Mechanisms of Heat Transfer Enhancement of Gas–Solid Fluidized Bed: Estimation of Direct Contact Heat Exchange From Heat Transfer Surface to Fluidized Particles Using an Optical Visualization Technique

This paper deals with mechanisms of heat transfer in a gas–solid fluidized bed. Heat transfer due to heat exchange by direct contact from a heat transfer tube immersed in the bed to fluidized particles was studied by means of visualization of contact of the fluidized particles to the heat transfer surface. The results show that the duration of contact of fluidized particles was almost uniform over the tube circumference and was hardly affected by the flow rate of fluidizing gas. On the other hand, the contact frequency between the particles and heat transfer tube was evidently influenced by the gas flow rate and particles diameter, as well as the location on the tube circumference. Using the visualized results, the amount of heat conducted to fluidized particles during the contact was estimated. This result showed that unsteady heat conduction to the fluidized particles plays an important role in the heat transfer, especially at the condition of incipient fluidization.