Utility of argon as a suppressant of triboelectrification in pressurized Gas-Solid fluidized beds

• Argon has a lower dielectric strength compared to Nitrogen at ambient pressures . • At elevated pressures, the difference between the dielectric strength diminishes. • At ambient pressures, argon significantly lowers particle charging and fouling. • This study explored if the benefit offered by argon persisted at higher pressures. • Argon still reduced charging and was wall fouling, but at a lower degree. Argon displays a significantly lower dielectric strength compared to nitrogen at ambient pressures, but this difference diminishes as the pressure of the gas increases. This work aimed to examine the usage of argon and its impact on particle charging and column-wall fouling in fluidized beds under pressurized conditions. This study tested the electrostatic charging behaviour of a commercially produced linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) resin and its column wall adhesion at pressures of 2600 kPa. Fluidization was performed using pure argon, pure nitrogen, and their equimolar mixtures. Fluidization with nitrogen served as the baseline for comparison. Argon reduced the fouling by 43 %, while the binary gas mixture reduced the fouling by 29 %. The particles’ bulk specific charge also showed a downward trend moving from pure nitrogen to pure argon. The study concludes that argon can be utilized as a triboblelectrification suppressant in pressurized gas–solid fluidized beds.