Characteristics of Gas–Solid Flow in an Intermittent Countercurrent Moving Bed

The calculation equations of pressure drop and solid flow rate are given in an intermittent countercurrent moving bed with multiple optimized structures. The flow fields are investigated by experimental methods under different conditions, e.g., ratio of position of the gas distributor to the bed width (rp = 0.5~1.5), gas superficial velocity (ug = 0~0.1591 m/s), solid outlet diameter (Do = 5~25 mm) and cone angle (α = 0~60°). It is found that when rp ≥ 1.0, the flow field in the bed is little affected by rp. Flow patterns are divided into three modes: continuous discharging, intermittent discharging (synchronous, asynchronous) and particle bridging. During continuous discharging, the calculation formula of the solid flow rate, which is closely related to Do and gas–solid slip velocity vslip, is established by referring to the modified De Jong and Beverloo formulas, and its error ≤ ±12.5%. The pressure drop of the total bed consists of the pressure drops of the granular bed and the solid outlets, which are affected by Do, vslip and α; it is built by referring to the Ergun formula, and its error ≤ ±17.0%. As the solid flow rate and pressure drop influence each other through vslip, an iterative algorithm is proposed to enhance the computation accuracy.