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From powder modification to rejuvenation: Fluidised Bed Reactors in metal powder production and Additive Manufacturing Fluidised Bed Reactors (FBRs) will be new to many in the Powder Metallurgy and Additive Manufacturing industries. The technology offers a host of operational features that are useful in both metal powder production and in instances where batches of powder may need to be ‘rejuvenated’, or brought back into specification. In this article, Bill Hopkins, Managing Director, Phoenix Scientific Industries (PSI) Limited, introduces the concept of FBRs and considers current and future applications for metal powder producers and users.
It is just over a hundred years since Fritz Winkler made the first industrial application of a Fluidised Bed Reactor (FBR) for a coal gasification process [1]. This was followed by applications in catalytic cracking of oils and processing of arsenopyrite ores in the late 1940s and the calcination of aluminium hydroxide on an industrial scale in the 1960s. By no means is the application of fluidised beds confined to metals or mineral processing. Fluidised beds are extensively used in the food processing industry for the drying and freezing of small-scale food items such as peas, shrimp and powdered products. This article is not intended to be exhaustive in terms of describing the thermophysics or fluid mechanics of FBRs – a good reference work is provided by [2]. Rather, it is intended to introduce the Powder Metallurgy practitioner to the characteristics and applications of FBRs in the PM and engineering ceramics industries.
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Fig. 1 A Fluidised Bed Reactor at PSI’s base in Hailsham, East Sussex, UK. It has a capacity of 75 kg of steel-density powder and a temperature capability of 1,100°C. It is equipped with extraction facilities to remove powder particles from an actively fluidising bed and quench them at the rate of 10 5 - 10 6 Ks -1 for powder heat treatment (Courtesy PSI)
Spring 2024
PM Review
53
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Fluidised Bed Reactors in PM and AM
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