Transient Momentum and Enthalpy Transfer in Packed Beds at High Reynolds Numbers

Srinivasan, R and Raghunandan, BN (2010) Transient Momentum and Enthalpy Transfer in Packed Beds at High Reynolds Numbers. In: Journal of Thermophysics and Heat Transfer, 24 (3). pp. 524-533.

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Abstract

An experimental study for transient temperature response and pressure drop in a randomly packed bed at high Reynolds numbers is presented.The packed bed is used as a compact heat exchanger along with a solid-propellant gas generator, to generate room-temperature gases for use in control actuation, air bottle pressurization, etc. Packed beds of lengths 200 and 300 mm were characterized for packing-sphere-based Reynolds numbers ranging from 0.8 x 10(4) to 8.5 x 10(4).The solid packing used in the bed consisted of phi 9.5 mm steel spheres. The bed-to-particle diameter ratio was with the average packed-bed porosity around 0.43. The inlet flow temperature was unsteady and a mesh of spheres was used at either end to eliminate flow entrance and exit effects. Gas temperature and pressure were measured at the entry, exit,and at three axial locations along centerline in the packed beds. The solid packing temperature was measured at three axial locations in the packed bed. A correlation based on the ratio of pressure drop and inlet-flow momentum (Euler number) exhibited an asymptotically decreasing trend with increasing Reynolds number. Axial conduction across the packed bed was found to he negligible in the investigated Reynolds number range. The enthalpy absorption rate to solid packing from hot gases is plotted as a function of a nondimensional time constant for different Reynolds numbers. A longer packed bed had high enthalpy absorption rate at Reynolds number similar to 10(4), which decreased at Reynolds number similar to 10(5). The enthalpy absorption plots can be used for estimating enthalpy drop across packed bed with different material, but for a geometrically similar packing.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Journal of Thermophysics and Heat Transfer
Publisher:	American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Aerospace Engineering(Formerly Aeronautical Engineering)
Date Deposited:	18 Aug 2010 11:23
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 06:14
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/31324

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