Unsteady convection in a cavity due to pyrolysis

Unsteady convection in a square enclosure produced by pyrolysis of combustible wall is numerically studied. Gas phase processes including mass, momentum and heat transfers are coupled with solid phase processes, heat conduction and thermal degradation (pyrolysis) through conditions at the solid interface. For the gas phase, the unsteady two dimensional Navier-Stokes equations are written in stream-function vorticity formulation under the Boussinesq approximation. Solid phase processes are described by a conduction equation. This study examines the results obtained in the case of a right combustible wall, and compares them with the case of a floor combustible wall.     

Unsteady flow of a dusty Bingham fluid through a porous medium in a circular pipe

A time-varying flow through a porous medium of a dusty viscous incompressible Bingham fluid in a circular pipe is studied. A constant pressure gradient is applied in the axial direction, whereas the particle phase is assumed to behave as a viscous fluid. The effect of the medium porosity, the non-Newtonian fluid characteristics, and the particle phase viscosity on the transient behavior of the velocity, volumetric flow rates, and skin friction coefficients of both the fluid and particle phases is investigated. A numerical solution is obtained for the governing nonlinear momentum equations by using the method of finite differences.     

Euler–Lagrange/DEM simulation of wood gasification in a bubbling fluidized bed reactor

We present an Euler–Lagrange method for the simulation of wood gasification in a bubbling fluidized bed. The gas phase is modeled as a continuum using the 2D Navier–Stokes equations and the solid phase is modeled by a Discrete Element Method (DEM) using a soft-sphere approach for the particle collision dynamic. Turbulence is included via a Large-Eddy approach using the Smagorinsky sub-grid model. The model takes into account detailed gas phase chemistry, zero-dimensional modeling of the pyrolysis and gasification of each individual particle, particle shrinkage, and heat and mass transfer between the gas phase and the particulate phase. We investigate the influence of wood feeding rate and compare exhaust gas compositions and temperature results obtained with the model against experimental data of a laboratory scale bubbling fluidized bed reactor.     

MHD natural convection flow with radiative heat transfer past an impulsively moving plate with ramped wall temperature

Influence of radiation on unsteady hydromagnetic natural convection transient flow near an impulsively moving vertical flat plate with ramped wall temperature in a porous medium is studied. Exact solution of momentum and energy equations, under Boussinesq approximation, is obtained in closed form by Laplace transform technique. The variations in fluid velocity and temperature are shown graphically whereas numerical values of skin friction and Nusselt number are presented in tabular form.     

Linear waves in saturated porous media

The peculiarity of linear and nonlinear wave propagation in porous media saturated with liquid or gas has been investigated by the methods of multiphase media mechanics. It has been shown that for the analysis and interpretation of experimental data, it is expedient to build models taking into account the nonstationary powers of interaction between the solid and liquid phases and the viscouselastic behaviour of the porous media skeleton. Inertia and inertia-viscous powers principally influence wave attentuation in porous media. Two interphase mechanisms of momentum transfer (two stress tensors — in the solid phase and liquid) lead to two types of waves. Attenuation is determined not only by interphase friction, but also by dissipation resulting from intergrain friction in the solid phase, the influence of which multiplexly exceeds the liquid viscosity influence. The real decrement of attenuation may exceed the sphere restricted by the limiting curves corresponding to the frozen and equilibrium schemes of intergrain deformation. The attenuation of momentum perturbation has been studied. The method of discrete Fourier transform has been used. The analysis of experimental data contained in the literature and their comparison with the results of calculations has been carried out.     

Dufour and Soret effects on MHD flow of viscous fluid between radially stretching sheets in porous medium

The aim of this paper is to examine the Dufour and Soret effects on the two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) steady flow of an electrically conducting viscous fluid bounded by infinite sheets. An incompressible viscous fluid fills the porous space. The mathematical analysis is performed in the presence of viscous dissipation, Joule heating, and a first-order chemical reaction. With suitable transformations, the governing partial differential equations through momentum, energy, and concentration laws are transformed into ordinary differential equations. The resulting equations are solved by the homotopy analysis method (HAM). The convergence of the series solutions is ensured. The effects of the emerging parameters, the skin friction coefficient, the Nusselt number, and the Sherwood number are analyzed on the dimensionless velocities, temperature, and concentration fields.     

Numerical modelling of gas–solid fluidized beds using the two‐fluid approach

This paper details an approach to modelling gas–solid fluidized beds using the two‐fluid granular temperature model. Details concerning the difficulties associated with the boundary conditions, particularly for curved boundaries, are described along with a novel means of obtaining the internal stress of the solid‐phase, in part, by solving an implicit equation. This results in a scheme that is stable even when the solid volume fraction is close to maximum packing. A transient, mixed finite element discretization is used to solve the multi‐phase equations with a discontinuous finite element representation of the granular temperature and continuity equations. A new solution method is proposed to solve the coupled momentum and continuity equations based on Arnoldi iteration. Two fluidized beds are modelled, one in the bubbling regime and the other in the slugging regime. These simulations are compared with experiments. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

AN ALGEBRAIC MULTIGRID METHOD FOR COUPLED THERMO-HYDRO-MECHANICAL PROBLEMS

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Momentum and heat transfer over a continuous moving surface in a non-Darcian fluid

The momentum and heat transfer characteristics associated with the boundary layer on a continuous moving flat surface in a non-Darcian fluid have been investigated exploiting a local similarity solution procedure. The full boundary layer equations, which describe the effects of convective inertia, solid boundary, and porous inertia in addition to the Darcy flow resistance, were solved using novel transformed variables, deduced from a scale analysis on the momentum and energy conservation equations. Details are provided for the effects of convective inertia and porous inertia on the velocity and temperature profiles. The resulting friction and heat transfer characteristics are found to be substantially different from those of forces convection over a stationary flat plate. Furthermore, useful asymptotic expressions for the local Nusselt number are presented in consideration of possible physical limiting conditions.     

Evolution of governing mass and momentum balances following an abrupt pressure impact in a porous medium

A mathematical model is developed of an abrupt pressure impact applied to a compressible fluid flowing through a porous medium domain. Nondimensional forms of the macroscopic fluid mass and momentum balance equations yield two new scalar numbers relating storage change to pressure rise. A sequence of four reduced forms of mass and momentum balance equations are shown to be associated with a sequence of four time periods following the onset of a pressure change. At the very first time period, pressure is proven to be distributed uniformly within the affected domain. During the second time interval, the momentum balance equation conforms to a wave form. The behavior during the third time period is governed by the averaged Navier-Stokes equation. After a long time, the fourth period is dominated by a momentum balance similar to Brinkman's equation which may convert to Darcy's equation when friction at the solid-fluid interface dominates.     

Evolution of the balance equations in saturated thermoelastic porous media following abrupt simultaneous changes in pressure and temperature

A mathematical model is developed for saturated flow of a Newtonian fluid in a thermoelastic, homogeneous, isotropic porous medium domain under nonisothermal conditions. The model contains mass, momentum and energy balance equations. Both the momentum and energy balance equations have been developed to include a Forchheimer term which represents the interaction at the solid-fluid interface at high Reynolds numbers. The evolution of these equations, following an abrupt change in both fluid pressure and temperature, is presented. Using a dimensional analysis, four evolution periods are distinguished. At the very first instant, pressure, effective stress, and matrix temperature are found to be disturbed with no attenuation. During this stage, the temporal rate of pressure change is linearly proportional to that of the fluid temperature. In the second time period, nonlinear waves are formed in terms of solid deformation, fluid density, and velocities of phases. The equation describing heat transfer becomes parabolic. During the third evolution stage, the inertial and the dissipative terms are of equal order of magnitude. However, during the fourth time period, the fluid's inertial terms subside, reducing the fluid's momentum balance equation to the form of Darcy's law. During this period, we note that the body and surface forces on the solid phase are balanced, while mechanical work and heat conduction of the phases are reduced.     

Transient free convection with mass transfer MHD micropolar fluid in a porous plate by the network method

The transient problem of coupled heat and mass transfer of a micropolar fluid in magneto‐hydrodynamic free convection from a vertical infinite porous plate with an exponentially decaying heat generating considering the viscous dissipation and ohmic heating effects is studied. Joule heating must be considered when the viscous dissipation and the Prandtl number are large. The non‐dimensional equations for the conservation of mass, momentum, energy and concentration are solved by means a numerical technique based on electric analogy (network simulation method). This method provides the numerical response of the system by running the network in circuit resolution software with the solution to both transient and steady‐state problems at the same time, and its programming does not require manipulation of the sophisticated mathematical software that is inherent in other numerical methods. The effects of the material parameters, viscous dissipation, internal generation and Joule heating on velocity, angular momentum and temperature fields across the boundary layer are investigated. In addition, the skin‐friction coefficient, couple stress coefficient, Nusselt number and Sherwood number are shown in tabular form. The numerical results for velocity and temperature distributions of micropolar fluids are compared with the corresponding flow problems for a Newtonian fluid. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical investigation of premixed combustion in a porous burner with integrated heat exchanger

In this paper, we perform a numerical analysis of a two-dimensional axisymmetric problem arising in premixed combustion in a porous burner with integrated heat exchanger. The physical domain consists of two zones, porous and heat exchanger zones. Two dimensional Navier–Stokes equations, gas and solid energy equations, and chemical species transport equations are solved and heat release is described by a multistep kinetics mechanism. The solid matrix is modeled as a gray medium, and the finite volume method is used to solve the radiative transfer equation to calculate the local radiation source/sink in the solid phase energy equation. Special attention is given to model heat transfer between the hot gas and the heat exchanger tube. Thus, the corresponding terms are added to the energy equations of the flow and the solid matrix. Gas and solid temperature profiles and species mole fractions on the burner centerline, predicted 2D temperature fields, species concentrations and streamlines are presented. Calculated results for temperature profiles are compared to experimental data. It is shown that there is good agreement between the numerical solutions and the experimental data and it is concluded that the developed numerical program is an excellent tool to investigate combustion in porous burner.     

A Kinetic Approach to the Plane Poiseuille Flow Over a Porous Matrix

The Poiseuille–Couette gas flow in a channel and the gas flow through an adjacent porous medium are considered when the governing equations are obtained via a molecular kinetic approach based on the Boltzmann equation. The mass continuity, momentum balance and energy conservation are written for the gas in the contiguous regions, whereas the behavior of the solid matrix obeys to the heat diffusion equation. Two different space scalings lead to different forms of the equations for the steady flow through the fully saturated matrix. The boundary conditions at the interface between the two domains are investigated via a matching procedure.     

Contributions to Theoretical/Experimental Developments in Shock Waves Propagation in Porous Media

Macroscopic balance equations of mass, momentum and energy for compressible Newtonian fluids within a thermoelastic solid matrix are developed as the theoretical basis for wave motion in multiphase deformable porous media. This leads to the rigorous development of the extended Forchheimer terms accounting for the momentum exchange between the phases through the solid-fluid interfaces. An additional relation presenting the deviation (assumed of a lower order of magnitude) from the macroscopic momentum balance equation, is also presented. Nondimensional investigation of the phases' macroscopic balance equations, yield four evolution periods associated with different dominant balance equations which are obtained following an abrupt change in fluid's pressure and temperature. During the second evolution period, the inertial terms are dominant. As a result the momentum balance equations reduce to nonlinear wave equations. Various analytical solutions of these equations are described for the 1-D case. Comparison with literature and verification with shock tube experiments, serve as validation of the developed theory and the computer code.A 1-D TVD-based numerical study of shock wave propagation in saturated porous media, is presented. A parametric investigation using the developed computer code is also given.     

Modeling fluid and heat transport in the reactive, porous bed of downdraft (biomass) gasifier

A fluid flow and heat transfer model has been developed for the reactive, porous bed of the biomass gasifier to simulate pressure drop, temperature profile in the bed and flow rates. The conservation equations, momentum equation and energy equation are used to describe fluid and heat transport in porous gasifier bed. The model accounted for drag at wall, and the effect of radial as well as axial variation in bed porosity to predict pressure drop in bed. Heat transfer has been modeled using effective thermal conductivity approach. Model predictions are validated against the experiments, while effective thermal conductivity values are tested qualitatively using models available in literature. Parametric analysis has been carried out to investigate the effect of various parameters on bed temperature profile and pressure drop through the gasifier. The temperature profile is found to be very sensitive to gas flow rate, and heat generation in oxidation zone, while high bed temperature, gas flow rate and the reduction in feedstock particle size are found to cause a marked increase in pressure drop through the gasifier. The temperatures of the down stream zones are more sensitive to any change in heat generation in the bed as compared to upstream zone. Author recommends that the size of preheating zone may be extended up to pyrolysis zone in order to enhance preheating of input air, while thermal insulation should not be less than 15 cm.     

Efficient gasification of wet biomass residue to produce middle caloric gas

Various process residues represent a kind of biomass resource already concentrated but containing water as much as 60 wt.%.These materials are generally treated as waste or simply combusted directly to generate heat.Recently,we attempted to convert them into middle caloric gas to substitute for natural gas,as a chemical or a high-rank gaseous fuel for advanced combustion utilities.Such conversion is implemented through dual fluidized bed gasification (DFBG).Concerning the high water content of the fuels,DFBG was suggested to accomplish either with high-efficiency fuel drying in advance or direct decoupling of fuel drying/pyrolysis from char gasification and tar/hydrocarbon reforming.Along with fuel drying,calcium-based catalyst can be impregnated into the fuel,without much additional cost,to increase the fuel's gasification reactivity and to reduce tar formation.This article reports the Ca impregnation method and its resulting effects on gasification reactivity and tar suppression ability.Meanwhile,the principle of directly gasifying wet fuel with decoupled dual fluidized bed gasification (D-DFBG) is also highlighted.     

Particle/Turbulence Interactions, Mass Transfer and Gas/Solid Chemistry in a CFBC Riser

Gas/solid chemistry in the upper, dilute region of a circulating fluidised bed combustor (CFBC) riser is addressed. The limitations of turbulent mixing are illustrated by the example of the heterogeneous NO/CO/char reaction, relevant in CFB combustion of nitrogen-containing solid fuels. The mass transfer of the gaseous reactants to the char surface is determined, and how the conversion is influenced by the degree of mixing of the multiphase system by turbulent dispersion. Particle/turbulence interactions are taken into account by a (Lagrangian) frequency spectrum of velocity fluctuations, which determine the dispersion of the char particles described here with the Tchen–Hinze model. Chars from solid fuels characterised by fuel ratio (FR) ranging from 0.1 (wood) via 0.5 (peat) and 1 (coal A) to 2 (coal B) were considered. The effective rate of the NO/CO/char reaction is determined as a function of the size and type of the char particle, temperature, particle concentration, reactor dimensions and fluidization velocity, at atmospheric pressure. It was found that for this case the effective gas/solid conversion rate in the upper, dilute region of the riser is much lower than the gas/solid chemistry, mainly due to mass transfer limitations for char particles with sizes of typically 300 μm. The concentration of NO at the char particle surface is only a few % of that in the bulk gas phase. Strong influences were found for particle size and temperature, whilst the fluidisation velocity and the reactor size have only a small influence. It is concluded that for a typical CFB riser, for particles larger than approx. 20 μm, mass transfer has a stronger influence on the heterogeneous NO/CO/char reduction mechanism than the ``unmixedness' due to particle eddy dispersion limitations. It is recommended that this or a similar approach to turbulent dispersive mixing is implemented in CFD codes when these are used for boiler and furnace calculations. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Constitutive equation of a gas-filled two-phase medium

A set of equations governing the consolidation of a two-phase medium consisting of a porous elastic skeleton saturated with a highly compressible liquid (gas), is described. The homogenization method was utilized to deduce the equations. For the equivalent macroscopic medium, mass and momentum conservation equations and the flow equation of pore liquid are presented. Sample material constants were calculated using laboratory test results which were carried out at the Institute of Geotechnics, Technical University of Wroclaw.