Particle scale study of heat transfer in packed and fluidized beds

Understanding and modeling coupled flow and heat transfer in a particulate system at a particle scale is a rapidly developing research area, in connection with the development of discrete particle simulation techniques and computer technology. The approach based on the discrete element method plays an important role in this area. This approach can provide detailed dynamic information of particulate systems, such as realistic packing structure, transient/static deformation, and relative velocities between fluid and individual particles. The information is directly related to the prediction of thermal behavior. In this chapter, the development of this approach in our laboratory is briefly reviewed, together with the discussion of different case studies. It is concluded that this particle scale approach is effective for studying the coupled fluid flow and heat transfer in particulate systems, although further developments are necessary to be generally applied to industrial processes.