TITLE: Study of Ebullated Bed Fluid Dynamics for H-Coal. Monthly Progress Report No. 4, December 1--December 31, 1977.

AUTHOR: I. A. Vasalos;   E. M. Bild;   T. D. Evans;   D. F. Tatterson; A. P. Vander Klay.

INST.  AUTHOR: Amoco Research Center, Naperville, IL. Research and Development Dept.

SPONSOR: Department of Energy, Washington, DC.

LANGUAGE: English

PUB.  TYPE: Technical Report

PUB.  COUNTRY: United States

SOURCE: Department of Energy [DE],  Jan 78,  14p.

ABSTRACT:

The area of gas-liquid-solid fluidization has been of increasing research interest in recent years. Much of this research has been stimulated by industrial applications of ebullating bed reactors, such as the H-oil, H-coal, and Hy-C processes. A large volume of data on bed expansion over a wide range of flow conditions has been generated. This expansion data plus the information on various phase interactions have been the basis for several significant models which provide formats for correlating three-phase data. The importance of the corresponding liquid-solid and gas-liquid systems has been recognized by some of these models. Validation and modification of these models provide the best basis for future design and control of ebullating bed reactors. However, many of the studies have limitations: They were carried out in small-scale equipment, so wall effects may have dominated the flow situation to the point where only the slug flow regime could exist. In analyzing the data, many investigators did not recognize the importance of the corresponding two-phase systems of gas-liquid and liquid-solid. Many of these experiments need to be repeated using slurries, rather than liquids, to fluidize the bed. Emphasis on various aspects of design and construction of the cold flow unit continued. Detailed progress in each area includes the following: Systems Design--Recognizing that the most critical factor for completing the construction of the unit by May 1 is equipment availability, large effort was devoted to ordering equipment. Progress on equipment procurement is reported in Table I. Where possible, costs are also reported. Laboratory tests were also conducted to evaluate a flow meter (Micromotion) for measuring recycle slurry flow. Since studies by HRI have shown that up to 12 vol% gas may be contained in the recycle steam, these tests are necessary to establish the capability of this instrument with the presence of gas. (ERA citation 03:025659)

CONTRACT  NUMBER: EF-77-C-01-2588