Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) models must be thoroughly validated before they can be used with confidence for designing fluidized bed reactors. In this study, validation data were collected from a fluidized bed of (Geldart's group B) alumina particles operated at different gas velocities involving two fluidization hydrodynamic regimes (bubbling and slugging). The bed expansion, height of bed fluctuations and frequency of fluctuations were measured from videos of the fluidized bed. The Eulerian-Eulerian two fluid model MFIX was used to simulate the experiments. Two different models for the particle stresses-Schaeffer [Syamlal, M., Rogers, W., O'Brien, T.J., 1993. MFIX documentation: theory guide. Technical Report DOE/METC-94/1004 (DE9400087). Morgantown Energy Technology Centre. Morgantown, West Virginia (can be downloaded from Multiphase Flow with Interphase eXchanges (MFIX) website (http://www.mfix.org)); Schaeffer, D.G., 1987. Instability in the evolution equations describing incompressible granular flow. journal of Differential Equations 66, 61-74.] and Princeton [Srivastava, A., Sundaresan, S., 2003. Analysis of a frictional-kinetic model for gas-particle flow. Powder Technology 129(1-3), 72-85.] models-and different values of the restitution coefficient and internal angle of friction were evaluated. 3-D simulations are required for getting quantitative and qualitative agreement with experimental data. The results from the Princeton model are in better agreement with data than that from the Schaeffer model. Both free slip and Johnson-Jackson boundary conditions give nearly identical results. An increase in coefficient of restitution (e) from 0.8 to 1 leads to larger bed expansions and lower heights of fluctuations in the bubbling regime, whereas it leads to unchanged bed expansion and to a massive reduction in the height of fluctuations in the slugging regime. The angle of internal friction (phi) in the range 10-40 degrees does not affect the bed expansion, but its reduction significantly reduces the height of fluctuations. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.