UNSTEADY, TWO-DIMENSIONAL HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER IN A PACKED BED OF FINE PARTICLES WITH AN ENDOTHERMIC PROCESS

The basic differential equations controlling the temperature and concentration field in a single packed bed of fine particles were derived and solved for the general case in which unsteady, two-dimensional heat and mass transfer lakes place with an endothermic process.

The time-change of particle- and fluid-temperature and concentration of water vapor (humidity) were calculated by a numerical method which assumed that the rate of the endothermic process can be expressed by a first-order rate equation and that the fluid flowing through the bed is of the piston flow type.

The experiments were conducted for the drying of silica-gel and the two-stage dehydration reaction of natural gypsum to demonstrate the applicability of the present theoretical analysis.

It has been found that the calculated results show satisfactory agreement with the measured data within the range of the experimental conditions employed.