This paper reports an experimental Study of both the transient and steady-state heat transfer behaviour of a gas flowing through a packed bed under the constant wall temperature conditions. Effective thermal conductivities and convective heat transfer coefficient are derived based on the steady-state measurements and the two-dimensional axial dispersion plug flow (2DADPF) model. The results reveal a large temperature drop at the wall region and the temperature drop depends on the axial distance from the inlet. The 2DADPF model predicts the axial temperature distribution fairly well, but the prediction is poor for the radial temperature distribution. Length-dependent behaviour of the effective heat transfer parameters and non-uniform flow behaviour are proposed to be responsible. A comparison with previously published correlations and data in the literature shows that the relationships proposed by Bunnell et al. and Demirel et al. agree well with the measured effective radial thermal conductivity, whereas the wall-fluid heat transfer coefficient is better represented by the Li-Finlayson correlation. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.