The behaviour of two different nano-sized powders, Al2O3 (40 nm) and SiO2 (15 nm), during aeration has been investigated in a laboratory scale fluidized bed. The fluidization quality of both powders is very poor without application of acoustic fields even if some bed expansion has been found. The application of acoustic fields of intensities larger than 135 dB and frequencies close to 120 Hz is able to increase the fluidization quality of both powders. Sound is also able to promote an apparent self-fluidization of a relatively thin portion of the upper part of the bed. The possibility that there is an efficient mixing between aggregates during aeration has been highlighted by experiments using a tracer powder
