Numerical calculation of cargo heating in the railway wagon

Purpose. Development of the method of calculating the thawing coal in the gondola car before feeding them into the car dumper. Existing methods of calculation is based mainly on the use of regression models constructed by processing the results of the experiment. These models have a narrow area of application, as their ability to limit the range of operating parameters that have been implemented in experiments. Analytical models provide a simplified picture of the defrosting process, and can only be used for valuation calculations. Numerical models require significant computer time in the practical implementation and their use is limited at present in engineering practice. Therefore there is a need for effective methods of thawing coal calculating, which would not require large expenditures in the practical implementation on a computer and based on the fundamental equations of heat and mass transfer. Methodology. The developed method for calculating the thawing coal gondola cars based on numerical integration of the one-dimensional heat equation. The calculation is performed using the implicit alternating - triangular method A. Samara. In the practice of this method, the cost of computer time is less than one second. Findings. On the basis of the numerical model, a program in the algorithmic language FORTRAN was developed. With the help of this program, the computer experiment for assessing the dynamics of thawing coal in the gondola car was done. The calculation is performed in a narrow sub-zone located near the wall of the gondola, which is heated by the usage of infrared radiation elements. Warm-up time zones for two different values of the temperature of the wall of the gondola were established. Originality. An efficient method for calculating the express defrosts coal gondola cars using infra-red radiation elements was developed. The calculation method is based on numerical simulations of heat transfer. Practical value. This computer program allows carrying out calculations with minimal staff time to substantiate the serial parameters of infrared elements and the choice of a rational mode of operation during defrosting of coal in the garage thawing.