Experimental and numerical research on heat and air flow through a granular material

The paper is devoted to experimental and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) studies of heat and mass transfer processes in granular material layers. The 3D numerical model is based on a high-order computational code combined with the immersed boundary method (IB) for modelling the flow and temperature distributions in geometrically complex systems. The temperature measurements are performed using thermocouples placed inside the layers closed in a climatic chamber. Besides providing data for validation of the numerical results one of the key tasks of the experiment was to examine an impact of an external temperature changes on the temperature distribution in the interior of the layers depending on their structures and physical properties. The obtained results reveal very complex flow and heat transfer inside the layers. It is shown that the temperature inside the layers can be effectively changed and controlled by the parameters of air flowing through them.