Micro Fluidization: Fundamentals and Applications

Fluidization of solid particles is a disciplinary branch of chemical engineering with rich scientific connotations and vast industrial applications. It is the significantly important science and technology widely used in solids handling, processing, and chemical conversion (catalytically or non-catalytically) in many process industries. As it is so useful in many commercial applications, fluidization has received considerable attention over the years, and many peer-reviewed papers, conference proceedings, and technical books have been published. However, all the books published so far emphasized on large-scale fluidized beds, none of them on micro fluidized beds. In recent years, microchemical technology has become a hotspot of rapid growing research, which has attracted increasing attention from both academy and industry. However, the research efforts have been devoted to continuous-fluid reactors - microchannel or microfluidic reactors. These microstructured reactors process or manipulate tiny amounts of fluids (gas or liquid) continuously using channels with dimensions of tens to hundreds of micrometers. For many industrial chemical reactions involving solid particles, these microreactors cannot handle them, thus there is a need to research and develop microreactors for applications in which solid particles are involved and fluidized. In fact, there are many recent studies devoted to size-miniatured fluidized bed reactors. Research has demonstrated that as the fluidized bed reactor is reduced in size, such phenomena as hydrodynamics, fluid/solids mixing, diffusion, heat and mass transfer, and reactor performance show distinctive and superior characteristics as compared to large-size fluidized bed reactors. Despite the scientific importance and application potential, micro fluidized bed reactors have received far less attention than microchannel reactors. This fact led us to write this book, aiming to promote the rapid development of this promising technology. In this first-ever monograph on micro fluidized beds, the authors will systematically and comprehensively summarize the characteristics of the technology. The book is prepared in three parts. In the first part, we will provide a short description of the background and history of the micro fluidized bed research and development. Then, we will devote to summarizing and analyzing the hydrodynamic characteristics of gas-solid micro fluidized beds. We will present detailed research results of delayed onsets of minimum, bubbling, and slugging fluidization regimes, as well as of the advanced transitions to turbulent and fast fluidization regimes. Based on these results, the wall effects - the key mechanism resulting in the unique behavior of micro fluidization - are comprehensively analyzed. Following, we discuss gas and solids mixing characteristics in terms of gas residence time distribution, gas backmixing, and solids mixing. We show that the major characteristic of micro fluidized bed is the near-plug flow of fluid in the bed. This character defines the distinctions between micro fluidized beds and macro fluidized beds. Furthermore, fluidization regime maps are developed to define fluidization regimes and their transitions in micro fluidized beds. In the second part of the book, we focus on presentations of the so-called micro fluidized bed reaction analyzer (MFBRA) - a powerful tool for catalyst screening, process development, optimization of reaction parameters, studies of reaction mechanism and kinetics, among many other purposes. We describe in detail the MFBRA's system design characteristics, analytic methodologies, and various applications in thermochemical and catalytic reaction analysis. We will also present examples to show how the MFBRA helped the development, design, and commercialization of several industrial processes. In the third part of the book, we present recent investigations of liquid-solid, and gas-liquid-solid micro fluidization systems. Hydrodynamics, mass transfer, and wide applications of these micro fluidized beds are discussed. Lastly, we will present future prospects for the development, research, and application of micro fluidized beds. Up-to-date information (all related research results and insights) on micro fluidized beds are comprehensively summarized and analysed. The unique characteristics of micro fluidized beds are described and explained. Detailed fundamental aspects and applications related to gas-solids, liquid-solids, and gas-liquid-solids micro fluidized beds are covered Up-to-date and potential applications of micro fluidized beds are outlined with details of application characteristics. Examples are provided to show how micro fluidized beds can serve researchers with their unique capabilities: 1) obtain near-intrinsic reaction kinetics; 2) decode the true reaction mechanism; 3) accelerate catalyst screening; and 4) develop new reaction processes Micro fluidized beds as both a powerful analytic tool and an advanced micro reactor are demonstrated with several cases studies, in which micro fluidized beds have played a prominent role in resolution of scientific fundamental problems and development of advanced innovative processes INDICE: 1. Introduction2. Fundamentals of micro gas-solid fluidization3. Gas and solid mixing4. Micro fluidization regimes5. Hydrodynamic modelling in micro fluidized beds6. Micro reactors for thermal analysis of gas-solids thermochemical reactions7. System of micro fluidized bed reaction analysis8. Characteristics of micro fluidized bed reaction analyzers9. Applications of micro fluidized beds10. Essential roles of MFBR in industrial development11. Characterization of liquid-solid micro-fluidized beds 12. Characterization of gas-liquid-solid micro fluidized beds

• ISBN: 978-0-443-18718-6
• Editorial: Elsevier
• Encuadernacion: Rústica
• Páginas: 350
• Fecha Publicación: 01/03/2023
• Nº Volúmenes: 1
• Idioma: Inglés