Experimental and numerical investigation of heat conduction in porous media

ABSTRACT: Heat transfer in porous media has recently become an important subject in mechanical engineering. This study presents experimental and numerical investigations of the effective thermal conductivity in porous media. A porous sample (pumice stone) has been used in experimental investigations. Bottom and upper parts of the sample were cooled and heated using heat exchanger and the water thermal bath. The interior temperatures of four different locations of the sample were measured at various times. Then, the effective thermal conductivity of the material was calculated. The experiment was modeled and simulated and the governing equation was numerically solved using finite difference method. The obtained value of effective thermal conductivity of material was very close to the values have been found in literatures. Keywords: Porous Media, Thermal conductivity, Effective Thermal Conductivity. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………