Abstract
Pressure drop prediction in packed bed storage systems is important for the overall cost and performance of solarized gas turbines. There is a need to accurately estimate the pressure drop across the packed beds to size the fans and estimate the system storage efficiency and the associated costs (capital and operating costs) accurately. This study reviews different empirical correlations and turbulence modelling approaches for pressure drop prediction. Flow through packed beds relies on properties such as flow velocity, orientation, particle packing density, and particle shape. Most pressure drop correlations were developed based on some assumptions such as isotropic packaging arrangement, laminar flow, and spherical particle shapes. This does not reflect the transport phenomena of packed beds. This paper provides fundamental insights into the modelling approaches necessary to accurately determine the pressure drop across the packed bed. Also, the limitations of the turbulence modelling approaches for porous media are highlighted in this review.
