This work aims to develop a transient three-dimensional mathematical model to predict the temperature distribution in a fixed-bed elliptical cylindrical reactor to different geometric aspect ratio (L2/L1=1.5, 2.0 and 3.0). The model considers variable thermo-physical properties, a flat temperature profile at the fluid inlet, as well as a variable porosity model. The governing equation is solved using the finite volume method, coupled with WUDS interpolation scheme and fully implicit method. Results of the temperature profile along the reactor are presented and discussed at different times. As results, it was found that the maximum rate of heat transfer within the reactor occurs near the minor half-axis region of the ellipse (cross-section area of the reactor) and it intensifies over time and that the dimensionless temperature profile is practically unchanged with the aspect ratio.
The drying process is a step of ceramic brick production which requires the control of process variables to provide a final product with a porous uniform structure, reducing superficial and volumetric defects and production costs. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is an important tool in this process control, predicting the drying physical phenomenon and providing data that improve the industrial efficiency production. Furthermore, research involving CFD brick drying has neglected the effects of oven parameters, limiting the analysis only to the bricks. In this sense, the aim of this work is to numerically study the hot air-drying process of an industrial hollow ceramic brick in an oven at 70 °C. The results of the water mass and temperature distributions inside the brick, as well as moisture, temperature, velocity and pressure fields of the oven drying air at different process times are shown, analyzed and compared with experimental data, presenting a good agreement.
The study of heat transfer in fixed bed tubular reactors of heated or cooled walls has presented great interest by the academy and industry. The adequate and safe design of such equipment requires the use of reliable and realistic mathematical. Unfortunately several studies are restrict to homogeneous model applied to circular and elliptic cylindrical reactors. Then, the objective of this work was to predict heat transfer in packed-bed elliptic cylindrical reactor, by using a proposed heterogeneous model. The mathematical model is composed for one solid phase and another fluid phase, in which the balance equation for each constituent is applied separately. The finite volume method was utilized to solve the partial differential equations using the WUDS scheme for interpolation of the convective and diffusive terms, and the fully implicit formulation. Results of the temperature distribution of the fluid and solid phases along the reactor are presented and analyzed. It was verified that the highest temperature gradients of the phases are located close to the wall and inlet of the reactor.
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