Monitoring the fluidized bed reactor for polyethylene polymerization based on fibre optic acoustic emission sensor

This paper presents applications of a new class of fibre optic acoustic emission (FOAE) sensor to monitor the operation of fluidized bed reactors used in polyethylene production. Specifically, the sensor was implemented to detect undesired, abnormal phenomena related to particle agglomeration, wall...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian journal of chemical engineering 2023-06, Vol.101 (6), p.3409-3419
Main Authors: Jani, Farzad, Houshmand Moayed, Saeed, Adhamdoust, Seyyed Reza, Sepahi, Abdolhannan, Afzali, Seyyed Kamal
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acoustic emission
Acoustics
Electromagnetic noise
fibre optic sensor
fluidized bed reactor
Fluidized bed reactors
Fluidized beds
Hazardous areas
Kurtosis
Monitoring
Nuclear safety
Overflow
Polyethylene
Polyethylenes
Sensors
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Summary:This paper presents applications of a new class of fibre optic acoustic emission (FOAE) sensor to monitor the operation of fluidized bed reactors used in polyethylene production. Specifically, the sensor was implemented to detect undesired, abnormal phenomena related to particle agglomeration, wall sheeting, fine overflow, and variations in the superficial gas velocity. The experiments were executed using a fluidized bed cold model setup for polyethylene powders with average particle sizes of 250, 1000, and 2000 μm. The results demonstrated that the presence of agglomerated particles in the fluidized bed reactor increases the kurtosis of the acoustic emission (AE) signal. Furthermore, the overflow of small particles can be detected by mounting the FOAE sensor below the gas distributor plate and monitoring an increase in the root mean square (RMS) of the AE signal. The AE signal RMS increased with the rising superficial gas velocity. Besides, forming a sheet layer on the reactor wall decreased the AE signal RMS. The proposed sensor's main benefits are its simple design, rapid response to abnormal conditions in the fluidized bed reactor, immunity against electromagnetic noise, high‐temperature resistance, and safety in hazardous areas. Detection of agglomeration, wall sheeting, fine overflow, and superficial gas velocity variation in the fluidized bed reactor utilizing the fibre optic acoustic emission sensor
ISSN:0008-4034
1939-019X
DOI:10.1002/cjce.24718