Flow characterization using PIV measurements in a low aspect ratio randomly packed porous bed

Low aspect ratio porous beds (bed width to bead diameter) have engineering applications such as catalytic reactors, combustors and heat exchangers. The nature of the packing within the bed and the influence of the near-wall region especially for randomly packed beds are expected to affect the velocity field and consequently the statistical characteristics of the flow. Planar PIV measurements were taken using refractive index matching at discrete locations throughout a randomly packed bed with aspect ratio of 4.67 for steady, low pore Reynolds number flows, Re ~ 4. Details of the measurement uncertainties as well as methods to determine local magnification and determination of the dynamic velocity range are presented. The data are analyzed using the PIV correlation averaging method with the largest velocity uncertainties arising from out-of-plane motion. Results show the correspondence with the geometric and velocity correlation functions across the bed and that the centerline of the bed shows a random-like distribution of velocity with an integral length scale on the order of one hydraulic diameter (or 0.38 bead diameters based on the porosity for this bed). The velocity variance is shown to increase by a factor of 1.8 when comparing the center plane data versus using data across the entire bed. It is shown that the large velocity variance contributes strongly to increased dispersion estimates and that based on the center plane data of the variance and integral length scales, the dispersion coefficient matches well with that measured in high aspect ratio beds using global data. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.