Combustion Science and Technology, Vol.180, No.12, 2170-2185, 2008
THREE-DIMENSIONAL MICROSCALE NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF SMOLDERING PROCESS IN HETEROGENEOUS POROUS MEDIA
Smoldering in porous media is a very complex situation that happens in situations where a reactive part of the porous material is oxidized using heat content without flaming. A three-dimensional numerical tool for the simulation of smoldering in fixed beds of solid fuels is presented in this paper. The description is based on the microscale equations, in a detailed discretized image of the porous medium. A set of 3D simulations demonstrates the ability of the model to handle a variety of situations, and to provide detailed local information. The cases treated here are clearly orientated to standard experimental cases.