Fluidized bed reactors are used in various industrial applications, such as drying and coating of granular media, combustion processes, and catalytic reactions, which can be highly endo- or exothermic. The favorable heat and mass transfer properties, which fluidized beds are famous for, are caused by gas bubbles rising through the particle phase. However, if bubbles become excessively large, the gas-solid interfacial area is reduced thus lowering the reaction efficiency. The use of internal geometric structures such as baffles or heat exchange rods in a fluidized bed can influence bubble formation and can reduce bubble size. In this study, we used real-time magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate the effect of different baffles on the hydrodynamics in fluidized bed.
