In this paper, an alternative scale-up approach for fluidized beds with vertical heat exchanger tubes is presented. This sectoral scaling approach is based on the hydraulic diameter of a sector of vertical tubes in the fluidized bed. In this way, scale-up becomes independent of the total column diameter of the large-scale unit, and consequently any fluidized bed with the corresponding sector of vertical tubes can be scaled. In the same way, more stringent scaling laws can be applied. As a result, it is shown that in the mid-section of an industrial-scale and a lab-scale fluidized bed, similarity in terms of the incoherent output power spectral density (IOP) of pressure fluctuation measurements is achieved. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.