Convective heat transfer in porous media with columnar structure

An analysis is made of convective heat transport, produced by uniform heating from below, in a horizontal layer of a porous medium consisting of vertical slabs or columns of different permeabilities. Estimates of the heat flux are made on the assumption that flow in one column does not interact with flow in adjacent columns. The results are compared with those for a homogeneous layer, for which previous work is reviewed. It is found that an inhomogeneous layer transports less heat than a homogeneous layer for which the mean Rayleigh number is the same, if the Rayleigh number is supercritical throughout the layer. If the Rayleigh number is subcritical in part of the layer, the inhomogeneous layer may transport more heat than the equivalent homogeneous layer.