Non-Darcy double-diffusive natural convection in axisymmetric fluid saturated porous cavities

Double-diffusive natural convection in a fluid saturated porous medium has been investigated using the finite element method. A generalised porous medium model is used to study both Darcy and non-Darcy flow regimes in an axisymmetric cavity. Results indicate that the Darcy number should be a separate parameter to understand flow characteristics in non-Darcy regime. The influence of porosity on heat and mass transfer is significant and the transport rates may differ by 25% or more, at higher Darcy and Rayleigh numbers. When compared with the Darcy and other specialised models of Brinkman and Forchheimer, the present generalised model predicts the least heat and mass transfer rates. It is also observed that an increase in radius ratio leads to higher Nusselt and Sherwood numbers along the inner wall.     

Effect of variable viscosity on non-Darcy free or mixed convection flow on a vertical surface in a fluid saturated porous medium

This paper analyzes the variable viscosity effects on non-Darcy free or mixed convection flow on a vertical surface in a fluid saturated porous medium. The viscosity of the fluid is assumed to be a inverse linear function of temperature. Velocity and heat transfer are found to be significantly affected by the variable viscosity parameter, Ergun number, Peclet number or Rayleigh number.     

Radiation effect on mixed convection from a horizontal surface in a porous medium

The effect of thermal radiation on the non-Darcy mixed convection flow over a non-isothermal horizontal surface immersed in a saturated porous medium has been studied. The wall temperature is assumed to have a power-law variation with the distance measured from the leading edge of the plate. The non-linear coupled parabolic partial differential equations governing the flow have been solved numerically using a finite-difference scheme. For some particular cases, the self-similar solution has also been obtained. The heat transfer is found to be strongly influenced by the radiative flux number, buoyancy parameter, variation of wall temperature, non-Darcy parameter and the nature of the free stream velocity.     

Effect of thermal dispersion on free convection in a fluid saturated porous medium

The present article considers a numerical study of thermal dispersion effect on the non-Darcy natural convection over a vertical flat plate in a fluid saturated porous medium. Forchheimer extension is considered in the flow equations. The coefficient of thermal diffusivity has been assumed to be the sum of molecular diffusivity and the dispersion thermal diffusivity due to mechanical dispersion. The non-dimensional governing equations are solved by the finite element method (FEM) with a Newton–Raphson solver. Numerical results for the details of the stream function, velocity and temperature contours and profiles as well as heat transfer rates in terms of Nusselt number are obtained. The study shows that the increase in thermal dispersion coefficient of the porous medium results in more heat energy to disperse away in the normal direction to the wall. This induces more fluid to flow along the wall, enhancing the heat transfer coefficient particularly near the wall.     

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.     

Effects of Chemical Reaction and Double Dispersion on Non-Darcy Free Convection Heat and Mass Transfer

In this article, the effects of chemical reaction and double dispersion on non-Darcy free convection heat and mass transfer from semi-infinite, impermeable vertical wall in a fluid saturated porous medium are investigated. The Forchheimer extension (non-Darcy term) is considered in the flow equations, while the chemical reaction power–law term is considered in the concentration equation. The first order chemical reaction (n = 1) was used as an example of calculations. The Darcy and non-Darcy flow, temperature and concentration fields in this study are observed to be governed by complex interactions among dispersion and natural convection mechanisms. The governing set of partial differential equations were non-dimensionalized and reduced to a set of ordinary differential equations for which Runge–Kutta-based numerical technique were implemented. Numerical results for the detail of the velocity, temperature, and concentration profiles as well as heat transfer rates (Nusselt number) and mass transfer rates (Sherwood number) are presented in graphs.     

A New Non-Darcy Flow Model for Low-Velocity Multiphase Flow in Tight Reservoirs

The pore and pore-throat sizes of shale and tight rock formations are on the order of tens of nanometers. The fluid flow in such small pores is significantly affected by walls of pores and pore-throats. This boundary layer effect on fluid flow in tight rocks has been investigated through laboratory work on capillary tubes. It is observed that low permeability is associated with large boundary layer effect on fluid flow. The experimental results from a single capillary tube are extended to a bundle of tubes and finally to porous media of tight formations. A physics-based, non-Darcy low-velocity flow equation is derived to account for the boundary layer effect of tight reservoirs by adding a non-Darcy coefficient term. This non-Darcy equation describes the fluid flow more accurately for tight oil reservoir with low production rate and low pressure gradient. Both analytical and numerical solutions are obtained for the new non-Darcy flow model. First, a Buckley–Leverett-type analytical solution is derived with this non-Darcy flow equation. Then, a numerical model has been developed for implementing this non-Darcy flow model for accurate simulation of multidimensional porous and fractured tight oil reservoirs. Finally, the numerical studies on an actual field example in China demonstrate the non-negligible effect of boundary layer on fluid flow in tight formations.     

Thermal Dispersion–Radiation Effects on Non-Darcy Natural Convection in a Fluid Saturated Porous Medium

The effects of thermal dispersion and thermal radiation on the non-Darcy natural convection over a vertical flat plate in a fluid saturated porous medium are studied. Forchheimer extension is considered in the flow equations. The coefficient of thermal diffusivity has been assumed to be the sum of molecular diffusivity and the dispersion thermal diffusivity due to mechanical dispersion. Rosseland approximation is used to describe the radiative heat flux in the energy equation. Similarity solution for the transformed governing equations is obtained. Numerical results for the details of the velocity and temperature profiles which are shown on graphs have been presented. The combined effect of thermal dispersion and thermal radiation, for the two cases Darcy and non-Darcy porous medium, on the heat transfer rate which are entered in tables is discussed.     

On the viscous dissipation modeling of thermal fluid flow in a porous medium

The problem of viscous dissipation and thermal dispersion in saturated porous medium is numerically investigated for the case of non-Darcy flow regime. The fluid is induced to flow upward by natural convection as a result of a semi-infinite vertical wall that is immersed in the porous medium and is kept at constant higher temperature. The boundary layer approximations were used to simplify the set of the governing, nonlinear partial differential equations, which were then non-dimensionalized and solved using the finite elements method. The results for the details of the governing parameters are presented and investigated. It is found that the irreversible process of transforming the kinetic energy of the moving fluid to heat energy via the viscosity of the moving fluid (i.e., viscous dissipation) resulted in insignificant generation of heat for the range of parameters considered in this study. On the other hand, thermal dispersion has shown to disperse heat energy normal to the wall more effectively compared with the normal diffusion mechanism.     

Influence of temperature dependent conductivity of a nanofluid in a vertical rectangular duct

Natural convective heat transfer and fluid flow in a vertical rectangular duct filled with a nanofluid is studied numerically assuming the thermal conductivity to be dependent on the fluid temperature. The transport equations for mass, momentum and energy formulated in dimensionless form are solved numerically using finite difference method. Particular efforts have been focused on the effects of the thermal conductivity variation parameter, Grashof number, Brinkman number, nanoparticles volume fraction, aspect ratio and type of nanoparticles on the fluid flow and heat transfer inside the cavity. It is found that the flow was enhanced for the increase in Grashof number, Brinkman number and aspect ratio for any values of conductivity variation parameter and for regular fluid and nanofluid. The heat transfer rate for regular fluid is less than that for the nanofluid for all governing parameters.     

Thermal Non-equilibrium Natural Convection in a Square Enclosure with Heat-Generating Porous Layer on Inner Walls

Differentially heated enclosure with heat-generating porous layer on inner walls is studied computationally for non-Darcy flow and thermal non-equilibrium models. In this study, this problem is investigated for different internal and external Rayleigh numbers, Darcy numbers, porosity-scaled thermal conductivity ratio, solid-/fluid-scaled heat transfer coefficient and dimensionless thickness of the porous layer. The results indicate that the dimensionless thickness of the porous layer has an important effect on the heat transfer in the enclosure. It was found that the thermal non-equilibrium model is needed for small values of the porosity-scaled thermal conductivity ratio and the solid-/fluid-scaled heat transfer coefficient. It is shown that the convection of heat due to internal heat generation is increased in the enclosure when the ratio of internal Rayleigh number to external Rayleigh number is larger.     

Natural convection in an inclined enclosure with a fluid layer and a heat-generating porous bed

Multiple steady-state solutions of natural convection in an inclined enclosure with a fluid layer and a heat-generating porous bed is investigated numerically by the finite volume method. The conservation equations for the porous layer are based on a general flow model which includes both the effects of flow inertia and friction. The flow in fluid layer is modeled by Navier–Stokes equations. The method of pseudo arc-length continuation is adapted in studying the effects of tilt angle on flow pattern and heat transfer. It is found that, in the whole domain of tilt angle, there exist two groups of solutions with quite different flow pattern and heat transfer behavior. The effects of aspect ratio on flow pattern and heat transfer have also been studied. Received on 04 March 1997     

Unsteady Conjugate Natural Convection in a Vertical Cylinder Containing a Horizontal Porous Layer: Darcy Model and Brinkman-Extended Darcy Model

Transient natural convection in a vertical cylinder partially filled with a porous media with heat-conducting solid walls of finite thickness in conditions of convective heat exchange with an environment has been studied numerically. The Darcy and Brinkman-extended Darcy models with Boussinesq approximation have been used to solve the flow and heat transfer in the porous region. The Oberbeck–Boussinesq equations have been used to describe the flow and heat transfer in the pure fluid region. The Beavers–Joseph empirical boundary condition is considered at the fluid–porous layer interface with the Darcy model. In the case of the Brinkman-extended Darcy model, the two regions are coupled by equating the velocity and stress components at the interface. The governing equations formulated in terms of the dimensionless stream function, vorticity, and temperature have been solved using the finite difference method. The main objective was to investigate the influence of the Darcy number $10^{-5}\le \hbox {Da}\le 10^{-3}$ , porous layer height ratio $0\le d/L\le 1$ , thermal conductivity ratio $1\le k_{1,3}\le 20$ , and dimensionless time $0\le \tau \le 1000$ on the fluid flow and heat transfer on the basis of the Darcy and non-Darcy models. Comprehensive analysis of an effect of these key parameters on the Nusselt number at the bottom wall, average temperature in the cylindrical cavity, and maximum absolute value of the stream function has been conducted.     

Non-isothermal Poiseuille flow and its stability in a vertical annulus filled with porous medium

In this article, the non-isothermal Poiseuille flow and its stability in a vertical annulus filled with porous medium are investigated. The flow is induced by external pressure gradient and buoyancy force due to linearly varying inner wall temperature. The non-Darcy model along with Boussinesq approximation has been used. The Chebyshev spectral-collocation method has been adopted to solve the governing equations related to basic flow as well as its stability. Special attention is given to understand the effect of curvature parameter of the annular geometry on the flow, heat transfer rate and stability of the stably stratified flow. A comprehensive numerical experiment indicates that reducing gap between two concentric cylinders decreases the heat transfer rate as well as the maximum magnitude of the flow velocity. It stabilizes the flow which has been shown through stability analysis. Furthermore, appropriateness of the Forchheimer term in the momentum equation has been examined by investigating the flow regime as well as its stability in the presence and absence of Forchheimer term. Finally, it has been found from the energy analysis at critical point that the thermal-buoyant instability is the only mode of instability for the considered range of different parameters.     

Thermal radiation effect on non-Darcy natural convection with lateral mass transfer

 A boundary layer analysis has been presented to study the influence of thermal radiation and lateral mass flux on non-Darcy natural convection over a vertical flat plate in a fluid saturated porous medium. Forchheimer extension is considered in the flow equations, and the Rosseland approximation is used to describe the radiative heat flux in the energy equation. Similarity solution for the transformed governing equations is obtained and the combined effect of thermal radiation and fluid suction/injection on the heat transfer rate is discussed. Numerical results for the details of the velocity and temperature profiles as well as Nusselt number have been presented. Received on 7 July 1999     

Forced convection of a power-law fluid in a porous channel – numerical solutions

A detailed numerical study of laminar forced convection in a porous channel which contains a fibrous medium saturated with a power-law fluid was performed. Hydrodynamic and heat transfer results are presented for a configuration that has uniform heat flux or uniform temperature heating at the walls. The flow in the porous medium was modeled using the modified Brinkman-Forchheimer-extended Darcy model for power law fluids in which the non-Darcy effects of inertia and boundary were considered. Parametric studies were conducted to examine the effects of Darcy number, power law index, inertia parameter and Prandtl number. The results indicate that when the power law index is decreased, the velocity gradient near the walls increases but these effects are reduced gradually as the Darcy number decreases until the Darcy regime (Da≤10⁻⁶) is reached in which case the effects of power law index become negligible. As the power law index is decreased, the thermal boundary layer thickness decreases significantly only in the non-Darcy regime. Consequently, as the power law index decreases, the fully developed Nusselt number increases considerably in the non-Darcy regime whereas in the Darcy regime the change in Nusselt number is very small. As the Prandtl number increases, the local Nusselt number increases and this effect is more significant for shear thinning fluids (n<1.0). Received on 2 March 1998     

Analysis of heat and fluid flow in partially divided fluid saturated porous cavities

Fluid flow and heat transfer phenomena in partially divided cavities filled with porous media have been numerically studied in this research. A non-Darcy generalized formulation is applied to describe the behavior of fluid flow in porous media. A splitting semi-implicit finite element method is adopted to solve the governing equations. The range of Ra involved in this study is between 10⁴ and 10⁶. Three different locations of dividers are investigated to probe the geometrical effect on heat and fluid flow. The results of Da = 10⁻² display a trend similar to the non-porous medium, but those of Da = 10⁻⁴ show dramatic decrease in flow strength, as well as heat transfer rate. A different location of divider may change the local and average Nusselt numbers. Received on 10 August 1999     

Numerical Simulation of Single-Phase and Multiphase Non-Darcy Flow in Porous and Fractured Reservoirs

A numerical method as well as a theoretical study of non-Darcy fluid flow through porous and fractured reservoirs is described. The non-Darcy behavior is handled in a three-dimensional, multiphase flow reservoir simulator, while the model formulation incorporates the Forchheimer equation for describing single-phase or multiphase non-Darcy flow and displacement. The non-Darcy flow through a fractured reservoir is handled using a general dual-continuum approach. The numerical scheme has been verified by comparing its results against those of analytical methods. Numerical solutions are used to obtain some insight into the physics of non-Darcy flow and displacement in reservoirs. In addition, several type curves are provided for well-test analyses of non-Darcy flow to demonstrate a methodology for modeling this type of flow in porous and fractured rocks, including flow in petroleum and geothermal reservoirs.     

Unsteady compressible boundary layer flow over a circular cone near a plane of symmetry

An analysis has been performed to study the unsteady laminar compressible boundary layer governing the hypersonic flow over a circular cone at an angle of attack near a plane of symmetry with either inflow or outflow in the presence of suction. The flow is assumed to be steady at time t=0 and at t>0 it becomes unsteady due to the time-dependent free stream velocity which varies arbitrarily with time. The nonlinear coupled parabolic partial differential equations under boundary layer approximations have been solved by using an implicit finite-difference method. It is found that suction plays an important role in stabilising the fluid motion and in obtaining unique solution of the problem. The effect of the cross flow parameter is found to be more pronounced on the cross flow surface shear stress than on the streamwise surface shear stress and surface heat transfer. Beyond a certain value of the cross flow parameter overshoot in the cross flow velocity occurs and the magnitude of this overshoot increases with the cross flow parameter. The time variation of the streamwise surface shear stress is more significant than that of the cross flow surface shear stress and surface heat transfer. The suction and the total enthalpy at the wall exert strong influence on the streamwise and cross flow surface shear stresses and the surface heat transfer except that the effect of suction on the cross flow surface shear stress is small.