Numerical Analysis Model of Forced Convection Heat Transfer of a Layer of Spherical Particles Considering Boundary Wall Effect.

Abstract

A simple model for the heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics in a layer of spherical particles is proposed in the present study. The layer of spherical particles bounded by two parallel boundary walls is considered to consist in two regions, one of which is the near-wall region of particles within a half-diameter of the spherical particle from the wall, and the other is the core region of particles over a half-diameter of the spherical particle away from the wall. The characteristics of the near-wall region, such as the permeability, the Forchheimer coefficient, and the thermal dispersion coefficient, are determined based on the experimental data for a one-stage spherical particle layer. For the core region, the permeability and the Forchheimer coefficient are evaluated using previous correlations for a homogeneous spherical particle layer, while the thermal dispersion coefficient is modified from that given by the previous correlation for a homogeneous spherical particle layer to include the effect of the thermal conductivity ratio of the spherical particle and the fluid. The effective thermal conductivity of the layer of spherical particles is assumed to be constant in the present model. The validity of the model is proved by comparing the results of this analysis with experimental results under various conditions.