Forced convection heat transfer from a cylinder embedded in a packed bed was studied numerically. The local volume-averaged conservation equations were used to examine the effects:of the governing dimensionless parameters : the Reynolds, Darcy, Forchheimer and effective Prandtl numbers. An increase in either the Reynolds number or effective Prandtl number resulted in heat transfer enhancement. The effect of decreasing Darcy number (Da) was an increase in the Nusselt number. The effect of Forchheimer number on heat transfer was found to depend on the product of Darcy and Reynolds numbers (Da Re-D). Through a comparison of numerical predictions with experimental data, effective conductivities were extracted and average thermal dispersion effects were quantified.