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Lookup NU author(s): Peter Asiedu-Boateng, Dr Jonathan McDonoughORCiD, Dr Vladimir ZivkovicORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2025 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Micro-fluidized bed reactors (MFBRs) can be used to screen solid sorbents for CO2 capture. However, particle-wall interactions can lead to poor fluidization quality which has the consequence of reducing apparent carbon capture capacities of the adsorbents due to poor heat and mass transfer, despite the inherent advantages associated with these microreactors. In this work, several MFBRs were designed and 3D printed to perform detailed hydrodynamic experiments using pressure drop characterization to identify suitable reactor designs and operating conditions for three Geldart B limestone sorbents. The effect of static bed height (Hs/Dt = 2D, 3D, 4D), limestone particle type and size distribution, and reactor diameter (10, 15, 22.5 and 30 mm) across a broad range of gas velocities were investigated. Discrepancies of 5–30 % were observed between measured pressure drop and the predicted pressure drop from the Ergun equation, indicating the presence of significant wall effects. For the Oterkpolu limestone, the largest expansion in the bed (associated with slugging) occurred at normalized gas velocities of 1.2 ˂ U/Umf ˂ 1.6, exhibiting a dominant frequency of 5 Hz. Whereas a smaller dominant frequency of 4 Hz was obtained with 1.3 ˂ U/Umf ˂ 1.5 for the Buipe limestone. Nauli limestone saw a steep drop in dominant frequency from 7.5 to 2.5 Hz, with slugging fluidization occurring between 1.5 ˂ U/Umf ˂ 1.9.
Author(s): Asiedu-Boateng P, Asiedu NY, Patience G-S, McDonough JR, Zivkovic V
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Chemical Engineering Research and Design
Year: 2025
Volume: 219
Pages: 283-295
Print publication date: 01/07/2025
Online publication date: 11/06/2025
Acceptance date: 10/06/2025
Date deposited: 10/06/2025
ISSN (print): 0263-8762
ISSN (electronic): 1744-3563
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cherd.2025.06.014
DOI: 10.1016/j.cherd.2025.06.014
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