The Jet Spouted Bed (JSB) is a robust fluidization method that is not been widely used in industry, although there are several key advantages compared to more traditional fluidization methods, such as the Bubbling Fluid Bed (BFB) and the Circulating Fluid Bed (CFB). For example, the maximum operating temperature of the bed material can be significantly higher because the JSB can tolerate the presence of sticky materials without slumping, that is, without the loss of fluidization. Looking at the JSB in operation, this makes sense; notice the dilute nature of the expanded bed, and note the intense mixing and high turn-over rate; sticky particles have little opportunity to “glue” the bed together. We use the JSB for thermochemical gasification of carbonaceous feeds, operating very near to the ash-melting temperature, but without fear of slumping the bed. Image (d) below shows the a fully-expanded conical spouted bed.
