Bed fluidization + air blower

[coolnessitself]

I'm looking to create a fluidization bed like in this video by putting an air blower under a cylinder of beads. For a given cylinder and particle type, I was looking into the flow velocity needed to make this happen.
I came across this (see the first section) which gives a numerical result for u, the minimum velocity required for fluidization, in the range that I'd expect.
I was initially somewhat surprised that the formula and result are independent of the height, equivalently the mass, of the particles in the cylinder. (Just in case, I derived this myself and also found a dissertation that experimentally confirms this for several geometries.) But I guess the result -- the minimum flow velocity V required for fluidization -- assumes the air blower is able to deliver that velocity, or at least deliver that flow rate Q = V * Area at the blower exit, which seems to be reported by air blower specs (in cubic feet per meter CFM)

So I suspect it has something to do with HP or Wattage of the blower. In other words, if I have a required flow velocity, a cross-sectional area, all the variables in the washu link plus height of the particles (or their mass and density), and a blower's spec'd flow rate (in CFM), how do determine if a blower will suffice? Some f(horsepower)?

 

[Illmatic1]

The formula for the minimum flow velocity (u) required for fluidization is dependent on the particle diameter, but it is independent of the height (or mass) of the particles. The formula assumes that the air blower is able to deliver the required flow velocity (V). To determine if a particular blower will suffice, you need to calculate the flow rate (Q) at the blower exit, which is equal to V * A (where V is the minimum flow velocity and A is the cross-sectional area of the cylinder). The flow rate of the blower should be greater than or equal to the calculated flow rate (Q) in order for it to be sufficient. The flow rate of the blower is usually reported in cubic feet per minute (CFM), which can be converted to horsepower (HP) or watts (W).