Moving Bed Heat Exchangers (MBHE)

Moving Bed Heat Exchanger

Moving Bed Heat Exchangers (MBHE) are employed in industry for applications involving heat transfer and filtering. A MBHE consists of an air flow percolating in a cross-flow configuration through a solid particles flow. The main advantages of the use of MBHEs compared with different heat exchangers or filtering systems are:

• High volumetric transfer area.
• Proper heat transfer coefficients.
• Possibility to operate at high temperature.
• Low increment of pressure drop during operation.

The MBHE can be employed as a hot gas clean-up system for removing tar and particulate material from a syngas produced in a biomass gasifier. The hot syngas produced in the gasifier is cleaned in the upper MBHE and transfers heat to the solid particles flow. Then the particles transfer this heat back to the inlet air of the gasifier, increasing the performance of the system.

MBHE coupled to a biomass gasifier

Related publications

• Moving bed syngas conditioning: Modelling. A. Gómez-García, A. Soria-Verdugo, J. Sánchez-Prieto, D. Santana. Applied Thermal Engineering 62, 809-822, 2014.
• Solid conduction effects and design criteria in moving bed heat exchangers. J.A. Almendros-Ibáñez, A. Soria-Verdugo, U. Ruiz-Rivas, D. Santana. Applied Thermal Engineering 31, 1200-1207, 2011.
• Exergy optimization in a steady moving bed heat exchanger. A. Soria-Verdugo, J.A. Almendros-Ibáñez, U. Ruiz-Rivas, D. Santana. Annals of New York Academy of Science 1161, 584-600, 2009.
• Hot gas filtration and heat exchange in a packed bed using Lapilli as a granular medium. M. Socorro, A. Macías-Machín, J.M. Verona, D. Santana. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 45, 7957-7966, 2006.
• Calculate DP of a fixed bed filter. A. Macías-Machín, D. Santana. Chemical Engineering 105, 159- 162, 1998.