Heat Transfer Characteristics of a Low-Pressure-Loss Fluidized-Bed Heat Exchanger with Single Row Tubes

A novel low-pressure-loss fluidized-bed heat exchanger has been developed for application to air-cooled heat-exchanging units operated with low-pressure-fans; this fluidized-bed was composed of a multi-slit distributor, a single row of 8-mm-dia. tubes, and glass beads (48–195 microns in diameter). The measured performance of heat-transfer and fluidization was excellent and satisfactory, though the static bed height was extremely low. In the best case, where the static bed height was 13 mm and the distance between the multi-slit distributor and the tubes 10 mm, the present fluidized-bed exhibited a heat-transfer performance comparable to a conventional one having a perforated plate distributor and a static bed height of 150 mm. while the present bed showed one fourteenth the pressure drop of the conventional one.