A fluidized bed, with a conical inlet to promote spouted bed type flow, carbonate based sorber design for removal of CO2 from flue gases is presented. CM simulations for a binary mixture show that a plug flow model is a good first approximation for the bubble-free fluidization achieved using two binary mixtures of 75 and 375 mu m particles. For a 75 mu m binary mixture, bubbles appeared initially similar to spouted bed behavior. A binary mixture of 375 mu m particles fluidized as an oscillating bed without bubble formation. The CFD model was used to compute wall-to-bed heat transfer coefficients needed for an optimal design. Equilibrium limitations require the use of several stages for removal of 90% CO2 (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.