Fluidized bed reactor

Once this minimum velocity is surpassed, the contents of the reactor bed begin to expand and swirl around much like an agitated tank or boiling pot of water.

Many industrially produced polymers are made using FBR technology, such as rubber, vinyl chloride, polyethylene, styrenes, and polypropylene.

[5][page needed] Various utilities also use FBRs for coal gasification, nuclear power plants, and water and waste treatment settings.

[4] The increase in fluidized bed reactor use in today's industrial world is largely due to the inherent advantages of the technology.

[7] Specific research topics include particle size distributions, various transfer coefficients, phase interactions,[7] velocity and pressure effects, and computer modeling.

[7][9] This will enable chemical engineers to design better, more efficient reactors that may effectively deal with the current disadvantages of the technology and expand the range of FBR use.