Aggregation and sedimentation in gas-fluidized beds of cohesive powders

We present measurements on the settling velocity of gas-fluidized beds of fine cohesive powders. In the solidlike regime (solid volume fraction phi> phi (c)) particles are static, sustained by enduring contacts. The settling is hindered by interparticle contacts and is a very slow process. In the fluidlike regime (phi< (c)) permanent contacts no longer exist, and the bed displays a diffusive dynamics. The interparticle adhesive force leads to the formation of particle aggregates, and for this reason the sedimentation velocity exceeds the predicted value by empirical or theoretical laws on the settling of individual particles. We use an extension of the Richardson-Zaki empirical law for the settling of aggregates in the fluidlike regime to fit the experimental data. Aggregates are characterized by the number of aggregated particles N and by an effective radius R. The trend followed by these parameters with particle size is confirmed by direct visualization of the aggregates, and shows that cohesive effects become important when the adhesion force between particles is above particle weight. Results show that aggregates form open structures with a fractal dimension close to the predicted one in the diffusion-limited-aggregation model (D = 2.5).