Issues on numerical modelling of transport processes in granular reactive media – an approach with thermal relaxation

Abstract

The steadily growing interest in applying granular media in various novel and advanced technologies, particularly in the energy sector, entails the need to gain in-depth knowledge of their thermal and flow behaviour and develop simulation predictive tools for systems’ design and optimisation. The focus of the present study is on the numerical modelling of the thermal decomposition of solid fuel grains in a packed bed while considering a non-classical description of heat transfer in such a medium. The work aims to assess the influence of the relaxation time and thermo-physical properties of the medium on the nature of the solution and highlight the factors that are the source of local non-equilibrium affecting thermal wave speed propagation. The analysis of the predicted temperature distribution was carried out based on the developed transient one-dimensional thermal and flow model, taking into account the moisture evaporation and the devolatilization of fuel particles. Obtained simulation results showed a significant increase in the temperature gradients with increased relaxation times for the case of wet granular bed. They also demonstrated the variable dynamics of thermal wave propagation due to the change in the packed bed structure with the process progress. For a relaxation time of 100 s, a several-fold increase in the temperature signal propagation speed during the fuel bed thermal decomposition was predicted.