Modeling of effective thermal conductivity for porous media

A theoretical study has been made on the effective thermal conductivity for porous media. We consider the periodic structure of porous media, and decide the effective thermal conductivity without the assumption of local thermal equilibrium. We determine the temperature distribution at the interface between the fluid and solid phases from one-dimensional analysis of heat conduction through the series arrangement geometry of porous media, and propose a model of the effective thermal conductivity for arbitrary porous structure. The present model can predict the theoretical results for the series and parallel arrangements of plates, and it can be applied to an anisotropic porous structure. Furthermore, the present model is in good agreement with the experimental data of beds of spherical particles given by Nozad et al (1).