Segregation
Figure 10 shows the boxplots of the segregation data (specifically, the
percentage mass of the more massive species) for both the fast and
turbulent fluidized beds. The particle mixtures were either binary
mixtures or broad PSDs. Compared to the fast fluidized bed, the
turbulent bed exhibited a greater spread of segregation extents.
Interestingly, although the null hypotheses were rejected for cluster
and flux characteristics, the null hypothesis cannot be rejected for the
segregation datasets at the 95% confidence level, indicating that there
is no significant difference between the means of the two populations.
The similarity is surprising because segregation is driven by granular
temperature 31,32, whereby larger particles dissipate
more than smaller particles, and it was expected that the dissipation
would be more significant in the fast fluidized bed wherein collisional
stress was greater.