Fluidized bed reaction design

A fluidized bed reactor for chlorinating zirconium and rutile sands, i.e., reactant materials, to produce metals such as zirconium, hafnium and titanium comprising:

• a hollow, elongated, vertically oriented reactor housing for confining a reaction of the reactant materials as they are transformed, a portion of the reactor housing confining the reaction of the reactant materials defining a reaction zone;
• a central chlorine gas or chlorine gas and reactant materials inlet proximate the bottom of the reaction zone within the housing for directing chlorine gas or chlorine gas and reactant materials in an upward direction along the vertical axis of the housing into the reaction zone without passing through a solid or perforated diffuser section to maintain the reactant materials in suspension;
• a plurality of peripheral chlorine gas inlet jets positioned at at least two elevations along the elongated dimension of the housing for introducing chlorine gas at an angle to the elongated dimension of the housing to promote mixing of the reactant materials in suspension;
• a plurality of control valves in fluid communication with a fluidizing chlorine gas supply and respective ones of the plurality of peripheral chlorine gas inlet jets for individually controlling the quantity of chlorine gas passing through the respective plurality of peripheral chlorine gas inlet jets;
• a residue collection housing mating at one end with a lower portion of the reactor housing at the bottom of the reaction zone in fluid communication with the reaction zone and having an inclined lower wall for directing a reaction process residue from the reaction zone to a residue collection port through which the residue is extracted from the fluidized bed reactor;
• and
• a sparger including a plurality of chlorine gas orifices positioned around at least a portion of the circumference of the interior of the residue collection housing and below the central chlorine gas or chlorine gas and reactant materials inlet for introducing chlorine gas within the residue collection housing to maintain reaction process residue below a given size in suspension and directed back into the reaction zone while enabling agglomerates of reaction process residue above the given size to drop towards the collection port;
• wherein the sparger chlorine gas orifices, the plurality of peripheral chlorine gas inlet jets and the central chlorine gas or chlorine gas and reactant materials inlet are sized so the volume of chlorine gas emitted by each is a fixed predetermined ratio that maintains active mixing, minimizes defluidization of the reaction products and promotes reaction of the reactant materials within the reaction zone.