Design and development of a laboratory scale fluidization column for experimentation through student internship program

Design and development of a laboratory scale fluidization column for experimentation through student internship program

At Queensland University of Technology, internships are offered for foreign students to familiarize with Australian education, culture and learn from other students under a supervision of an academic to gain a valuable undergraduate experience. Under the internship of a French student preliminary calculations carried out lead to development of an experimental test rig which was designed and developed to use for student experimentation and higher degree research at the Queensland University ofTechnology. Fluidization method is one of the technologies which saves energy in the processing industry not limited to agro-food and chemical sectors, also can be used any other industry. Drying can be regarded as one of the most important and most frequently applied unit operation in all sectors producing solid products. In drying process, water is the liquid evaporated in the form of moisture reduction and heated air is the commonly used as the medium which help the operation. Fluid bed drying has been known as a smooth drying procedure, with good mixing capabilities and lower the water content to a very low residual value with a high degree of process efficiency. This process is characterized by high moisture reduction offering higher heat transfer rates which enable easy thermal control capacity of the drying medium and contents compared with conventional drying processes.
Hence this is a sustainable operation. In order to conduct fluidized bed drying experiments, it is necessary to design a suitable laboratory scale fluidization column. This work details the design and fabrication stages of the project