Heat Transfer Characteristics in Melting of Granular Packed Bed Subject to Horizontal Forced Convection
Abstract A series of experiments are conducted to investigate the characteristics of melting and heat transfer of a packed bed consisting of melting ice particles subject to horizontal forced convection. The packing pattern of ice particles in horizontally flowing water is recorded using a digital video camcorder and a digital camera at the water velocity of 0.01, 0.05, and 0.10 m/s, respectively, and supply water temperature of 4, 10, 20, and 30 °C, respectively. The mass of ice particles is measured at the desired time interval during the meting process. The volume of packed bed is obtained based on the digital images. The time variation of average melting rate per unit bed volume and average heat transfer coefficient is determined. Within the experimental conditions, the average melting rate per unit bed volume in the packed bed in horizontally flowing water increases during convective melting. The average heat transfer coefficient decreases during convective melting. The effects of water velocity and water temperature on the melting and heat transfer in the melting process are analyzed. The original experimental data and correlations for Nusselt number based on the present results are published.