Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Degree

Master of Engineering Science

Program

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering

Supervisor

Dr. Cedric Briens

2nd Supervisor

Dr. Franco Berruti

Joint Supervisor

Abstract

Liquid injection in gas-solid fluidized beds is used in several industrial processes including food additive production, manufacturing of fertilizers, intermediate processing of pharmaceutical capsules and oil refining (i.e., Fluid CokingTM and Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC)). Good quality in the liquid distribution on the fluidized particles is fundamental in these processes either to ensure uniformity in the formation of desirable agglomerates, or to minimize their formation when undesirable. In the Fluid Coking process, for example, improving the liquid distribution and minimizing agglomerate formation will result in increasing the overall yield of the process and avoid operability problems.

A new experimental model that simulates agglomerate formation in fluidized beds and investigates their stability was developed and tested at pilot plant scale. The model can be adapted to model different processes, but, in this work, Fluid CokingTM was selected as an example of a system to model. The liquid content of the agglomerates was estimated with a new, simple and accurate procedure that can be applied to the whole mass of the recovered agglomerates. This procedure was extended to estimate the recoating of individual agglomerates by different sprays resulting from multiple feed jets.

The results indicated that reducing the average bed temperature or the mass of injected liquid (liquid load) enhanced the liquid distribution. Also, the maximum extent of liquid spread from wet to dry particles was estimated. The results indicated that the spreading is not a significant factor in reactors such as Fluid Cokers.

Additional Files
Master's Thesis Supervisor Approval.pdf (24 kB)
Final Submission
Certificate of Examination.JPG (86 kB)
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