Stability of batch catalytic fluidized beds

Abstract This work is a study of the stability of a batch fluidized bed with a simple model. It is shown that multiple steady states can occur with all catalyst particles at the same temperature, some of these states being unstable. If the initial temperature of all the particles is not the same, a special kind of steady state, in which particles of different temperatures can coexist in the bed, might be obtained. The number of these pathological steady states is not finite, and the conversion obtained may be very different from that obtained by a uniform steady state. The analysis has demonstrated that the initial temperature of the catalyst particles may be a predominate factor in determining the kind of steady state obtained. For the case of uniform catalyst particles, a simple stability analysis has been developed. Several numerical solutions of the transient equations were performed to investigate the possible responses of the system to disturbances of various steady states.