The granular materials involved in industrial moving beds vary widely, and the corresponding flow characteristics differ. This paper compares the flow characteristics of three kinds of typical granular materials, namely, glass beads, corundum beads, and coarse sand. The repose, internal friction, and particle-wall friction angles of these materials are measured, and the flow characteristics of these materials in near 2D silos, in moving beds with aligned pipes and staggered pipes are studied by particle image velocimetry (PIV). Detailed results regarding the vertical velocity distributions, horizontal velocity distributions, local velocity held surrounding pipes, and dimensionless tangential velocity distribution around pipes of the three granular materials are revealed and compared. The mass flow index of silos, the kinetic energy correction factor in certain cross sections and average dimensionless tangential velocities around pipes are calculated to reveal the similarities and differences of flow characteristics for different granular materials in moving beds. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.