“Dynamically structured fluidization” CNIE article published in Chemical Engineering Science

Our new article "On the role of energy dissipation in a dynamically structured fluidized bed” has just been published in Chemical Engineering Science. It can be downloaded here.

In this work, former CNIE researchers Dr Victor Francia (now Assistant Professor at Heriot-Watt University) and Dr Kaiqiao Wu (now at TU Delft) with Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens (CNIE Director) describe the fundamental self-organisation mechanisms (associated to CNIE’s Theme 3) underpinning a new type of fluidised bed operation that can maximise the efficiency of particle manufacturing processes (e.g. pharmaceuticals and specialty chemicals), allowing to mix solids efficiently at low velocity and in a controllable and scalable fashion. “Dynamically structured fluidization” utilises an oscillatory gas flow to create an ordered flow of bubbles in a bed of powder. Using experiments and CFD-DEM simulations, the researchers explain the origin of this ordered flow and describe how inter-particle friction is the key to determine its scale and stability.

Citation: Francia V, Wu K, Coppens M-O. On the role of energy dissipation in a dynamically structured fluidized bed. Chemical Engineering Science, 2022, 248, Part B, 117189 [Link]