Spout-fluid beds find a widespread application in the process industry for efficientudcontacting of large particles with a gas. Since the spout-fluid bed configuration allowsudfor the introduction of a liquid, spout-fluid beds are used for both coating andudgranulation applications, for example in the fertilizer industry. In this application, theudspout-fluid bed has the advantage of producing strong granules over a wide range ofudparticle sizes. However, the particle size distribution obtained in spout-fluid beds canudbe relatively wide resulting in large recycling requirements.udThe objective of this thesis is to improve the control over the particle size distributionudresulting from spout-fluid bed granulation by gaining insight into the underlyingudfundamental processes. As detailed experiments in operating granulators are virtuallyudimpossible, it was decided to adopt a modeling approach. Since the flow behaviorudinside the spout-fluid bed was considered to be most critical, the modeling effortsudwere focused on the hydrodynamics.
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