Modeling heat transfer of the electrothermal reactor for magnesium production

Abstract

Thermal analysis of high temperature electrothermal reactor for magnesium production was carried out in full 3D configuration using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). As the temperature inside the reactor reaches to 1200–1500 K, it becomes difficult to understand and control the heat transfer inside the reactor as the thermocouples were embedded in the insulating layers, much away from the core. The present analysis provides a useful tool to correlate the core temperature with experimental thermocouple readings. The transient state CFD simulation is carried out for the actual pilot scale design of the reactor, considering all the modes of heat transfer-conduction, convection and radiation and actual temperature dependent physical properties of the insulating materials. The heat flux and the spatial temperature profile of the various interfaces of insulation layers were also quantified.