T he dynamics of the bottom zone of a narrow fluidized bed, from bubbling to turbulent regimes, was studied in a cold model of 0.1 m i.d. and 1.3 m high. Tested distributor types were perforated perspex plates, with six different perforation grids, metallic mesh and porous ceramic, with pressures drops ranging from 0.05 to 350 kPa, corresponding to superficial air velocities from 0.1 to 2.3 m s À1. Group B silica ballotini, within the range 0.355-0.425 mm, were used as bed material. The experimental data consisted of pressure drop and absolute pressure fluctuating signals, together with visual observations. The bottom zone presented a dynamic condition that produced higher pressure drop values than those expected with the incipient fluidization condition, particularly for the distributor plates with a higher open area. A simple model is used to describe the axial solids distribution and the dynamics characteristics of the voids created in that zone, and an attempt is made to differentiate the bubble voidage from that of the dense phase, with a value of through flow estimated in a systematic way.

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Experiments were carried out to examine the influence of both the type and the pressure drop of distributor plates on the fluidization quality of an atmospheric fluidized bed. Three different distributor types were used, perforated Perspex, metallic mesh, and porous ceramic, with pressure drops ranging from 0.05 to 350 kPa and superficial air velocities ranging from 0.1 to 2.3 m=s. Three sizes of silica Ballotini beads, 355-425, 600-710, and 850-1000 mm, were used as bed material. The static bed height was set to 300 mm and was divided into six horizontal 50 mm high slices. For each slice, pressure drop values were recorded for U 0 =U mf ratios from 20 to 1. In order to produce a reference for the pressure drop evolution, a modification of the two-phase theory was introduced, taking into consideration the increase in the average global porosity as well as the change in the ratio of flow through the bubbles versus the flow through the dense phase. This allowed assessment of the influence of the different operating conditions and setups on the quality of fluidization, Q Ã .

The combustion of biomass follows a sequence of several distinct phases which begin with drying, the subsequent pyrolysis with the release of volatile components that burn in gaseous phase and finally the combustion of carbonaceous resiue, the time consuming step. For small solid fuel boilers, as it is the case of pellet boilers for domestic heating, biomass particles are continuously burned in fixed bed boilers or heaters. In these appliances the furnace is a metallic basket into which fuel particles are thrown and burn. The combustion air is introduced through orifices drilled in this metallic basket although some lateral air entrances are also found. The gaseous flow is a piston flow, the particles fall under gravity on the upper bed surface and as they burn they slowly move downwards until their size is small enough to fall down through the air entrance orifices or are dragged by the upcoming combustion gas flow. So the gaseous current has an up flow movement while the solid particles move downwards. It is assumed that the bed is at uniform temperature and all the average properties of the gaseous flow are constant with the exception of the oxygen concentration that diminishes as the gas flow rises through the bed. The mathematical development of a simple model that allows the calculation of the steady state burning time of a biomass particle in fixed bed, the amount of energy released, the fixed bed size and its particle inventory, is hereby presented. The pedagogical interest of this model is pertinent because it presents, in a synthetic way, the relative importance of the combustion kinetic, the mass transfer mechanism and the reactor fluid dynamics, upon the lifetime of a biochar particle during its combustion process.

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