KEYNOTE: Fluidization in the Time of Sustainability Transition and Consilience

The high time of fluidization engineering was ignited by the advent of petroleum utilization for automobile and aviation fuels then further strengthened by many industrial applications including chemical and plastics production, incineration, pyrolysis, combustion, gasification, drying, agglomeration, coating, etc. However, the linear foresight based on such a success story may become ineffective for the research and technology development in the time of climate crisis and sustainability transition. Here, it has to be recognized that the climate crisis is nothing but a clear indication that the Earth entered into the Anthropocene a new geological time. Furthermore, the time of internet and AI means that we are in the new historical time of consilience although the human and institutional cultures seem to be still in the dream of previous modernization periods.

Fluidization science and engineering have overcome sectional divisions existed in the past due to different powder characteristics and applications. Now we conceptually have the full spectrum of powder behavior from fixed/moving beds to pneumatic transport. Nevertheless, the latest knowledge that our fluidization society has developed are not well shared by other disciplines. Also, the activity of fluidization engineering has still much in the field of fuel and energy applications.

In this presentation, I am proposing a strategic approach to popularize fluidization to contribute collaborations with other disciplines, technology genres and educational circles in the time of sustainability transition and consilience, by visiting issues of definition, classification, standardization, and new challenges.