The fluidized bed provides a means for exchanging heat between a metal part, the solid particles, and the fluidizing gas and which is viable for quenching. This article briefly considers the design aspects of the gas distributor, plenum, container, immersed cooling tubes and surface air spray cooling system in the quenching fluidized bed. It describes the fundamental factors affecting quenching power of the fluidized beds, namely, particle size, particle material, fluidizing gas composition, fluidizing gas flow rate, bed temperature and pressure, and the arrangement of quenched parts with respect to one another and to the bed. The article discusses the advantages, disadvantages, various applications and processes, including conventional batch quenching, two-step batch quenching, and continuous quenching of fluidized bed quenching, in detail.

This article discusses the important characteristics of fluidized beds. The total space occupied by a fluidized bed can be divided into three zones: grid zone, main zone, and above-bed zone. The article discusses the various types of atmospheres of fluidized beds, such as oxidizing and decarburizing atmosphere; nitrocarburizing and nitriding atmosphere; carburizing and carbonitriding atmosphere; and chemical vapor deposition atmosphere. External resistance heating, external combustion heating, internal resistance heating, direct resistance heating, submerged combustion heating, and internal combustion heating can be used to achieve the heat input for a fluidized bed. The article also describes the operations, design considerations, and applications of fluidized-bed furnaces in heat treating. Thermochemical surface treatments, such as carburizing, carbonitriding, nitriding, and nitrocarburizing, are also discussed. Finally, the article reviews the principles and applications of fluidized-bed heat treatment.