Effects of the Aspect Ratio and Cross-Sectional Area of Rectangular Tubes on Packing Characteristics of Mono-Sized Pebble Beds

Baoping Gong (), Hao Cheng, Juemin Yan, Long Wang, Yongjin Feng and Xiaoyu Wang
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Baoping Gong: Southwestern Institute of Physics, P.O. Box 432, Chengdu 610041, China
Hao Cheng: Southwestern Institute of Physics, P.O. Box 432, Chengdu 610041, China
Juemin Yan: Southwestern Institute of Physics, P.O. Box 432, Chengdu 610041, China
Long Wang: Southwestern Institute of Physics, P.O. Box 432, Chengdu 610041, China
Yongjin Feng: Southwestern Institute of Physics, P.O. Box 432, Chengdu 610041, China
Xiaoyu Wang: Southwestern Institute of Physics, P.O. Box 432, Chengdu 610041, China

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-24

Abstract: The packing characteristics of a pebble bed are essential to understand the heat- and mass-transfer processes occurring within a granular system. Therefore, the packing characteristics of rectangular prismatic pebble beds randomly packed with mono-sized pebbles are analyzed. In terms of the average and local packing fraction distribution, coordination number, and radial distribution function, the effects of the rectangular tube aspect ratio and cross-sectional area on the packing properties of pebble beds are explored in depth. The findings indicate that the packing structures of the rectangular pebble bed exhibit noticeable fixed-wall effects. The average packing fraction and coordination number gradually decline as the rectangular tube aspect ratio rises. Close to the fixed wall, a noticeable wall effect can be seen in the distribution of axial and local packing fractions and the pebble center distribution. The wall effect has an increasing effect on the axial and local packing fraction distributions in rectangular tubes with increasing aspect ratios. Additionally, the average packing fraction and the average coordination number also increase as the cross-sectional area increases, indicating a gradual weakening of the wall effect as the cross-sectional area increases. Furthermore, the cross-sectional area and aspect ratio of the rectangular tubes affect the RDF values of the rectangular pebble beds but have no impact on the RDF features. The findings reported in this paper will be helpful for designing and optimizing pebble beds in the breeding blanket of fusion reactors.

Keywords: aspect ratio; cross-sectional area; rectangular tube; rectangular pebble bed; packing fraction; coordination number; radial distribution function; discrete element method (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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