What Does
Fluidized Bed Mean?
A fluidized bed refers to mixture state of two different phases, solid and fluid. It behaves as a single bulk density fluid material. Fluidized beds are used industrially in the process of cracking and hydrocarbon reform.
Corrosionpedia Explains Fluidized Bed
These beds are often used in modern technological applications for various physical and chemical processes and industrial applications, such as:
- Operation of chemical reactors
- Catalytic cracking
- Combustion
- Heat or mass transfer
The heat transfer capability of fluidized beds facilitates the efficient bulk drying of materials by contacting the entire surface of a solid substance with a gaseous fluid at a higher temperature, thus transferring the heat from the fluid to the solid.
A fluidized bed is formed when a fixed mass of solid particulate is situated in appropriate conditions to support a solid/fluid mixture uniformity to behave as a fluid.
Fluidized beds are classified by their flow behavior. Some types include:
- Stationary or bubbling bed (SB)
- Circulating fluidized beds (CFB)
- Vibratory fluidized beds (VFB)
- Transport or flash reactor (FR)
- Annular fluidized bed (AFB)