Simulation of heat transfer in a counterflow porous bed reactor with a thermal non-equilibrium model

Abstract

The objective of this work is to study the influence of physical and geometrical properties on heat transfer between solid and fluid phases in a counter-flow porous bed, for cases where the fluid moves in opposite direction with respect to the permeable matrix. For simulating the flow and heat transfer, a two-energy equation model is applied in addition to a mechanical model. Transport equations are discretized using the control-volume method. The effects of solid-to-fluid velocity ratio, permeability, porosity, ratio of solid-to-fluid thermal capacity and ratio of solid-to-fluid thermal conductivity on flow and heat transport are analyzed. Results for a counterflow, that is similar to the heat exchangers in a countercurrent, indicate that there is more heat exchange for the smaller values of the parameters analyzed resulting in more uniform heat transfer between phases along the channel. Copyright © 2011 by ASME.