Abstract—Fluid Bed Reactors have been widely used in Chemical, Bio-Chemical and Petro-Chemical industries. The advantages of Fluid Bed Bio-Reactors (FBBR) are mainly Food, Pharmaceutical and Biological waste treatment sectors. In a fluidized Bio-Reactor, the particles can be much smaller and fine. During fluidization operation, the bed expands to accommodate microbial growth. The high surface area for biomass to grow results in high heat and mass transfer rates. This leads to isothermal and uniform mixing of particles tends to high concentration of active bio-mass per unit volume of reactor. This process also elimination of pollutants and toxins which are slows down the process. The problem of cell washout that aggravates operation of continuous, stirred tank fermenters is less likely in a fluidized bed, indeed it is impossible as long as the superficial liquid velocity is kept below the settling velocity of the solid particles. Aerobic Reactors require oxygen and depending upon this they can be classified as two phase or three phase FBBR. In the present investigation the general fluidization characteristics for Bio-Chemical processes was studied and compared with the literature. Three - phase fluidization is an operation involving a bed of suspended particles in gas and liquid media. This occurs due to a net drag force of gas and liquid in the flow direction on the particles. Gas-Liquid-Solid Fluidization is considered in the present work as operating bed of fluidized solid particles simultaneously with concurrent upward flow of a continuous liquid phase and a gaseous phase dispersed in the forms of bubbles. In this paper mainly the experimental work of the author on FBBR & distributor design are discussed and estimated the Fluidization parameters namely minimum fluidization Velocity, Free Settling Velocity and Bed Stratification for calculating bio-film formation. Hence, the process of bio-film formation, its characteristics and properties need to be well understood to design and operate efficiently a FBBR and also important conclusions are drawn.
Index Terms—fluid bed reactor, minimum fluidization velocity, free settling velocity, biomass and drag coefficient.
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Cite: K.S.K. Rao Patnaik and K. Sriharsha, "Fluidization Principles for Three-Phase Fluidized Bed Bio-Reactor," International Journal of Chemical Engineering and Applications vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 251-255, 2010.
