Cold test with a benchtop set-up for fluidized bed reactor using quartz sand to simulate gasification of coal cokes by concentrated solar radiation

The impacts of internal circulation of a mixture of coal-coke particles and quartz sand on the fluidization state in a fluidized bed reactor are investigated by a cold test with a benchtop set-up in order to design 10-30 kWth scale prototype windowed fluidized-bed reactor. Firstly, a basic relationship between pressure loss of inlet gas and gas velocity was experimentally examined using quartz sand with different particle sizes by a small-scale quartz tube with a distributor at ambient pressure and temperature. Based on the results, an appropriate particle range of quartz sand and layer height/layer diameter ratio (L/D ratio) was determined for a design of the fluidized bed reactor. Secondly, a windowed reactor mock-up was designed and fabricated for solar coke gasification using quartz sand as a bed material. The pressure loss between the inlet and outlet gases was examined, and descending cokes and sand particles on the sidewall of the reactor was observed in the reactor mock-up. The moving velocity and...