Liquid fluidization

Liquid fluidization can be encountered in industrial practice in a variety of processes including particle classification and separation and backwashing of filter media. In any fluidized system, overall bed height changes with fluid velocity. This chapter introduces the correlation between voidage and fluid velocity and presents some observations on the apparent behaviour of liquid-fluidized beds. Liquid fluidization has long been used with multi-solids, in which different particle species can mix or segregate. In binary solids sorting, particles of similar sizes are separated, with the denser component settling to the bottom of the fluidized bed and the less dense one rising towards the surface. Layer inversion has been observed to occur upon changing the fluid velocity or the mixture composition. Transport of heat and mass in liquid-fluidized beds has been the subject of a large number of research studies. The chapter also provides an account of some correlating result for practical purposes.