Numerical investigation of heat transfer and water infiltration characteristics within two-dimensional granular packed beds

Abstract

This study used numerical analysis to determine the transport phenomena of hot water infiltration in a two-dimensional granular packed bed. The present study aims to investigate the parameter that affects the water saturation and temperature distribution in the two-dimensional porous packed bed. For this purpose, the problem was solved numerically using two-dimensional unsaturated flow and heat transfer models of hot water infiltration. Novel studies on the simultaneous heat and moisture transfer during hot water infiltration in partially saturated porous materials were investigated. The study illustrated the characteristics of heat and moisture transfer during the water infiltration process in various testing conditions. The results of the numerical model were validated with the results from previous research. It was found that the water flux supplied, and particle size have significant effects on the distribution of water saturation and temperature in the packed bed. The water saturation and heating area of the fine particles tended to expand in the lateral direction faster than the downward direction. The increase in supplied water flux resulted in a deeper and larger zone of water saturation and heating area. Furthermore, the heating area was found to be expanding slower than the water saturation front in all conditions.

Keywords

• Infiltration
• Temperature
• Water saturation
• Porous packed bed
• Heat transfer