Horizontal fluidised bed reactor

1. A reactor for contacting a fluid with a granular solid, the reactor including:

a reactor housing including a reaction zone in which the fluid and the granular solid are contacted together;

a granular solids inlet adapted to deliver a bed of granular solids into the reaction zone wherein the height and/or width dimension of the bed of the granular solids is less than the length of the bed;

a plurality of fluid inlets for delivering the fluid into the reaction zone from the side of the bed, whereby the delivery of the fluid into the reaction zone at least partially fluidises the bed of granular solids;

a granular solids outlet for receiving the bed of granular solids after having passed through the reaction zone; and,

a fluid outlet for receiving the fluid, and any entrained particles, after the fluid has passed through the reaction zone,

wherein the plurality of inlets for delivering fluid do not encroach into the bed of granular solids.

2. A reactor according to claim 1 wherein the granular solids inlet is adapted to deliver a continuous bed of granular solids into the reaction zone whereby the reactor operates in a continuous process.

3. A reactor according to claim 1 wherein the bed of granular solids passes through the reaction zone from the granular solids inlet to the granular solids outlet at a declining angle to the horizontal whereby gravity assists in the movement of the bed of granular solids from the solids inlet to the solids outlet.

4. A reactor according to claim 3 wherein the declining angle to the horizontal is 3° to 15°.

5. A reactor according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of inlets delivers the fluid into the reaction zone at positions along the length dimension of the bed of granular solids.

6. A reactor according to claim 5 wherein the plurality of inlets for delivering fluid into the reaction zone are diagonally opposed along the length dimension of the bed of granular solids.

7. A reactor according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of inlets is arranged at an angle to the bed of granular solids to facilitate movement of the bed of granular solids through the reaction zone.

8. A reactor according to claim 1 wherein the height dimension of the bed of granular solids is less than the length dimension of the bed.

9. A reactor according to claim 1 wherein the length dimension of the bed is greater than the width dimension.

10. A reactor according to claim 1 wherein the delivery of the fluid into the reaction zone differentially fluidises the bed of granular solids wherein the bed of granular solids does not substantially segregate.

11. A reactor according to claim 1 wherein the reaction zone includes high contact zones, where the granular solid is in contact with the fluid and is substantially fluidised, and low contact zones where the contact of the fluid with the granular solid is substantially reduced and the granular solid is substantially unfluidised or not fluidised.

12. A reactor according to claim 11 wherein the location of the high contact zones within the reaction zone is adjacent the plurality of fluid inlets.

13. A reactor according to claim 1 wherein the reaction zone includes chemical and/or physical reactions.

14. A reactor according to claim 1 wherein the fluid and the granular solids are contacted in a co-current configuration, a counter-current configuration or a cross-current configuration.

15. A reactor according to claim 1 wherein the reactor is arranged with one or more further reactors to form a series of reactors.

16. A reactor according to claim 1 wherein the reactor is used to contact a fluid with a granular solid for a process chosen from: gas scrubbing, drying of solids, pyrolysis, gasification, calcining, catalytic reactions, catalysis cleaning, cooling, mass transfer and/or combustion.

17. A reactor according to claim 1 wherein the reactor is used for the purposes of drying coal.