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.     

Heat dispersion in stationary mixed convection flow about horizontal surfaces in porous media

An analysis has been performed to study the influence of velocity dependent dispersion on transverse heat transfer in mixed convection flow above a horizontal wall of prescribed temperature in a saturated porous medium. The Boussinesq approximation and boundary layer analysis were used to numerically obtain gravity affected temperature and velocity distributions within the frames of Darcy's law and a total thermal diffusivity tensor comprising both of constant coefficient heat conduction and velocity proportional mechanical heat dispersion. Dependending on Pe_∞, the molecular Peclét number basing on the effective thermal diffusivity and the velocity of the oncoming flow, density coupling has distinct influences on heat transfer rates between the wall surface and the porous medium flow region. For small Peclét numbers, when heat conduction is the prevailing mechanism, wall heat fluxes are the higher the larger the density difference between the oncoming and the near wall fluid is. The opposite is true for larger Peclét numbers, when mechanical heat dispersion is the main cause of heat spreading. For Pe_∞ tending to infinity these wall heat fluxes approach finite maximum values in the total heat diffusivity model, they grow beyond any limit if only constant coefficient heat conduction is considered. Thus, the inclusion of mechanical heat dispersion effects yields physically more realistic predictions. Received on 18 September 1996     

Thermal dispersion effects on non-Darcy natural convection with lateral mass flux

The method of similarity solution is used to study the influence of lateral mass flux and thermal dispersion 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 coefficient of thermal diffusivity has been assumed to be the sum of molecular diffusivity and the dispersion thermal diffusivity due to mechanical dispersion. The suction/injection velocity distribution has been assumed to have power function form Ax ^l , where x is the distance from the leading edge and the wall temperature distribution is assumed to be uniform. When l=−1/2, similarity solution is possible, and the results indicate that the boundary layer thickness decreases where as the heat transfer rate increases as the mass flux parameter passes from injection domain to the suction domain. The increase in the thermal dispersion parameter is observed to enhance the heat transfer. The combined effect of thermal dispersion and fluid suction/injection on the heat transfer rate is discussed. Received on 9 September 1996     

Simultaneous heat and mass transfer by natural convection from a plate embedded in a porous medium with thermal dispersion effects

The problem of steady, laminar, simultaneous heat and mass transfer by natural convection flow over a vertical permeable plate embedded in a uniform porous medium in the presence of inertia and thermal dispersion effects is investigated for the case of linear variations of both the wall temperature and concentration with the distance along the plate. Appropriate transformations are employed to transform the governing differential equations to a non-similar form. The transformed equations are solved numerically by an efficient implicit, iterative, finite-difference scheme. The obtained results are checked against previously published work on special cases of the problem and are found to be in good agreement. A parametric study illustrating the influence of the porous medium effects, heat generation or absorption, wall suction or injection, concentration to thermal buoyancy ratio, thermal dispersion parameter, and the Schmidt number on the fluid velocity, temperature and concentration as well as the skin-friction coefficient and the Nusselt and Sherwood numbers is conducted. The results of this parametric study are shown graphically and the physical aspects of the problem are highlighted and 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.     

Thermal Dispersion Effects on Combined Convection in Non-Newtonian Fluids Along a Nonisothermal Vertical Plate in a Porous Medium

The method of non-similarity solution is used to study the influence of thermal dispersion on combined convection from vertical surfaces in a porous medium saturated with a power-law type non-Newtonian fluid. 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 transformed conservation laws are solved numerically for the case of variable surface heat flux conditions. Results for the details of the velocity and temperature fields as well as the Nusselt number have been presented.     

Thermal dispersion effects on non-Darcy natural convection over horizontal plate with surface mass flux

Summary The effect of surface mass flux on the non-Darcy natural convection over a horizontal flat plate in a saturated porous medium is studied using similarity solution technique. Forchheimer extension is considered in the flow equations. The suction/injection velocity distribution has been assumed to have power function form Bx ^l , similar to that of the wall temperature distribution Ax ⁿ , where x is the distance from the leading edge. The thermal diffusivity coefficient has been assumed to be the sum of the molecular diffusivity and the dynamic diffusivity due to mechanical dispersion. The dynamic diffusivity is assumed to vary linearly with the velocity component in the x direction, i.e. along the hot wall. For the problem of constant heat flux from the surface (n=1/2), similarity solution is possible when the exponent l takes the value −1/2. Results indicate that the boundary layer thickness decreases whereas the heat transfer rate increases as the mass flux parameter passes from the injection domain to the suction domain. The increase in the thermal dispersion parameter is observed to favor the heat transfer by reducing the boundary layer thickness. The combined effect of thermal dispersion and fluid suction/injection on the heat transfer rate is discussed. Received 7 December 1995; accepted for publication 7 January 1997     

Hydromagnetic simultaneous heat and mass transfer by mixed convection from a vertical plate embedded in a stratified porous medium with thermal dispersion effects

The problem of steady, laminar, hydromagnetic simultaneous heat and mass transfer by mixed convection flow over a vertical plate embedded in a uniform porous medium with a stratified free stream and taking into account the presence of thermal dispersion is investigated for the case of power-law variations of both the wall temperature and concentration. Certain transformations are employed to transform the governing differential equations to a local similarity form. The transformed equations are solved numerically by an efficient implicit, iterative, finite-difference scheme. The obtained results are checked against previously published work on special cases of the problem and are found to be in excellent agreement. A parametric study illustrating the influence of the magnetic field, porous medium inertia effects, heat generation or absorption, lateral wall mass flux, concentration to thermal buoyancy ratio, and the Lewis number on the fluid velocity, temperature and concentration as well as the Nusselt and the Sherwood numbers is conducted. The results of this parametric study is shown graphically and the physical aspects of the problem are discussed. Received on 17 November 1998     

Analysis of hydrodynamic and thermal dispersion in porous media by means of a local approach

A pore scale analysis is implemented in this numerical study to investigate the behavior of microscopic inertia and thermal dispersion in a porous medium with a periodic structure. The macroscopic characteristics of the transport phenomena are evaluated with an averaging technique of the controlling variables at a pore scale level in an elementary cell of the porous structure. The Darcy–Forchheimer model describes the fluid motion through the porous medium while the continuity and Navier–Stokes equations are applied within the unit cell. An average energy equation is employed for the thermal part of the porous medium. The macroscopic pressure loss is computed in order to evaluate the dominant microscopic inertial effects. Local fluctuations of velocity and temperature at the pore scale are instrumental in the quantification of the thermal dispersion through the total effective thermal diffusivity. The numerical results demonstrate that microscopic inertia contributes significantly to the magnitude of the macroscopic pressure loss, in some instances with as much as 70%. Depending on the nature of the porous medium, the thermal dispersion may have a marked bearing on the heat transfer, particularly in the streamwise direction for a highly conducting fluid and certain values of the Peclet number.     

Fully-developed conjugate heat transfer in porous media with uniform heating

We propose a computational method for approximating the heat transfer coefficient of fully-developed flow in porous media. For a representative elementary volume of the porous medium we develop a transport model subject to periodic boundary conditions that describes incompressible fluid flow through a uniformly heated porous solid. The transport model uses a pair of pore-scale energy equations to describe conjugate heat transfer. With this approach, the effect of solid and fluid material properties, such as volumetric heat capacity and thermal conductivity, on the overall heat transfer coefficient can be investigated. To cope with geometrically complex domains we develop a numerical method for solving the transport equations on a Cartesian grid. The computational method provides a means for approximating the heat transfer coefficient of porous media where the heat generated in the solid varies “slowly” with respect to the space and time scales of the developing fluid. We validate the proposed method by computing the Nusselt number for fully developed laminar flow in tubes of rectangular cross section with uniform wall heat flux. Detailed results on the variation of the Nusselt number with system parameters are presented for two structured models of porous media: an inline and a staggered arrangement of square rods. For these configurations a comparison is made with literature on fully-developed flows with isothermal walls.     

Numerical Study of Heat Transfer in a Rectangular Channel with Porous Covering Obstacles

A numerical study is performed to analyze steady laminar forced convection in a channel in which discrete heat sources covered with porous material are placed on the bottom wall. Hydrodynamic and heat transfer results are reported. The flow in the porous medium is modeled using the Darcy–Brinkman–Forchheimer model. A computer program based on control volume method with appropriate averaging for diffusion coefficient is developed to solve the coupling between solid, fluid, and porous region. The effects of parameters such as Reynolds number, Prandtl number, inertia coefficient, and thermal conductivity ratio are considered. The results reveal that the porous cover with high thermal conductivity enhances the heat transfer from the solid blocks significantly and decreases the maximum temperature on the heated solid blocks. The mean Nusselt number increases with increase of Reynolds number and Prandtl number, and decrease of inertia coefficient. The pressure drop along the channel increases rapidly with the increase of Reynolds number.     

Free Convection Heat Transfer From A Sphere In A Porous Medium Using A Thermal Non-equilibrium Model

This work studies the free convection heat transfer from a sphere with constant wall temperature embedded in a fluid-saturated porous medium using a thermal non-equilibrium model. The governing equations are transformed into boundary-layer partial differential equations by the coordinate transform, and the obtained governing equations are then solved by the cubic spline collocation method. The temperature distributions for fluid and solid phases are shown for different values of the porosity scaled thermal conductivity ratio, the interphase heat transfer parameter, and the streamwise coordinate. The effects of the porosity scaled thermal conductivity ratio and the interphase heat transfer parameter between solid and fluid phases on the local Nusselt numbers for fluid and solid phases are examined. Results show the local Nusset number for the porous medium can be increased by increasing the porosity scaled thermal conductivity ratio. Moreover, the thermal non-equilibrium effect is more significant for low values of the porosity scaled thermal conductivity ratio or the interphase heat transfer parameter.     

Forced Convection Heat Transfer of Nanofluids in a Porous Channel

This article is concerned with the effects of flow and migration of nanoparticles on heat transfer in a straight channel occupied with a porous medium. Investigation of force convective heat transfer of nanofluids in a porous channel has not been considered completely in the literature and this challenge is generally considered to be an open research topic that may require more study. The fully developed flow and steady Darcy?CBrinkman?CForchheimer equation is employed in porous channel. The thermal equilibrium model is assumed between nanofluid and solid phases. It is assumed that the nanoparticles are distributed non-uniformly inside the channel. As a result the volume fraction distribution equation is also coupled with governing equations. The effects of parameters such as Lewis number, Schmidt number, Brownian diffusion, and thermophoresis on the heat transfer are completely studied. The results show that the local Nusselt number is decreased when the Lewis number is increased. It is observed that as the Schmidt number is increased, the wall temperature gradient is decreased and as a consequence the local Nusselt number is decreased. The effects of Lewis number, Schmidt number, and modified diffusivity ratio on the volume fraction distribution are also studied and discussed.     

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.     

Thermal dispersion and viscous dissipation effects on non-darcy mixed convection in a fluid saturated porous medium

Mixed convection flow and heat transfer about an isothermal vertical wall embedded in a fluid saturated porous medium with uniform free stream velocity is considered and the effects of thermal dispersion and viscous dissipation in both aiding and opposing flows are analysed. Similarity solution is not possible due to the inclusion of the viscous dissipation term, series solution is obtained, first and second order effects of dissipation revealed that viscous dissipation lowers the heat transfer rate. Observations also revealed that the thermal dispersion effect enhances the heat transfer rate and the effect of viscous dissipation is observed to increase with increasing values of the dispersion parameter. Received on 21 March 1997     

Effect of an Inserted Porous Layer Located at a Wall of a Parallel Plate Channel on Forced Convection Heat Transfer

A theoretical study is performed on heat and fluid flow in partially porous medium filled parallel plate channel. A uniform symmetrical heat flux is imposed onto the boundaries of the channel partially filled with porous medium. The dimensional forms of the governing equations are solved numerically for different permeability and effective thermal conductivity ratios. Then, the governing equations are made dimensionless and solved analytically. The results of two approaches are compared and an excellent agreement is observed, indicating correctness of the both solutions. An overall Nusselt number is defined based on overall thermal conductivity and difference between the average temperature of walls and mean temperature to compare heat transfer in different channels with different porous layer thickness, Darcy number, and thermal conductivity ratio. Moreover, individual Nusselt numbers for upper and lower walls are also defined and obtained. The obtained results show that the maximum overall Nusselt number is achieved for thermal conductivity ratio of 1. At specific values of Darcy number and thermal conductivity ratio, individual Nusselt numbers approach to infinity since the value of wall temperatures approaches to mean temperature.     

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.     

A Local Thermal Non-Equilibrium Analysis of Fully Developed Forced Convective Flow in a Tube Filled with a Porous Medium

A local thermal non-equilibrium model has been considered for the case of thermally fully developed flow within a constant heat flux tube filled with a porous medium. Exact temperature profiles for the fluid and solid phases are found after combining the two individual energy equations and then transforming them into a single ordinary differential equation with respect to the temperature difference between the solid phase and the wall subject to constant heat flux. The exact solutions for the case of metal-foam and air combination reveal that the local thermal equilibrium assumption may fail for the case of constant heat flux wall. The Nusselt number is presented as a function of the Peclet number, which shows a significant increase due to both high stagnant thermal conductivity and thermal dispersion resulting from the presence of the metal-foam.     

Variable porosity and thermal dispersion effects on vortex instability of a horizontal natural convection flow in a saturated porous medium

A numerical analysis is made to analyze the variable porosity and thermal dispersion effects on the vortex mode of instability of a horizontal natural convection boundary layer flow in a saturated porous medium. The porosity of the medium is assumed to vary exponentially with distance from the wall. In the base flow, the governing equations are solved by using a suitable variable transformation and employing an implicit finite difference Keller Box method. The stability analysis is based on the linear stability theory and the resulting eigenvalue problem is solved by the local similarity approximations. The results indicate that both effects increase the heat transfer rate. In addition, the thermal dispersion effect stabilizes the flow to the vortex mode of disturbance, while the variable porosity effect destabilizes it.

     

Thermal Stratification Effects on Hiemenz Flow of Nanofluid Over a Porous Wedge Sheet in the Presence of Suction/Injection Due to Solar Energy: Lie Group Transformation

The objective of the present work is to investigate theoretically the Hiemenz flow and heat transfer of an incompressible viscous nanofluid past a porous wedge sheet in the presence of thermal stratification due to solar energy (incident radiation). The wall of the wedge is embedded in a uniform Darcian porous medium to allow for possible fluid wall suction or injection and has a power–law variation of the wall temperature. The partial differential equations governing the problem under consideration are transformed by a special form of Lie symmetry group transformations viz., one-parameter group of transformation into a system of ordinary differential equations which are solved numerically by Runge–Kutta–Gill-based shooting method. The conclusion is drawn that the flow field and temperature are significantly influenced by convective radiation, thermal stratification, buoyancy force, and porosity of the sheet.