A correlation is proposed to predict heat transfer coefficient of liquid-fluidized beds. This correlation was developed based on a series of experiments. In these experiments, heat transfer coefficients were measured both on column walls and on embedded single tubes/tube bundles. Besides heat transfer measurement, fundamental flow parameters, such as the terminal velocity and the bed voidage, were also investigated. The experimental results showed that the diameter of the column or of the embedded tube has a large effect on heat transfer, and furthermore, has an opposite effect, i.e., the heat transfer coefficient increases with increasing column diameter, however, it decreases with increasing tube diameter. The developed correlation could reproduce all heat transfer data obtained above with an accuracy of +/- 15%, including data of particle mixtures of two kinds, in a region from minimum fluidization to liquid single-phase flow where particles are discharged completely. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.