For the improvement of the design and operation of the FBC systems, the insight into the intrinsic transient bubbling phenomena in freely bubbling fluidized beds is of vital importance. The authors have found several basic new bubbling mechanisms in this work experimentally, and some of them have not been published in past literature. Using the two dimensional fluidized bed, the images of transient bubbling behavior were recorded by videos, and processed and analyzed by computers. As the results of experiments, the following new experimental facts were found: (1) transient bubbles change and fluctuate their size and shape over very short time intervals (on the order of 30 milliseconds,3028 ); (2) bubble disappearance and reappearance occurred in the emulsion phase in addition to the known phenomena of coalescence and splitting. The bubble interaction occurred between the bubbles and adjacent emulsion phase and also among the transient bubbles; (3) bubble`s velocity fluctuated significantly, e.g., 0.6 to 3.0 m/s; (4) under one single specific fluidization condition, two different fluidization patterns appeared to occur randomly shifting from one pattern to the other or vice versa; (5) the erosion rates of in-bed tubes at ambient and elevated temperature could be predicted using material property data and transient behavior of bubbles. By introducing a new quantitative criterion which the authors call a gas stress index in the emulsion phase, the comparison of the fluidization quality between two and three dimensional fluidized beds was accomplished. They found reasonable correspondence between the two beds, and concluded that the new findings of transient bubble behavior should hold true for both types of fluidized beds. 32 refs., 85 figs., 13 tabs.