Gas fluidization of solids in a stationary liquid

Critical gas flow rates were measured for fluidizing initially static beds of particles and for settling of fluidized beds in a stationary pool of liquid. Experiments were conducted with beds of glass, nickel and UO2 particles ranging in size from 11 to 548 μm in pools of water, ethanol, Freon-113 and water-glycerine solutions. Beds of particles smaller than 328 μm were fluidized by a mechanism of individual particles being carried off of walls of channels in the bed, and beds of particles larger than 328 μm slugged before breaking up to a fluidized state. The data were empirically correlated