Radar-based measurements of the solids flow in a circulating fluidized bed

Journal article, 2023

The aim of this work is to demonstrate the value of radar technology for studying experimentally the solids flows in gas-solids fluidized beds. The work presents original results regarding the solids concentration and velocity acquired in a non-intrusive manner from a cold flow model. The tailored radar setup operates at submillimeter wave frequencies (0.34 THz) and can measure the location of solids with a spatial resolution of 1/8 mm−1 in the direction of the radar beam, and of 40–60 mm across the radar beam. The solids velocity in the direction of the beam propagation is determined through measurement of the Doppler shift caused by the reflection of the transmitted radar signal by solids moving in relation to the antenna. The measurements were performed in both the horizontal and vertical directions in the riser of a circulating fluidized bed (cross-sectional area of 0.45 m2 and height of 3.1 m) operated with glass beads (mean particle size of 106 µm, and particle density of 2,486 kg/m3) and using air at ambient temperature as the fluidization agent, with superficial velocities in the range of 0.3–1.3 m/s. The measurements are used to assess the validity of the technique and are not intended to characterize the unit fluid dynamically. The solids concentrations derived from the radar measurements follow the qualitative trends derived from pressure-drop measurements, resembling the expected changes that occur in the concentration profiles as the fluidization velocity increases. Concentrations in the range from 10-6 m3/m3 to 10-1 m3/m3 are measurable. In quantitative terms, for low concentrations of solids (<5·10-3 m3/m3, approximately) the radar measurements exhibited the ability to provide more consistent measurements of the solids concentration than those obtained from pressure transducers, for which the small pressure differences lead to unstable and even negative values for solids concentrations. The two measurement methods were in quantitative agreement for solids volume fractions higher than the threshold. Concentrations ≥ 1·10-1 m3/m3, though measurable, strongly attenuate the radar signal, thereby reducing the beam penetration to a depth of centimeters. For each position along the radar beam, the distribution of solids velocity measured from the Doppler effect was found to be within the expected ranges and allowed observations of solids back-mixing. The radar technique applied in this work is a promising technique for detailed characterization of the solids flow in fluidized beds, offering high spatial and temporal resolutions, allowing the determination of both solids velocity and concentration, and having a reasonably high penetration depth.