Computational Investigations of Pyrolysis in Porous Media: Impact of Heat and Mass Transfer

The present paper deals with impact of heat and mass transfer on pyrolysis mechanisms in a porous media. Importance of porous medium anisotropy is addressed by using a two-dimensional simulation of the problem. To do so, the energy equation is discretized in space by a central differencing while modeling of mass transfer is based on pressure instead of velocity formulation. The kinetics is assumed to follow the lumped-parameter model which is mainly described by a three competitive reactions scheme. Results shed light on the role of grain over the pyrolytic behavior. The grain structure is found to strongly affect heat conduction as well as flows of volatile products through the pores.