Experimental analysis and visualization of spatiotemporal patterns in spouted fluidized beds

A numerical characterization based on experimental data of the spouting regime in a two-dimensional fluidized bed is presented. The aspect ratio of the bed allowed for good visualization of the spouting and solids circulation as the spouting jet gas velocity was varied to highlight the visited bifurcation sequence. Digital video sequences were recorded and then preprocessed for numerical analysis. In this paper, the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) was applied to these data sets in order to identify and separate the dominant spatial features from the temporal evolution of the spouting dynamics. The results indicate that the overall spatiotemporal dynamics can be captured by a few POD eigenfunctions, and that the POD amplitudes can be used to distinguish between varying degrees of spouting.