Numerical Simulation of Packed Bed Heat Regenerators

Abstract

The study of packed beds as heat regenerators under different thermal conditions is the main objective of the present work. A three equation model was used to study the thermal behavior of the system. For the thermal interaction between the fluid and the packed bed, two local thermal nonequilibrium equations were used. The velocity field was calculated with the Darcy-Brinkman-Forchheimer extended momentum equation. Steady and unsteady heating as well as radial porosity variation were considered in the model. The Finite Volume Method was employed to solve the above
mentioned set of Partial Differential Equations (PDEs). Numerical results were compared with both our own experimental data and previous results reported by peers. Computational errors were typically in the range of 2 to 12%, depending on the conditions imposed to the model.