Abstract: Taking account of the thermal-diffusion (Soret) and the diffusion-themo (Dufour) effects, the properties of the heat and mass transfers in a strongly endothermic chemical reaction system for a porous medium are numerically studied. Through the theory of the thermodynamics of irreversible processes, a coupled mathematical model describing the heat and mass transfers in a porous system for the calcination of limestone is formulated. The governing partial differential equations are numerically solved by the implicitly finite volume method through decomposing the equations to a set of coupled differential equations. The results indicate that when the convectional velocity is lower or when the initial temperature of the feeding gas is higher, Soret and Dufour effects can’t be ignored. The distribution figures for the temperature field of the gas in the system, the concentration field of the product gas and the solid conversion ratio are provided.

Key words: porous media; heat transfer; mass transfer; Soret phenomenon; Dufour phenomenon; decomposition reaction