Wall heat transfer coefficient and effective radial conductivity of ceramic foam catalyst supports

In this work, different tubular solid-foam packed-beds were experimentally investigated under air flow in order to determine the effective conductivity and wall-to-bed heat transfer coefficient. Several foam types with different material, namely silicon carbide and alumina, and cell density were tested. Foam samples were experimentally studied using different air flow rates and wall temperatures ranging between 200 and 500 °C. Axial and radial steady-state temperatures in the bed were experimentally measured and analysed with a two-dimensional, one-equation model. A Chilton–Colburn-type correlation based on the reactor diameter as characteristic dimension was proposed for the wall-to-bed heat transfer coefficient, which proved good to describe the behaviour of all tested foams. Effective radial thermal conductivity and pressure drop in the foams were also characterized.