A study of solid behavior in spouted beds using 3‐D particle tracking

A non‐invasive γ‐ray emission system, employing eight NaI detectors, has been developed to follow the motion of a single radioactive particle in a three‐dimensional spouted bed reactor. The count‐rates measured simultaneously by the detectors are converted into tracer coordinates (x, y, z) using a pre‐established calibration model which accounts for every physical and geometrical aspects involved in the spouting facility. Typically four hundred thousands successive coordinates, obtained over 3.5 hours of particle tracking, are used for determining the average particle velocity field and other hydrodynamic quantities such as the cycle time distribution, the spout shape and the solid exchange distribution at the spout boundary, which could not be evaluated accurately using any available techniques.