Effect of Attrition on Silica Sand as Bed Material in Circulating Fluidized Bed System

To understand the effect of attrition, a series of experiments were conducted in CFB test setup installed at CSIR-CMERI Durgapur using common silica sand. Using standard sieves, three different samples were prepared, containing sample size between 0.106-0.425, 0.212-0.600, and 0.300-0.800 mm of mean Sauter diameter 0.314, 0.414, and 0.520 mm, respectively. Five sets of experiments were conducted for each sample and its mean value is presented in this paper. The attrition of bed particles was found to be higher for larger particles. Sample-III showed the greatest reduction in size as it contained most of the larger particles initially, which got reduced considerably after stipulated run time. It was found from the set of experiments that the mean Sauter diameter for sample-I, II, and III (0.314, 0.414, and 0.520 mm) reduced to 0.312, 0.410, and 0.513 mm, respectively.