Morphological descriptors of agglomerates produced in continuously operated spray fluidized beds

This work presents the results of a systematic investigation of structural and morphological descriptors of agglomerates produced in continuously operated fluidized bed spray agglomeration. Experiments with glass beads as primary particles and a water-based HPMC mixture as top sprayed binder solution were carried out within a cylindrical fluidized bed of pilot plant scale. Characterization of all agglomerates was performed by X-ray micro-computed tomography. Investigated descriptors include number of primary particles, radius of gyration, coordination number and angle distribution as well as porosity and fractal properties. Utilizing these descriptors, a comparison regarding morphology of agglomerates produced in batch and continuous operation under similar process conditions and process times is drawn. [Display omitted] •Spray fluidized bed agglomerates are systematically characterized via X-ray micro-computed tomography.•Continuously and batch-wise produced SFB agglomerate structures are investigated and compared regarding morphological descriptors.•Results show generally consistent behavior at steady state production.•Similarities in growth kinetics and morphologies are detected for batch and continuous production.•Relation of box counting fractal dimension as well as pre-factor with the number of included primary particles was observed.