| Abstract
| - The trend toward environmentally benign processing has resulted in novel chemistries and newreactor types. For alkylation of both aromatics and linear paraffins, with new solid acid catalysts,liquid−solid risers are one of the reactor types considered. As the fluid dynamics of liquid−solid risers is largely unknown, it has been investigated in this work in a 6-in.- (15-cm-) diameter“cold-flow” circulating fluidized-bed riser using noninvasive methods. The time-averaged solidsholdup distribution is determined by γ-ray computed tomography (CT). The solids instantaneousand ensemble-averaged velocity patterns, as well as the solids residence time distribution inthe riser, is obtained by computer-automated particle tracking (CARPT). Various measures ofsolids backmixing are evaluated including the eddy diffusivities and the overall axial dispersioncoefficient. The obtained database is used for validation of a two-fluid Euler−Lagrange model,which is coupled with appropriate closures including the kinetic theory of granular solids. Themodel is shown to be capable of predicting the liquid and solids residence time distributions inthe riser as well as the solids velocity and holdup pattern. The quantitative predictions fromthe two-dimensional axisymmetric simulation for the solids volume fraction and the time-averaged solids axial velocity radial distributions agree well with the experimental data. Themodel can be used to predict the extent of solids backmixing in the reactor.
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