Wall-particles heat transfer in rotating heat exchangers

Abstract

The wall-particles heat transfer coefficient has been measured in small-scale rotary drum heat exchangers. Experiments have been conducted with nine granular materials of different nature, with particle diameters ranging from 194 μm to 4mm. The effects of rotational speed (1–40 rev min −1), filling degree (4–17%) and drum diameter (0.25 and 0.485 m) have been investigated. The experimental data have been correlated by a semi-empirical relationship, that includes a contact resistance at the wall, the heat capacity of the particles immediately adjacent to the wall and the heat penetration resistance of the bulk of the particle bed. The contact resistance is shown to be due to the roughness of the particles. A mean roughness height of 12 μm provides a good fit to the measured coefficients.