Experimental investigation and estimation of thermal conductivity and contact conductance of granular activated carbon packed bed as a function of density

Activated carbon (AC) is a kind of carbon that because of having tiny and low-volume cavities provides a good contact surface for adsorption and chemical reactions. AC has various applications in industries like filtration, water purification, refrigeration, agriculture, medicine industries and so on. Recognizing thermal properties of AC is valuable to provide an appropriate design of its applications especially in adsorption refrigeration cycles. In such designs the most important parameters of AC bulk is its thermal conductivity and thermal contact conductance resistance with wall. In this study, a test setup is prepared to conduct experimental investigation and estimate required parameters for granular AC. Granular AC with four different densities was packed in a steel closed cylinder and thermal loading was applied on its outside wall. By measuring transient temperature at the center of the cylinder and using inverse thermal methods, thermal conductivity and contact conductance with steel wall were estimated. Results show increase in thermal conductivity and contact conductance between carbon and steel wall as density increases.