EFFECT OF HIGH VOIDAGE ON MASS TRANSFER COEFFICIENT IN A FLUIDIZED BED

Experiments were carried out to determine the gas-solid mass transfer coefficient for the air-naphthalene system under fast-fluidized conditions. The data were obtained under conditions of high voidage (as high as 98%) and high gas velocities (0·5 m/s-2·2 m/s). The results indicate that the correlation for the mass-transfer coefficient in a gas-solid fluidized bed under low voidage conditions established by previous investigators can be extended to the fast fluidization regime. Significantly lower mass transfer coefficients were, however, obtained under high voidage compared to low voidage conditions.