Incipient fluidization condition for a tapered fluidized bed

Future challenges on focused fluid migration in sedimentary basins: Insight from field data, laboratory experiments and numerical simulations

In a present context of sustainable energy and hazard mitigation, understanding fluid migration in sedimentary basins – large subsea provinces of fine saturated sands and clays – is a crucial challenge. Such migration leads to gas or liquid expulsion at the seafloor, whichmay be the signature of deep hydrocarbon reservoirs, or precursors to violent subsea fluid releases. If the former may orient future exploitation, the latter represent strong hazards for anthropic activities such as offshore production, CO$_2$ storage, transoceanic telecom fibers or deep-sea mining. However, at present, the dynamics of fluid migration in sedimentary layers, in particular the upper 500 m, still remains unknown in spite of its strong influence on fluid distribution at the seafloor. Understanding the mechanisms controlling fluid migration and release requires the combination of accurate field data, laboratory experiments and numerical simulations. Each technique shall lead to the understanding of the fluid structures, the mechanisms at stake, and deep insights into fundamental processes ranging from the grain scale to the kilometers-long natural pipes in the sedimentary layers.Here we review the present available techniques, advances and challenges still open for the geosciences, physics, and computer science communities.

Modeling of the Minimum Fluidization Velocity and the Incipient Fluidization Pressure Drop in a Conical Fluidized Bed with Negative Pressure

The modeling of the minimum fluidization velocity (U0mf) and the incipient fluidization pressure drop (ΔPmf) is a valuable research topic in the fluidization field. In this paper, first, a series of experiments are carried out by changing the particle size and material mass to explore their effects on U0mf and ΔPmf. Then, an Ergun equation modifying method and the dimensional analysis method are used to obtain the modeling correlations of U0mf and ΔPmf by fitting the experimental data, and the advantages and disadvantages of the two methods are discussed. The experimental results show that U0mf increases significantly with increasing particle size but has little relationship with the material mass; ΔPmf increases significantly with increasing material mass but has little relationship with the particle size. Experiments with small particles show a significant increase at large superficial gas velocity; we propose a conjecture that the particles’ collision with the fluidization chamber’s top surface causes this phenomenon. The fitting accuracy of the modified Ergun equation is lower than that of the dimensionless model. When using the Ergun equation modifying method, it is deduced that the gas drag force is approximately 0.8995 times the material total weight at the incipient fluidized state.

Assembly-Controlled Permeability of Layer-by-Layer Polymeric Microcapsules Using a Tapered Fluidized Bed

Nano- and microcapsules engineered through layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly are finding an increasingly large number of applications as catalysts, electrochemical biosensors, bioreactors, artificial cells and drug delivery vehicles. While centrifugation-based LbL assembly is the most common method for coating template particles and preparing capsules, it is a batch process and requires frequent intervention that renders the system challenging to automate and scale up. Here, we report the use of a tapered fluidized bed (TFB) for the preparation of multilayered polymer capsules. This is a significant improvement over our recent approach of fluidizing particles in cylindrical fluidized beds (CFB) for LbL assembly. We demonstrate that TFB is compatible with particles <3 μm in diameter (an order-of-magnitude improvement compared with CFB), which can be fluidized with minimal entrainment. Additionally, layering materials were expanded to include both electrostatic and hydrogen-bonding polymer pairs (e.g., poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) and poly(styrenesulfonate) (PSS), and thiol-modified poly(methacrylic acid) (PMASH) and poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PVPON), respectively). Finally, differences between capsules prepared via centrifugation-based and TFB LbL assembly were investigated. The obtained TFB microcapsules demonstrate increased film thickness and roughness compared with those prepared using centrifugation-based LbL assembly. Furthermore, PMASH microcapsules exhibit lower swelling and permeability when prepared via TFB LbL assembly compared with centrifugation-based LbL assembly due to enhanced multilayer deposition, entanglement, and cross-linking. Therefore, polymeric capsules fabricated via TFB LbL assembly may be useful for encapsulation and retention of relatively low molecular weight (∼20 kDa) hydrophilic biomacromolecules to passively or responsively release the payload for drug delivery applications.

Influence of upflow velocity on performance and biofilm characteristics of Anaerobic Fluidized Bed Reactor (AFBR) in treating high-strength wastewater

One of the key parameters in Fluidized Bed reactors is the control of biofilm thickness and configuration. The effect of upflow velocity on performance and biofilm characteristics of an Anaerobic Fluidized Bed Reactor was studied in treating Currant wastewater at various loading rates. The reactor used this study was made of a plexiglass column being 60 mm diameter, 140 cm height, and a volume of 3.95 L. The results demonstrated that the AFBR system is capable of handling an exceptionally high organic loading rate. At organic loading rates of 9.4 to 24.2 (kg COD m(-3)) at steady state, reactor performances with upflow velocities of 0.5, 0.75 and 1 (m min(-1)) were 89.3- 63.4, 96.9 - 79.6 and 95 - 73.4 percent, respectively. The average biomass concentration per unit volume of the AFBR (as gVSSatt L(-1) expended bed) decreased with the increase of upflow velocity in the range of 0.5-1 m min(-1) at all applied organic loading rates. The total biomass in the reactor increased with increases in the organic loading rate. The peak biomass concentration per unit volume (as gVSSatt L(-1) expended bed) was observed at the bottom part of the reactor, then it droped off slowly towards the top. The biofilm thickness increased from the bottom to the top of the reactor representing a stratification of the media in the AFBR. The bed porosity increased from the bottom to the top of the reactor.