Abstract: The heat transfer in granular materials can be found in many industrial processes,but such phenomenon is not well understood. A particle contact heat transfer model (PCHM) was developed by taking independent mechanisms into account. The model combined with discrete element methods(DEM)was used to simulate heat transfer between particles and inserted heating surface. Comparing the mechanisms with each other showed that, the heat conduction through contact area had the greatest contribution to apparent effective quantity of heat transfer Q_eff. The key factors effecting Q_eff include the number of particles contacting with heating wall,contact time, and contact area. When the average diameter was the same, the diameter distribution had little effect on heat transfer. When the average diameter was different, the effective heat transfer coefficient decreased with increasing particle diameter. The quantity of heat transfer was spatially nonuniform.