fluidized

Yes, this involves higher temperature (the sand is stable up to ~1200 C) and transfer of heat from the sand to a working gas by means of Babcock & Wilcox's fluidized bed heat exchanger technology.

Babcock and Wilcox are commercializing this now, using their very nifty direct contact sand/gas fluidized bed heat exchanger.

For example with a fluidized bed reactor, Mechanical engineer would be familiar with mechanical systems (valves, hydraulics etc).

A fluidized bed of 700C supercritical CO2 would be able to thermally crack woody biomass quite effectively.

A significant minority of purified silicon is now manufactured via even more efficient fluidized bed reactors.

The IP has been licensed by Babcock and Wilcox, who are the source of the nifty compact fluidized bed heat exchanger.

As soon as the erosion transitions from shear-based (smooth sheets) to bulk (fluidized), none of the data extends to that regime.

And if you are looking for someone more modern I'd say Ergun (Packed bed's, Fluidized Bed Reactors etc).

Just trying to wrap my head around how much the friction can be changed by vibration, like a solid-ish state fluidized bed.

Heat is transferred from the sand to the gas for a Brayton cycle by direct contact in a fluidized bed heat exchanger.

He did much of the work on industrial fluidized beds among other things.

The marginal capital cost of this capability would be very low, just that of adding a fluidized bed hydrogen combustor to heat the sand.