

Fig. 1(a) is a schematic diagram of the 100 kWth DFBG used in

the present study, which is similar to the DFBG plant in Gssing,
Austria (Koppatz et al., 2009; Saw & Pang, 2012a). In the 100 kWth
DFBG, the BFB has an internal diameter of 0.2 m and a height of
2 m, while the FFB has an internal diameter of 0.1 m and a height
of 3.7 m. Radiata pine wood pellets were used for the biomass fuel,
and the bed material was silica sand. The LHV and the chemical
composition of the wood pellets were analyzed (Table 1). Physical
and chemical properties of the bed materials as well as operation
conditions are given in Table 2.
In the DFBG experiments, wood pellets were fed from the
hopper via a screw auger into the BFB reactor at a height of
approximately 0.13 m above the distributor plate. Approximately
5 L/min of N2 was introduced into the hopper to prevent back ow
of the producer gas into the atmosphere through the auger. In the
BFB bed, the mixture of wood pellets and bed material (sand) was
uidized by steam which was fed from the base of the BFB. The
operating temperature in the BFB reactor was controlled in the
range of 750820 C in which biomass was converted to char and
producer gas. The producer gas owed out of the BFB top and into
the BFB cyclone where the entrained ne particles of char, ash,
and bed material were separated from the producer gas. The ne
particles were collected in the trap collector which was emptied
periodically. At the same time, fresh bed material was introduced

Please cite this article in press as: Lim, M. T., et al. Effect of uidizing velocity on gas bypass and solid fraction in a dual uidized bed
gasier and a cold model. Particuology (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.partic.2014.05.007

G Model
PARTIC-701; No. of Pages 8

ARTICLE IN PRESS
M.T. Lim et al. / Particuology xxx (2014) xxxxxx

Fig. 1. Schematic drawing of (a) the dual uidized bed steam gasier (DFBG) and (b) the dual uidized bed cold model (DFCM) used in this study.

into the gasier system through the bed material charger located
at the FFB (Fig. 1(a)) to compensate the lost bed material. Producer
gas samples were taken at the sampling port located before the
BFB cyclone (Fig. 1(a)). In the current study, the producer gas was
ared in an afterburner. During the gasication runs, the producer
gas samples were extracted through a 3 mL Supelclean LC-NH2
solid phase extraction (SPE) column, SigmaAldrich Co., which
trapped the tar components. The producer gas samples were
analyzed in an Agilent 3000 micro gas chromatograph (micro-GC),
Wilmington. From the gas composition, the producer gas LHV was
calculated based on the volume concentration. Details of the GC
analysis procedure and methods are documented elsewhere (Gai
& Dong, 2012; Saw & Pang, 2012b). Controlled steam ow was
introduced through a sparger into the inclined chute to uidize the
material and assist in the material owing in the chute to the FFB
in which the char was combusted. Liqueed petroleum gas (LPG)
was used as a supplementary fuel to maintain the temperature
of the system, where needed. A primary air ow was supplied
through a distributor plate at the base of the FFB, which uidized
and expanded the bed material to a height of 0.2 m above the FFB
air distributor plate. At this height, secondary air was injected
to ensure complete combustion of the char. The ue gas and
excess injected air conveyed the heated bed material out of the
FFB and into the FFB cyclone where the heated bed material was
separated from the ue gas. A controlled amount of steam was also
introduced into the siphon to uidize and convey the bed material
into the BFB. To investigate the effects of uidizing velocity in the
FFB reactor, primary air velocity (Upa ), ratio of steam to biomass
feeding rates (S/B), and the biomass feeding rate were varied while
other parameters were maintained constant.

Fig. 1(b) shows the dual uidized bed cold model (DFCM) gasier used in this study. Details of the DFCM can be found in the
paper by Lim (2012). A diffuser was initially included in the DFCM
to investigate its effect on the solid recirculation; however, as
this improved the ow uniformity, the design was maintained
for developing correlations to predict solid fraction in the FFB. To
achieve hydrodynamic similarity between the DFCM and the DFBG,
scaling parameters, such as the Archimedes number and the gasto-solid density ratio, are used to select the bed materials for the
DFCM (Farrell, 1996; Glicksman, Hyre, & Woloshun, 1993). Because
of the increased gas density at room temperature in the DFCM, high
density copper particles were used to simulate the behavior of silica sand in the DFBG. In the DFCM, the diameter of the FFB in the
bottom part (below the diffuser) is 0.18 m, while that in the upper
part is increased to 0.21 m at the diffuser. The BFB reactor diameter
in the DFCM increased from 0.25 m at the base to 0.625 m above
the height of 0.66 m above the base. This was designed to increase
the gas residence time and improve the gasier performance. A
directional sparger for the inclined chute was used in the DFCM
whereas a distributor-type sparger was used in the DFBG. Physical
properties of the copper particles and the operation conditions in
the DFCM experiments are given in Table 2.
Pressure drop measurements and correlation development
The locations of the pressure drop measurements for the DFBG
and the DFCM are shown in Fig. 1(a) and (b), respectively. Table 3
shows the location and measurement distances for both set-ups. In
the present study, we are most interested in the height-averaged
solid fraction in the FFB bottom section (s,FFB bottom ) and in the

Please cite this article in press as: Lim, M. T., et al. Effect of uidizing velocity on gas bypass and solid fraction in a dual uidized bed
gasier and a cold model. Particuology (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.partic.2014.05.007

G Model

ARTICLE IN PRESS

PARTIC-701; No. of Pages 8

M.T. Lim et al. / Particuology xxx (2014) xxxxxx

4
Table 3
Pressure drop measurement locations and distances.
Measurement location

BFB
Chute
FFB bottom

DFBG

DFCM

Denotation (ref Fig. 1(a))

Measurement
distance (m)

Denotation (ref
Fig. 1(b))

Measurement
distance (m)

PH2-H1
PH4-H3
PH5-H6

0.580
0.200
0.725

PBFB
Pch
Pdz

0.580
0.170
0.900

BFB (s,BFB ) for both the DFBG and the DFCM. This is because the
solid fraction in these two zones is most important for gas bypass
through the chute. In these two zones, the solid fraction is the most
important factor controlling pressure drop; height-averaged solids
fraction can be related to pressure drop by:
s =

P
,
s hg

(1)

bottom section decreased while the pressure drop in the BFB

increased. This trend indicates a tendency for ue gas bypass with
increased Upa /Ut,FFB as the reduced pressure drop over the chute
was related to reduced solid ow through the chute. This was consistent with the increased pressure drop in the BFB where bed
material accumulated. Consequently, less solid owed in the FFB
resulting in reduced pressure drop in the FFB bottom section. This
situation was more pronounced when Upa /Ut,FFB approached 3.82.

In the DFBG experiments, the primary air velocity (Upa ) in the

FFB was varied from 0.76 to 2.29 m/s, while in the DFCM experiments, it was varied from 0.59 to 1.05 m/s. To generalize the
relationships, the ratio of the primary gas velocity to the terminal
velocity of the circulating bed material (Upa /Ut ) is used. The terminal velocity was calculated for the DFCM and in the DFBG (Table 2).
The pressure drops were recorded in a data logger at a sampling
rate of 1 Hz and were averaged over at least 2 min.
To develop the correlation for prediction of the solids fraction,
we used experimental data from a separate study in the DFCM
by Lim, Saw, and Pang (2014) where silica sand, medium density polyethylene (MDPE), and irregular copper were used as the
bed material. The physical properties from that study are given in
Table 4. This allows the correlation to cover a wider range of bed
material inventories, particle diameter, and particle densities. Upa
was varied in the same way as in the present work. In the earlier
study, UBFB was varied from 0.42 to 0.54 m/s, while in the present
study, this velocity was maintained at 0.3 m/s. The secondary air,
loop seal, and chute uidizing velocities (Usa , Uls , and Uch , respectively) in the two studies were similar.
Results and discussion
Fig. 2. Pressure drops of BFB, riser bottom section, and chute in the DFBG with
variation in Upa /Ut,FFB .

Effect of primary air velocity, Upa /Ut,FFB , on pressure drops and

producer gas composition
The primary air velocity in the FFB, generalized by Upa /Ut,FFB ,
ranged from 1.27 to 3.82 for the DFBG and from 0.43 to 0.77 for
the DFCM. The different ranges of Upa /Ut,FFB for the DFBG and
the DFCM were due to operational factors. In the DFBG experiments, Upa could be varied as long as the operating temperature
was maintained between 750 and 820 C. However, in the DFCM,
the primary gas velocity was constrained by air blower capacity because the air density was higher at room temperature. The
experimental pressure drops (over BFB, FFB bottom section, and
chute, respectively) are shown in Fig. 2 for DFBG experiments and
in Fig. 3 for DFCM runs. Fig. 2 shows that as Upa /Ut,FFB was increased,
the chute pressure drop decreased, the pressure drop in the FFB
Table 4
Properties of bed materials for experimental runs in a separate study of Lim et al.
(2014).
Bed material

s (kg/m3 )

dav (m)

Ut (m/s)

I (kg)

Irregular copper
Rounded copper
Sand
MDPE

8940
8940
2560
935

138
142
245
370

0.38
0.64
0.70
0.48

0.60
1.48
1.34
0.56

80
80
50, 75
10

Fig. 3. Pressure drops of BFB, riser bottom section, and chute in the DFCM with
variation in Upa /Ut,FFB .

Please cite this article in press as: Lim, M. T., et al. Effect of uidizing velocity on gas bypass and solid fraction in a dual uidized bed
gasier and a cold model. Particuology (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.partic.2014.05.007

G Model
PARTIC-701; No. of Pages 8

ARTICLE IN PRESS
M.T. Lim et al. / Particuology xxx (2014) xxxxxx

Fig. 4. Temperature of FFB bottom and BFB with variation in Upa /Ut,FFB .

A similar phenomenon was also observed in the pressure drops

for the DFCM, where the pressure drop of the FFB bottom section and chute decreased with increasing Upa /Ut,FFB while the BFB
pressure drop increased slightly.
From the pressure drops, the solids fractions were determined
from Eq. (1) to compare the hydrodynamics of both systems, which
are presented later.
In the DFBG experiments, it was observed that when Upa was
increased, the temperature both at the FFB bottom section and
in the BFB increased from 760 to 818 C, as shown in Fig. 4. This
was a result of improved char combustion because of the increased
airow rate into the FFB. The increased air ow also had impacts
on the producer gas composition as shown in Fig. 5. It was found
that as Upa /Ut,FFB was increased from 1.27 to 3.82, the contents of
H2 , CO, and CH4 in the producer gas (N2 free, read from the lefthand side y axis) decreased while CO2 content increased. It was
also observed that the N2 content increased from 3 to 25 vol% as
Upa /Ut,FFB increased from 1.27 to 3.83. The N2 dilution caused the
producer gas LHV to decrease from 12.8 to 9.6 MJ/Nm3 .

Fig. 5. The inuence of Upa /Ut,FFB on the producer gas composition in the DFBG.

Fig. 6. FFB bottom solids fraction with variation in Upa /Ut,FFB .

From Fig. 5, N2 content exceeded 10% when Upa /Ut,FFB was

higher than 2. Note that above this velocity ratio, the chute pressure
drop was less than 3.0 kPa, indicating signicant bypass of the ue
gas. Therefore, to minimize ue gas bypass and prevent excessive
N2 dilution in the producer gas, Upa /Ut,FFB should be maintained as
low as practically possible. However, with a too low Upa , the ow
rate of syngas, along with the overall cold gas efciency of the DFBG,
is reduced, even though there is a gain in the LHV of the syngas.
Correlation for height-averaged solid fraction in BFB and FFB
bottom section
Figs. 6 and 7 show the height-averaged solid fraction in the FFB
bottom section (s,FFB bottom ) and in the BFB (s,BFB ), respectively, as
a function of Upa /Ut . From Fig. 6, it can be seen that for a given bed
material, s,FFB bottom decreased with increasing Upa /Ut,FFB which
has a similar trend to the pressure drop shown in Fig. 2. This trend
is consistent with the ndings from a separate study (Lim et al.,
2014) in which different bed materials were used in the DFCM.
Fig. 7 shows that s,BFB increased slightly for a given bed material,
which is again similar in trend to the BFB pressure drop (Fig. 3).

Fig. 7. BFB solids fraction with variation in Upa /Ut,FFB .

Please cite this article in press as: Lim, M. T., et al. Effect of uidizing velocity on gas bypass and solid fraction in a dual uidized bed
gasier and a cold model. Particuology (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.partic.2014.05.007

G Model
PARTIC-701; No. of Pages 8

ARTICLE IN PRESS
M.T. Lim et al. / Particuology xxx (2014) xxxxxx

Fig. 8. FFB bottom solids fraction as a function of dp /Deff .

Fig. 10. BFB solids fraction as a function of dp /Deff .

Further analysis shows that solid fractions, s,FFB bottom and s,BFB
are correlated to length scale ratio (dp /Deff ) and mass loading factor
(I/s Vr ), respectively (Figs. 811). In this analysis, the length scale
ratio dp , is the product of particle sphericity () and the particle
mean diameter. Deff is the effective diameter of the FFB riser and the
BFB reactor, taken as the average value if the diameter was variable
along the height. I is the mass loading factor, which was equal to
the total amount of inventory in the system (ref. Table 4 (Lim et al.,
2014)). s is the particle density of the given bed material, and Vr
is the volume of the reactor over the height where corresponding
pressure drop measurements were made.
Figs. 8 and 9 show s,FFB bottom as a function of dp /Deff and I/s Vr ,
respectively; the corresponding results for s,BFB are shown in
Figs. 10 and 11. In these gures, there is a general trend of the solids
fraction increasing with the two parameters (dp /Deff and I/s Vr ).
However, the s,FFB bottom data in Figs. 8 and 9 are widely scattered.
In this case, the velocity ratio Upa /Ut,FFB may be a more dominant
factor in determining s,FFB bottom because the particles in the FFB
attained a higher velocity and higher inertia, owing to the higher
uidizing velocity. This would mean that the factor dp /Deff is not
a signicant factor for determining the solid fraction as it is commonly used to characterize wall effects (Sathiyamoorthy & Horio,

2003). Figs. 10 and 11 show that solid fraction in the BFB (s,BFB ) is
closely correlated to dp /Deff and I/s Vr . The reason for this is that
gas velocity in the BFB was relatively low, with the ow pattern
being identied as bubbling uidized ow. In this case, the UBFB
has little impact on the pressure drop and, consequently, the solids
fraction. The particles in the BFB did not attain signicant particle
inertia and the wall effects (dp /Deff ) were more signicant and may
result in slugging behavior (Sathiyamoorthy & Horio, 2003).
Based on analysis of experimental data from the DFCM runs presented in Figs. 611, two correlations were developed using the
least squares method to predict the height-averaged solid fraction in the BFB (s,BFB ) and in the FFB bottom section (s,FFB bottom ),
respectively:

Fig. 9. FFB bottom solids fraction as a function of I/(s Vr ).

Fig. 11. BFB solids fraction as a function of I/(s Vr ).

s,BFB = 19.232

 I   d 0.45
p
s Vr

s,BFB bottom = 0.0512

Deff

 I   U 0.3
pa
s Vr

Ut,FFB

(2)

(3)

From Fig. 7, it can be seen that s,BFB maintained almost constant as a function of Upa /Ut,FFB and Upa is not included in Eq. (2).

Please cite this article in press as: Lim, M. T., et al. Effect of uidizing velocity on gas bypass and solid fraction in a dual uidized bed
gasier and a cold model. Particuology (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.partic.2014.05.007

G Model
PARTIC-701; No. of Pages 8

ARTICLE IN PRESS
M.T. Lim et al. / Particuology xxx (2014) xxxxxx

There are no experimental data reported in literature that can

be used to validate Eq. (3) because published experimental data
and corresponding correlations only consider the FFB dense zone
and do not include the effects of the secondary air injection (Guan
et al., 2010; Miao et al., 2010; Monazam & Shadle, 2008; Pugsley,
Patience, Berruti, & Chaouki, 1992). In the present study, Eq. (3) predicted a height averaged solids fraction which included the effect
of dilution from secondary injection and the diffuser. The effect of
the diffuser needs to be included because the diffuser increased lateral dispersion of solids and hence recirculation down the annular
walls (Schut, van der Meer, Davidson, & Thorpe, 2000).
Eq. (3) provides a simple means of predicting the heightaveraged solid fraction in the FFB without the need to include other
parameters or correlations. Furthermore, this correlation may better suit industrial needs where the monitoring or knowledge of a
height-averaged solid fraction is needed for process control. However, this study did not investigate the effects of the secondary air
on the solid fraction, and this area will be the subject of further
studies.
Fig. 12. Correlation for predicting BFB solids fraction.

Conclusions
On the other hand, s,FFB bottom decreases with Upa /Ut,FFB (Fig. 6)
and Upa /Ut,FFB is included in Eq. (3). In both cases, the solid fraction
is proportional to the mass loading (I) and inversely proportional
to the product of solid density and volume (s Vr ). These correlations were validated against the experimental results of s,BFB and
s,FFB bottom obtained from the DFBG runs (Figs. 12 and 13).
Validation of the correlations using literature data is difcult
owing to differences in system conguration, operating conditions,
and materials used. For example, the correlation proposed by Dora,
Panda, Mohanty, and Roy (2013) was for a different shape of BFB
and the operating conditions were also different from the present
study. Doras correlation used Do /dp and tan, where Do is the bottom diameter of the BFB, dp is the particle diameter and is the
inclination angle of the BFB. The values of these parameters were
3540 and 0.1810.412, respectively, while the values of the corresponding parameters in the present study are 14604770, and
0.5774. These differences are largely because of the larger particles
(0.9251.55 mm) used by Dora et al. In addition, Dora et al. (2013)
used dolomite as the sole bed material, thus limiting the application
of the correlation.

In this study, the effects of the uidizing velocity on the N2 dilution in the syngas, and on the hydrodynamics of the DFBG and
DFCM were analyzed. In the DFBG, an excessive increase in the uidizing velocity in the FFB can cause bypass of ue gas and air from
the FFB to the BFB via the chute, and once this occurs, there is less
material owing in the FFB riser and the chute and hence the pressure drops in the FFB and the chute are decreased. In this case, the
N2 content in the biomass gasication producer gas is increased. A
similar phenomenon also occurs in the DFCM where the pressure
drops in the FFB and in the chute are reduced with increasing primary airow in the FFB. Therefore, the primary air velocity in the
FFB should be carefully controlled to take into account the potential
bypass of ue gas and the overall cold gas efciency. With high gas
ow velocity in the FFB, the bypass of ue gas through the chute
tends to be signicant while the cold gas efciency tends to be
increased.
From the pressure drops, the height-averaged solid fractions in
the FFB bottom section and in the BFB were determined and two
correlations were proposed from the experimental data obtained
from the DFCM runs. The correlations were validated using the
DFBG data, and are able to cover a range of bed material inventories,
particle sizes, and particle densities. The correlation for predicting
the solid fraction in the FFB bottom section includes the effects
of the secondary air and the diffuser, and is useful in industrial
applications where height-averaged solid fraction is needed.
Acknowledgments
This work was funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation
and Employment, New Zealand. The input from, and helpful discussion with, Dr. Justin Nijdam, Department of Chemical and Process
Engineering, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand,
are greatly appreciated.
References

Fig. 13. Correlation for predicting FFB bottom section solids fraction.

Adanez, J., Gayan, P., De Diego, L. F., Garcia-Labiano, F., & Abad, A. (2003). Combustion of wood chips in a CFBC. Modeling and validation. Industrial & Engineering
Chemical Research, 42, 987999.
Colakyan, M., & Levenspiel, O. (1984). Elutriation from uidized beds. Powder Technology, 38, 223232.
Dora, D. T. K., Panda, S. R., Mohanty, Y. K., & Roy, G. K. (2013). Hydrodynamics of
gassolid uidization of a homogeneous ternary mixture in a conical bed: Prediction of bed expansion and bed uctuation ratios. Particuology, 11, 681688.

Please cite this article in press as: Lim, M. T., et al. Effect of uidizing velocity on gas bypass and solid fraction in a dual uidized bed
gasier and a cold model. Particuology (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.partic.2014.05.007

G Model
PARTIC-701; No. of Pages 8

ARTICLE IN PRESS
M.T. Lim et al. / Particuology xxx (2014) xxxxxx

European Climate Foundation, Sveaskog, Sdra, & Vattenfall. (2010). Biomass

for heat and power: Opportunity and economics. Retrieved from http://www.
europeanclimate.org/documents/Biomass report - Final.pdf
Farrell, P. A. (1996). Hydrodynamic scaling and solids mixing in pressurized bubbling
uidized bed combustors (Doctoral dissertation). USA: Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.
Gai, C., & Dong, Y. (2012). Experimental study on non-woody biomass gasication
in a downdraft gasier. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 37, 49354944.
Glicksman, L. R., Hyre, M., & Woloshun, K. (1993). Simplied scaling relationships
for uidized beds. Powder Technology, 77, 177199.
Gransson, K., Sderlind, U., He, J., & Zhang, W. (2011). Review of syngas production via biomass DFBGs. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 15,
482492.
Guan, G., Fushimi, C., & Tsutsumi, A. (2010). Prediction of ow behavior of the riser
in a novel high solids ux circulating uidized bed for steam gasication of coal
or biomass. Chemical Engineering Journal, 164, 221229.
Hofbauer, H., Rauch, R., Bosch, K., Koch, K., & Aichemig, C. (2003). Biomass CHP plant
Gssing A success story. In A. V. Bridgwater (Ed.), Pyrolysis and gasication of
biomass and waste (pp. 371383). Newsbury, UK: CPL Press.
Kaiser, S., Lfer, G., Bosch, K., & Hofbauer, H. (2003). Hydrodynamics of a dual
uidized bed gasier. Part II: Simulation of solid circulation rate, pressure loop
and stability. Chemical Engineering Science, 58, 42154223.
Koppatz, S., Pfeifer, C., Rauch, R., Hofbauer, H., Marquard-Moellenstedt, T., & Specht,
M. (2009). H2 rich product gas by steam gasication of biomass with in situ CO2
absorption in a dual uidized bed system of 8 MW fuel input. Fuel Processing
Technology, 90, 914921.
Kunii, D., & Levenspiel, O. (1991). Fluidization engineering (2nd ed.). Boston:
Butterworth-Heinemann.
Lim, M. T. (2012). Hydrodynamics of a cold model of a dual uidized bed gasication
plant (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). New Zealand: University of Canterbury.
Lim, M. T., Saw, W. L., & Pang, S. S. (2014). Estimation of solids circulation rate from
risers at high solids-to-gas density ratios. Chemical Engineering Communications.
Lfer, G., Kaiser, S., Bosch, K., & Hofbauer, H. (2003). Hydrodynamics of a dual
uidized-bed gasier Part I: Simulation of a riser with gas injection and diffuser. Chemical Engineering Science, 58, 41974213.
Miao, Q., Zhu, J., Barghl, S., Wan, C., Yin, X. L., & Wu, C. Z. (2010). Axial and radial
solids holdup modeling of circulating uidized bed risers. In G. Yue, H. Zhang, C.
Zhao, & Z. Luo (Eds.), Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Fluidized
Bed Combustion (pp. 335340). Berlin: Springer.

Miccio, F., Kalisz, S., Baxter, D., & Svoboda, K. (2008). Combustion of liquid bio-fuels in
an internal circulating uidized bed. Chemical Engineering Journal, 143, 172179.
Monazam, E. R., & Shadle, L. J. (2008). Analysis of the acceleration region in a circulating uidized bed riser operating above fast uidization velocities. Industrial
& Engineering Chemistry Research, 47, 84238429.
Pfeifer, C., Rauch, R., & Hofbauer, H. (2004). In-bed catalytic tar reduction in a dual
uidized bed biomass steam gasier. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research,
43, 16341640.
Prll, T., Siefert, I. G., Friedl, A., & Hofbauer, H. (2005). Removal of NH3 from biomass
gasication producer gas by water condensing in an organic solvent scrubber.
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 44, 15761584.
Prll, T., Rauch, R., Hofbauer, H., & Aichernig, C. (2007). Performance characteristics
of an 8MW (th) combined heat and power plant based on dual uidized bed
steam gasication of solid biomass. In International Conference on Fluidization
New Horizons in Fluidization Engineering Vancouver, Canada.
Pugsley, T. S., Patience, G. S., Berruti, F., & Chaouki, J. (1992). Modeling the catalytic
oxidation of n-butane to maleic anhydride in a circulating uidized bed reactor.
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 31, 26522660.
Sathiyamoorthy, D., & Horio, M. (2003). On the inuence of aspect ratio and distributor in gas uidized beds. Chemical Engineering Journal, 93, 151161.
Saw, W. L., & Pang, S. (2012a). Inuence of mean gas residence time in the bubbling
uidised bed on the performance of a 100-kW dual uidised bed steam gasier.
Biomass Conversion and Biorenery, 2(3), 197205.
Saw, W. L., & Pang, S. (2012b). The inuence of calcite loading on producer gas
composition and tar concentration of radiata pine pellets in a dual uidised bed
steam gasier. Fuel, 102, 445452.
Saw, W. L., McKinnon, H., Gilmour, I., & Pang, S. (2012). Production of hydrogenrich syngas from steam gasication of blend of biosolids and wood using a dual
uidised bed gasier. Fuel, 93, 473478.
Schut, S. B., van der Meer, E. H., Davidson, J. F., & Thorpe, R. B. (2000). Gas-solids
ow in the diffuser of a circulating uidised bed riser. Powder Technology, 111,
94103.
Takeshita, T., & Yamaji, K. (2008). Important roles of FischerTropsch synfuels in the
global energy future. Energy Policy, 36, 27732784.
Xu, G., Murakami, T., Suda, T., Matsuzawa, Y., & Tani, H. (2006). The superior technical choice for dual uidized bed gasication. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry
Research, 45, 22812286.
Yap, M. R., & Wang, T. (2007). Simulation of producer gas red power plants with
inlet fog cooling and steam injection. Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and
Power, 129, 637647.

Please cite this article in press as: Lim, M. T., et al. Effect of uidizing velocity on gas bypass and solid fraction in a dual uidized bed
gasier and a cold model. Particuology (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.partic.2014.05.007