An apparatus and method for the dry separation of bulk particulate material, especially coarse particles, is provided. The apparatus comprises a chamber, a screen adjacent the chamber and a fluidising device fluidly connected to the chamber. The screen has a screen surface, a plurality of apertures and an opening larger in size than the aperture. A mixture of the coarse particles and a fine particulate medium is fed into the chamber. The fluidising device directs a fluidising fluid to fluidise a fine particulate medium and create a fluidised bed directed towards the screen. The fine particulate medium and the coarse particles pass from the chamber through the openings. The fine particulate medium passes back through the apertures to the chamber. Relatively high density coarse particles also pass back through the openings to the chamber. Relatively low density coarse particles are retained on the screen surface. Vibrations may also be used.

A reactor configuration is proposed for selectively converting gaseous, liquid or solid fuels to a syngas specification which is flexible in terms of H.sub.2/CO ratio. This reactor and system configuration can be used with a specific oxygen carrier to hydro-carbon fuel molar ratio, a specific range of operating temperatures and pressures, and a co-current downward moving bed system. The concept of a CO.sub.2 stream injected in-conjunction with the specified operating parameters for a moving bed reducer is claimed, wherein the injection location in the reactor system is flexible for both steam and CO.sub.2 such that, carbon efficiency of the system is maximized.

A reactor configuration is proposed for selectively converting gaseous, liquid or solid fuels to a syngas specification which is flexible in terms of H.sub.2/CO ratio. This reactor and system configuration can be used with a specific oxygen carrier to hydro-carbon fuel molar ratio, a specific range of operating temperatures and pressures, and a co-current downward moving bed system. The concept of a CO.sub.2 stream injected in-conjunction with the specified operating parameters for a moving bed reducer is claimed, wherein the injection location in the reactor system is flexible for both steam and CO.sub.2 such that, carbon efficiency of the system is maximized.

The present invention discloses a process for the catalytic cracking of a weakly coking feedstock having a Conradson carbon residue of 0.1% by weight and a hydrogen content of greater than 12.7% by weight, comprising at least a feedstock cracking zone, a zone for separating/stripping the effluents from the coked catalyst particles and a zone for regenerating said particles, characterized in that at least a solid carbon material in the fluidized state, having a carbon content equal to or greater than 80% by weight, is injected upstream of and/or during the catalyst regeneration step into a dense bed of coked catalyst.

The present invention discloses a process for the catalytic cracking of a weakly coking feedstock having a Conradson carbon residue of 0.1% by weight and a hydrogen content of greater than 12.7% by weight, comprising at least a feedstock cracking zone, a zone for separating/stripping the effluents from the coked catalyst particles and a zone for regenerating said particles, characterized in that at least a solid carbon material in the fluidized state, having a carbon content equal to or greater than 80% by weight, is injected upstream of and/or during the catalyst regeneration step into a dense bed of coked catalyst.

The invention relates to a method for drying a wet polymer composition obtained from a polymerization process, comprising: a) introducing the wet polymer composition and a drying gas into a fluidized bed dryer to form a fluidized bed of the wet polymer composition and b) heating the fluidized bed to obtain a dry polymer composition, wherein the fluidized bed further comprises an anti-fouling agent comprising inert nanoparticles.

The invention relates to a method for drying a wet polymer composition obtained from a polymerization process, comprising: a) introducing the wet polymer composition and a drying gas into a fluidized bed dryer to form a fluidized bed of the wet polymer composition and b) heating the fluidized bed to obtain a dry polymer composition, wherein the fluidized bed further comprises an anti-fouling agent comprising inert nanoparticles.

To provide a fluidized-bed reaction vessel and a trichlorosilane production method each of which can reduce corrosion and wear of a reaction container inner wall, a fluidized-bed reaction vessel causes metallurgical grade silicon powder and hydrogen chloride gas to react with each other for production of trichlorosilane. The fluidized-bed reaction vessel includes a plurality of ejection nozzles (20) standing on a distributor plate (11) as a bottom surface of a container body. The ejection nozzles (20) each have a gas ejection opening (22a) configured to allow hydrogen chloride gas to be ejected sideways. The plurality of ejection nozzles (20) include a first ejection nozzle (20a) adjacent to an outer wall (10a) of the container body, the first ejection nozzle (20a) having a gas ejection opening (22a) in such a pattern as to prevent hydrogen chloride gas from being ejected toward the outer wall (10a).

To provide a fluidized-bed reaction vessel and a trichlorosilane production method each of which can reduce corrosion and wear of a reaction container inner wall, a fluidized-bed reaction vessel causes metallurgical grade silicon powder and hydrogen chloride gas to react with each other for production of trichlorosilane. The fluidized-bed reaction vessel includes a plurality of ejection nozzles (20) standing on a distributor plate (11) as a bottom surface of a container body. The ejection nozzles (20) each have a gas ejection opening (22a) configured to allow hydrogen chloride gas to be ejected sideways. The plurality of ejection nozzles (20) include a first ejection nozzle (20a) adjacent to an outer wall (10a) of the container body, the first ejection nozzle (20a) having a gas ejection opening (22a) in such a pattern as to prevent hydrogen chloride gas from being ejected toward the outer wall (10a).

A method of producing a composite product is provided. The method includes providing a fluidized bed of metal oxide particles in a fluidized bed reactor, providing a catalyst or catalyst precursor in the fluidized bed reactor, providing a carbon source in the fluidized bed reactor for growing carbon nanotubes, growing carbon nanotubes in a carbon nanotube growth zone of the fluidized bed reactor, and collecting a composite product comprising metal oxide particles and carbon nanotubes.