Fluidization of particles with a high moisture content and wide size distribution is difficult. In this study, pulsation-assisted flow (PAF) was used to enhance the fluidization of wet particles with a wide size distribution. The combination of pulsed and steady flow increased the particle-mixing rate and broke the liquid bridge between solid particles, which prevented particle agglomeration. PAF enhanced the fluidization performance by increasing the separation rate of large particles, thus narrowing the size distribution in the fluidized bed. The effect of PAF on the fluidization performance was also investigated using a newly developed fluidization model, which was verified by comparison with experimental results. The model was used to investigate the relationship between bubble size and pulsed flow frequency, as well as the effect of pulsed flow frequency on particle agglomeration. The model could also predict the optimal pulsed flow frequency for fluidization of wet particles. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.