In this study, a bubbling fluidized bed column, 99 mm in inside diameter and 960 mm in height, was used to investigate the effect of rod and disc promoters on fluctuation and expansion ratios. Factorial design (statistical approach) and artificial neural network (ANN) models were developed to predict the fluctuation and expansion ratios in this gas–solid fluidized bed with varying gas flow rates, bed heights, particle sizes and densities. The fluctuation and expansion predicted using these statistical and ANN models, for beds with and without promoters, were found to agree well with corresponding experiments. The statistical model was found to be superior to the ANN model due to its ability to take into account both individual and interactive effects. The rod promoters were found to be more effective in reducing bed fluctuation, and in increasing bed expansion at high gas mass velocities. In this study, a bubbling fluidized bed column, 99 mm in inside diameter and 960 mm in height, was used to investigate the effect of rod and disc promoters on fluctuation and expansion ratios. Factorial design (statistical approach) and artificial neural network (ANN ) models were developed to predict the fluctuation and expansion ratios in this gas-solid fluidized bed with varying gas flow rates, bed heights, particle sizes and densities. The fluctuation and expansion predicted using these statistics and ANN models, for beds with and without promoters , were found to agree well with corresponding experiments. The statistical model was found to be superior to the ANN model due to its ability to take into account both individual and interactive effects. The rod promoters were found to be more effective in reducing bed fluctuation, and in increasing bed expansion at high gas mass velocities.