Mixed Convection in a Vertical Porous Channel

A numerical study of mixed convection in a vertical channel filled with a porous medium including the effect of inertial forces is studied by taking into account the effect of viscous and Darcy dissipations. The flow is modeled using the Brinkman–Forchheimer-extended Darcy equations. The two boundaries are considered as isothermal–isothermal, isoflux–isothermal and isothermal–isoflux for the left and right walls of the channel and kept either at equal or at different temperatures. The governing equations are solved numerically by finite difference method with Southwell–Over–Relaxation technique for extended Darcy model and analytically using perturbation series method for Darcian model. The velocity and temperature fields are obtained for various porous parameter, inertia effect, product of Brinkman number and Grashof number and the ratio of Grashof number and Reynolds number for equal and different wall temperatures. Nusselt number at the walls is also determined for three types of thermal boundary conditions. The viscous dissipation enhances the flow reversal in the case of downward flow while it counters the flow in the case of upward flow. The Darcy and inertial drag terms suppress the flow. It is found that analytical and numerical solutions agree very well for the Darcian model. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Viscous Dissipation and Thermal Radiation Effects on Mixed Convection from a Vertical Plate in a Non-Darcy Porous Medium

The paper presents an investigation of the influence of thermal radiation and viscous dissipation on the mixed convective flow due to a vertical plate immersed in a non-Darcy porous medium saturated with a Newtonian fluid. The physical properties of the fluid are assumed to be constant. The Rosseland approximation is used to describe the radiative heat flux in the energy equation. The governing partial differential equations are transformed into a system of ordinary differential equations and solved numerically using a shooting method. The results are analyzed for the effects of various physical parameters such as viscous dissipation, thermal radiation, mixed convection parameters, and the modified Reynolds number on dynamics. The heat transfer coefficient is also tabulated for different values of the physical parameters.     

The Mixed Convection Boundary Layer on a Vertical Melting Front in a Non-Darcian Porous Medium

The effect of surface melting on the dual solutions that can arise in the problem of the mixed convection boundary-layer flow past a vertical surface embedded in a non-Darcian porous medium is considered. The problem is described by M, melting parameter, \(\lambda \), mixed convection parameter, and \(\gamma \), the flow inertia coefficient, numerical results being obtained in terms of these three parameters. It is seen that the melting phenomenon reduces the heat transfer rate and enhances the boundary-layer separation at the solid–liquid interface. Asymptotic solutions for the forced convection, \(\lambda =0\), and free convection, large \(\lambda \), limits are derived.     

Fully Developed Forced Convection Heat Transfer in a Porous Channel with Asymmetric Heat Flux Boundary Conditions

An analytical study is performed on steady, laminar, and fully developed forced convection heat transfer in a parallel plate channel with asymmetric uniform heat flux boundary conditions. The channel is filled with a saturated porous medium, and the lower and upper walls are subjected to different uniform heat fluxes. The dimensionless form of the Darcy–Brinkman momentum equation is solved to determine the dimensionless velocity profile, while the dimensionless energy equation is solved to obtain temperature profile for a hydrodynamically and thermally fully developed flow in the channel. Nusselt numbers for the lower and upper walls and an overall Nusselt number are defined. Analytical expressions for determination of the Nusselt numbers and critical heat flux ratio, at which singularities are observed for individual Nusselt numbers, are obtained. Based on the values of critical heat flux ratio and Darcy number, a diagram is provided to determine the direction of heat transfer between the lower or upper walls while the fluid is flowing in the channel.     

Mixed Convection Boundary-Layer Flow on a Vertical Surface in a Porous Medium with a Constant Convective Boundary Condition

The mixed convection boundary-layer flow on a vertical surface heated convectively is considered when a constant surface heat transfer parameter is assumed. The problem is seen to be chararterized by a mixed convection parameter $\gamma $ γ . The flow and heat transfer near the leading edge correspond to forced convection solution and numerical solutions are obtained to determine how the solution then develops. The solution at large distances is obtained and this identifies a critical value $\gamma _c$ γ c of the parameter $\gamma $ γ . For $\gamma > \gamma _c$ γ > γ c a solution at large distances is possible and this is approached in the numerical integrations. For $\gamma <\gamma _c$ γ < γ c the numerical solution breaks down at a finite distance along the surface with a singularity, the nature of which is discussed.     

Natural Convection Boundary-Layer Flow in a Porous Medium with Temperature-Dependent Boundary Conditions

The natural convection boundary-layer flow on a surface embedded in a fluid-saturated porous medium is discussed in the case when the wall heat flux is related to the wall temperature through a power-law variation. The flow within the porous medium is assumed to be described by Darcy’s law and the Boussinesq approximation is assumed for the density variations. Two cases are discussed, (i) stagnation-point flow and (ii) flow along a vertical surface. The possible steady states are considered first with the governing partial equations reduced to ordinary differential equations by similarity transformations and these latter equations further transformed to previously studied free-convection problems. This identifies values of the exponent N in the power-law wall temperature variation, N = 3/2 for stagnation-point flows and 3/2 ≤ N ≤ 3 for the vertical surface, where similarity solutions do not exist. Time development for stagnation-point flows is seen to depend on N, for N <  3/2 the steady state is approached at large times, for N ≥ 3/2 a singularity develops at finite time leading to thermal runaway. Numerical solutions for the vertical surface, where the temperature-dependent boundary condition becomes more significant as the solution develops, show that, for N < 3/2, the corresponding similarity solution is approached, whereas for N >  3/2 the solution breaks down at a finite distance along the surface.     

Convection in a Lid-Driven Heat-Generating Porous Cavity with Alternative Thermal Boundary Conditions

Mixed convection flow in a two-sided lid-driven cavity filled with heat-generating porous medium is numerically investigated. The top and bottom walls are moving in opposite directions at different temperatures, while the side vertical walls are considered adiabatic. The governing equations are solved using the finite-volume method with the SIMPLE algorithm. The numerical procedure adopted in this study yields a consistent performance over a wide range of parameters that were 10⁻⁴ ≤ Da ≤ 10⁻¹ and 0 ≤ Ra _I ≤ 10⁴. The effects of the parameters involved on the heat transfer characteristics are studied in detail. It is found that the variation of the average Nusselt number is non-linear for increasing values of the Darcy number with uniform or non-uniform heating condition.     

Mixed Convection Boundary Layer Flow on a Vertical Surface in a Saturated Porous Medium: New Perturbation Solutions

Transport in Porous Media -     

Fully Developed Mixed Convection Flow in a Vertical Channel Containing Porous and Fluid Layer with Isothermal or Isoflux Boundaries

An analysis of fully developed combined free and forced convective flow in a fluid saturated porous medium channel bounded by two vertical parallel plates is presented. The flow is modeled using Brinkman equation model. The viscous and Darcy dissipation terms are also included in the energy equation. Three types of thermal boundary conditions such as isothermal–isothermal, isoflux–isothermal, and isothermal–isoflux for the left–right walls of the channel are considered. Analytical solutions for the governing ordinary differential equations are obtained by perturbation series method. In addition, closed form expressions for the Nusselt number at both the left and right channel walls are derived. Results have been presented for a wide range of governing parameters such as porous parameter, ratio of Grashof number and Reynolds number, viscosity ratio, width ratio, and conductivity ratio on velocity, and temperature fields. It is found that the presence of porous matrix in one of the region reduces the velocity and temperature.     

Mixed Convection Boundary-Layer Flow Over a Vertical Surface Embedded in a Porous Material Subject to a Convective Boundary Condition

The mixed convection boundary-layer flow on one face of a semi-infinite vertical surface embedded in a fluid-saturated porous medium is considered when the other face is taken to be in contact with a hot or cooled fluid maintaining that surface at a constant temperature $T_\mathrm{{f}}$ . The governing system of partial differential equations is transformed into a system of ordinary differential equations through an appropriate similarity transformation. These equations are solved numerically in terms of a dimensionless mixed convection parameter $\epsilon $ and a surface heat transfer parameter $\gamma $ . The results indicate that dual solutions exist for opposing flow, $\epsilon <0$ , with the dependence of the critical values $\epsilon _\mathrm{{c}}$ on $\gamma $ being determined, whereas for the assisting flow $\epsilon >0$ , the solution is unique. Limiting asymptotic forms for both $\gamma $ small and large and $\epsilon $ large are also discussed.     

Mixed Convection Boundary Layer Flow Near the Stagnation Point on a Vertical Surface Embedded in a Porous Medium with Anisotropy Effect

The steady boundary-layer flow near the stagnation point on a vertical flat plate embedded in a fluid-saturated porous medium characterized by an anisotropic permeability is investigated. Using appropriate similarity transformation, the governing system of partial differential equations is transformed into a system of ordinary differential equations. This system is then solved numerically. The features of the flow and the heat transfer characteristics for different values of the governing parameters, namely, the modified mixed convection parameter Λ, and the anisotropy parameter A are analyzed and discussed. It is found that dual solutions exist for both assisting and opposing flows. Moreover, the range of Λ for which the solution exists increases with A.     

Mixed Convection Effect on Melting from a Vertical Plate in a Porous Medium

In the present work, the effect of mixed convection about vertical surfaces on the phenomenon of melting process in a fluid-saturated porous medium is analyzed on the basis of boundary layer approximations. Similarity solutions are obtained for aiding external flow. The final similarity equations are integrated numerically by use of the fourth-order Runge–Kutta method. Results are reported for the flow and thermal fields in the melt region. The melting phenomenon decreases the local Nusselt number at the solid–liquid interface.     

Soret and Dufour effects on Double-Diffusive Free Convection From a Corrugated Vertical Surface in a Non-Darcy Porous Medium

Combined heat and mass transfer process by natural convection from a wavy vertical surface immersed in a fluid-saturated semi-infinite porous medium due to Soret and Dufour effects for Forchheimer extended non-Darcy model has been analyzed. A similarity transformation followed by a wavy to flat surface transformation is applied to the governing coupled non-linear partial differential equations, and they are reduced to boundary layer equations. The obtained boundary layer equations are solved by finite difference scheme based on the Keller-Box approach in conjunction with block-tridiagonal solver. Detailed simulations are carried out for a wide range of parameters like Groshof number (Gr*), Lewis number (Le), Buoyancy ratio (B), Wavy wall amplitude (a), Soret number (S _r ), and Dufour number (D _f ). Comparison tables local and average Nusselt (Nu) number, local and average Sherwood (Sh) number plots are presented.     

Free Convection Boundary Layer Flow Past a Vertical Surface in a Porous Medium with Temperature-Dependent Properties

Numerical solutions for the free convection heat transfer in a viscous fluid at a permeable surface embedded in a saturated porous medium, in the presence of viscous dissipation with temperature-dependent variable fluid properties, are obtained. The governing equations for the problem are derived using the Darcy model and the Boussinesq approximation (with nonlinear density temperature variation in the buoyancy force term). The coupled non-linearities arising from the temperature-dependent density, viscosity, thermal conductivity, and viscous dissipation are included. The partial differential equations of the model are reduced to ordinary differential equations by a similarity transformation and the resulting coupled, nonlinear ordinary differential equations are solved numerically by a second order finite difference scheme for several sets of values of the parameters. Also, asymptotic results are obtained for large values of | f _w|. Moreover, the numerical results for the velocity, the temperature, and the wall-temperature gradient are presented through graphs and tables, and are discussed. It is observed that by increasing the fluid variable viscosity parameter, one could reduce the velocity and thermal boundary layer thickness. However, quite the opposite is true with the non-linear density temperature variation parameter.     

Mixed Convection in Non-Newtonian Fluids Along an Isothermal Vertical Cylinder in a Porous Medium

Mixed convection in power-law type non-Newtonian fluids along an isothermal vertical cylinder in porous media is studied. The problem is solved by means of a finite difference method for the case of uniform wall temperature. Results for the details of the velocity and temperature fields as well as the Nusselt number have been presented. The viscosity index ranged from 0.5–1.5.     

Analytic Series Solution for Unsteady Mixed Convection Boundary Layer Flow Near the Stagnation Point on a Vertical Surface in a Porous Medium

In this paper, we solve the unsteady mixed convection flow near the stagnation point on a heated vertical flat plate embedded in a Darcian fluid-saturated porous medium by means of an analytic technique, namely the Homotopy Analysis Method. Different from previous perturbation results, our analytic series solutions are accurate and uniformly valid for all dimensionless times and for all possible values of mixed convection parameter, and besides agree well with numerical results. This provides us with a new analytic approach to investigate related unsteady problems.     

A Nonlinear Stability Analysis of Convection in a Porous Vertical Channel Including Local Thermal Nonequilibrium

The problem is considered of thermal convection in a saturated porous medium contained in an infinite vertical channel with differentially heated sidewalls. The theory employed allows for different solid and fluid temperatures in the matrix. Nonlinear energy stability theory is used to derive a Rayleigh number threshold below which convection will not occur no matter how large the initial data. A generalized nonlinear analysis is also given which shows convection cannot occur for any Rayleigh number provided the initial data is suitably restricted.     

On the Temperature Slip Boundary Condition in a Mixed Convection Boundary-Layer Flow in a Porous Medium

A problem derived previously (Rohni et?al., Transp Porous Media 92:1?C14, 2012) for unsteady mixed convection flow in a porous medium involving a ??temperature slip?? boundary condition and fluid transfer through the boundary is considered. It is shown that the solution to this problem can be directly related to the solution of the corresponding problem for a prescribed surface temperature, involving a mixed convection parameter ??, an unsteadiness parameter A and transpiration parameter s. This latter problem is discussed in detail, particular attention being given to the steady analogue, A?=?0, allowing for fluid transfer through the surface, and to the unsteady problem, A?>?0, for an impermeable surface, s?=?0. Asymptotic results are obtained for large fluid transfer rates, ${s \gg 1}$ and ${s <0 , |s| \gg 1}$ and for large A. Particular attention is given to deriving asymptotic results for the critical points which determine the range of existence of solutions.     

Heated and Salted Below Porous Convection with Generalized Temperature and Solute Boundary Conditions

Transport in Porous Media - We address the problem of initiation of convective motion in the case of a fluid saturated porous layer, containing a salt in solution, which is heated and salted below....