In order to achieve high solids circulation rate(Gs),an idea of coupling a moving bed to the bottom section of the riser of a circulating fluidized bed(CFB) was proposed and tested.The results from the preliminary study demonstrated that the solids circulation rate in the new-structure bed approached 370 kg·m-2·s-1 at superficial gas velocities around 10.5 m·s-1 for sand particles with an average Sauter mean size of 378 μm.This study was devoted to further justifying the effects of the coupled moving bed by performing comparative studies in two CFBs with conventional configurations.It was shown that the pressure at the riser bottom and the realized solid circulation rate were only about 15 kPa and 230 kg·m-2·s-1 in the two conventionally configured CFBs,obviously lower than 25 kPa and 370 kg·m-2·s-1 in the moving bed coupled CFB.These verified that the coupled moving bed increased the force driving particles form the particle recycling side into the riser.The study further tested the effect of a few specially designed riser exit configurations,revealing that a smooth riser exit could facilitate solids circulation to increase the solids circulation rate.
