Applications of Van Driest's mixing length theory to transverse thermal dispersion in forced convective flow through a packed bed

The problems of fully-developed flow in a rectangular and an annular packed bed are re-examined based on the Van Driest mixing length theory. The approximation for the permeability used in the previous investigations has been removed. The composite solution for the axial velocity is constructed from the inner and outer solutions based on the multiplicative rule instead of the additive rule. These special features have resulted in simpler solutions for the axial velocity and temperature distributions. The constants in the mixing length theory as well as in the expression for the transverse thermal dispersion were obtained by matching predicted heat transfer characteristics with existing experimental data.