The tracer particle method has been applied to investigate the effect of bed configuration on the kinetic forces of solid particles in fluidized beds. In general, the experiments show that the kinetic forces of fluidized particles increase with increasing particle size, bed height, and superficial gas velocity in a spouted fluidized bed, a square fluidized bed, and a two-dimensional fluidized bed. However, the kinetic forces in the two dimensional fluidized bed and the square fluidized bed were found to be smaller than those in the circular fluidized bed. Among circular beds the kinetic forces in the spouted fluidized beds were larger than those in the regular circular fluidized bed due to the existence of a jet. A Piezotron force sensor combined with the data acquisition system, using a PC computer, was developed and will be employed to study the force distribution in fluidized beds as a function of time and location.