(340d) Experimental Study and CFD-DEM Simulation of Vibrated Dry and Wet Spouted Beds

Spouted beds are specialized fluidized beds which utilize rapid gas flow through a narrow inlet
to circulate particulate material for chemical processes such as coating, drying, and gasification.
The efficiency of spouted beds is highly dependent on the rate of particle recirculation, which is
closely tied to the behavior of the spout region. Cohesive forces, such as those created by
liquid, and small asymmetricities in gas fluidization can cause deflection of the spout which
reduces the particle recirculation rate. In this work we present experiments and numerical
simulations using CFD-DEM that show that spouted beds can be coupled with vertical vibration
to reduce spout deflection in both dry and wet spouted beds. The effect of varying vibration
strength, liquid viscosity, and background gas velocity are investigated to further understand the
spout deflection mechanism.