When the packed bed has a fluid passed over it, the pressure drop of the fluid is approximately proportional to the fluid's superficial velocity. In order to transition from a packed bed to a fluidised condition, the gas velocity is continually raised. For a free-standing bed there will exist a point, known as the minimum or incipient fluidisation point, whereby the bed's mass is suspended directly by the flow of the fluid stream. The corresponding fluid velocity, known as the "minimum