The interfacial stability of magnetically stabilized fluidized beds

Abstract

The study concerns a phenomenon in which the magnetization of ferromagnetic particles stabilizes the state of uniform fluidization in gas-solid, liquid-solid and gas-liquid-solid fluidized beds. Fluidization regimes and bed structure are functions of the intensity of an external magnetic field and the magnetic propererties of the particles. A fluidized bed of magnetized ferromagnetic particles can be regarded as a ferromagnet, with the permeability proportional to the ferromagnetic material magnetization properties, the intensity of the magnetic field applied by the solenoid, particle diameter and fluidized bed porosity. Stability analysis was performed using mean field theory to determine the magnetic forces acting at the gas-ferromagnet and liquid-ferromagnet surface, a discontinuity boundary, and to predict the mechanism of transition from the unstably fluidized to the stably fluidized sate.