Mixed convection of an incompressible viscous fluid in a porous medium past a hot vertical plate

This paper analyses steady two-dimensional mixed convection of an imcompressible viscous fluid in a porous medium past a hot vertical plate. Assuming Darcy-Brinkman model for the flow in a porous medium, the boundary layer equations are integrated numerically to obtain the non-similar solution for the velocity and temperature distribution for several values of the permeability and viscous dissipation parameters. It is shown that for a fixed value of Prandtl number Pr and dissipation parameter E, the skin-friction at the plate decreases with increase in the permeability parameter K₁. However for the same value or Pr and E, the heat transfer rate at the plate increases with increasing K₁. The dimensionlcss velocity and temperature functions in the flow are plotted for several values of E and K₁ with Pr = 0.73. It is also shown that for fixed values of K₁, and KPr, the skin-friction increases with increase in the dissipation parameter E.     

Generalized Plain Couette Flow and Heat Transfer in a Composite Channel

An analytical study of fluid flow and heat transfer in a composite channel is presented. The channel walls are maintained at different constant temperatures in such a way that the temperatures do not allow for free convection. The upper plate is considered to be moving and the lower plate is fixed. The flow is modeled using Darcy–Lapwood–Brinkman equation. The viscous and Darcy dissipation terms are included in the energy equation. By applying suitable matching and boundary conditions, an exact solution has been obtained for the velocity and temperature distributions in the two regions of the composite channel. The effects of various parameters such as the porous medium parameter, viscosity ratio, height ratio, conductivity ratio, Eckert number, and Prandtl number on the velocity and temperature fields are presented graphically and discussed.     

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.     

Mixed convection flow over a vertical wedge embedded in a highly porous medium

 The steady mixed convection flow over a vertical wedge with a magnetic field embedded in a porous medium has been investigated. The effects of the permeability of the medium, surface mass transfer and viscous dissipation on the flow and temperature fields have been included in the analysis. The coupled nonlinear partial differential equations governing the flow field have been solved numerically using the Keller box method. The skin friction and heat transfer are found to increase with the parameters characterizing the permeability of the medium, buoyancy force, magnetic field and pressure gradient. However the effect of the permeability and magnetic field on the heat transfer is very small. The heat transfer increases with the Prandtl number, but the skin friction decreases. The buoyancy force which assists the forced convection flow causes an overshoot in the velocity profiles. Both the skin friction and heat transfer increase with suction and the effect of injection is just the reverse. Received on 21 May 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     

Effects of variable fluid viscosity on flow past a heated stretching sheet embedded in a porous medium in presence of heat source/sink

The boundary layer flow and heat transfer of a fluid through a porous medium towards a stretching sheet in presence of heat generation or absorption is considered in this analysis. Fluid viscosity is assumed to vary as a linear function of temperature. The symmetry groups admitted by the corresponding boundary value problem are obtained by using a special form of Lie group transformations viz. scaling group of transformations. These transformations are used to convert the partial differential equations corresponding to the momentum and the energy equations into highly non-linear ordinary differential equations. Numerical solutions of these equations are obtained by shooting method. It is found that the horizontal velocity decreases with increasing temperature-dependent fluid viscosity parameter up to the crossing-over point but increases after that point and the temperature decreases in this case. With the increase of permeability parameter of the porous medium the fluid velocity decreases but the temperature increases at a particular point of the sheet. Effects of Prandtl number on the velocity boundary layer and on the thermal boundary layer are studied and plotted.     

Unsteady flow and heat transfer of porous media sandwiched between viscous fluids

The problem of unsteady oscillatory flow and heat transfer of porous medin sandwiched between viscous fluids has been considered through a horizontal channel with isothermal wall temperatures. The flow in the porous medium is modeled using the Brinkman equation. The governing partial differential equations are transformed to ordinary differential equations by collecting the non-periodic and periodic terms. Closed-form solutions for each region are found after applying the boundary and interface conditions. The influence of physical parameters, such as the porous parameter, the frequency parameter, the periodic frequency parameter, the viscosity ratios, the conductivity ratios, and the Prandtl number, on the velocity and temperature fields is computed numerically and presented graphically. In addition, the numerical values of the Nusselt number at the top and bottom walls are derived and tabulated.     

Flow and Heat Transfer of Viscous Fluids Saturated in Porous Media over a Permeable Non-isothermal Stretching Sheet

The present paper deals with the flow and heat transfer of a viscous fluid saturated in a porous medium past a permeable and non-isothermal stretching sheet with internal heat generation or absorption and radiation. Closed-form solutions to steady, two dimensional momentum equations with neglecting quadratic inertia terms and heat transfer equation are found using a similarity transformation. Asymptotic expressions of the temperature functions are also presented valid for both very large and very small modified Prandtl numbers. Attention is focused on the effects of porous parameter K, suction parameter R, radiation parameter Nr, viscosity ratio Λ, internal heat parameter α and Prandtl number P to the characteristics of flow and heat transfer.     

Unsteady two-fluid flow and heat transfer in a horizontal channel

The problem of unsteady oscillatory flow and heat transfer of two viscous immiscible fluids through a horizontal channel with isothermal permeable walls has been considered. The partial differential equations governing the flow and heat transfer are solved analytically using two-term harmonic and non-harmonic functions in both fluid regions of the channel. Effects of physical parameters such as viscosity ratio, conductivity ratio, Prandtl number and frequency parameter on the velocity and temperature fields are shown graphically. It is observed that the velocity and temperature decrease as the viscosity ratio increases, while they increase with increases in frequency parameter. The effect of increasing the thermal conductivity ratio also suppresses the temperature in both fluid regions. The effect of periodic frequency on the flow is depicted in tabular form. It is predicted that both the velocity and temperature profiles decrease as the periodic frequency increases.     

Investigation of generalized Fick’s and Fourier’s laws in the second-grade fluid flow

The second-grade fluid flow due to a rotating porous stretchable disk is modeled and analyzed. A porous medium is characterized by the Darcy relation. The heat and mass transport are characterized through Cattaneo-Christov double diffusions. The thermal and solutal stratifications at the surface are also accounted. The relevant nonlinear ordinary differential systems after using appropriate transformations are solved for the solutions with the homotopy analysis method (HAM). The effects of various involved variables on the temperature, velocity, concentration, skin friction, mass transfer rate, and heat transfer rate are discussed through graphs. From the obtained results, decreasing tendencies for the radial, axial, and tangential velocities are observed. Temperature is a decreasing function of the Reynolds number, thermal relaxation parameter, and Prandtl number. Moreover, the mass diffusivity decreases with the Schmidt number.     

On thermal boundary layer of a non-Newtonian fluid on a power-law stretched surface of variable temperature with suction or injection

 Heat transfer characteristics of a non-Newtonian fluid on a power-law stretched surface of variable temperature with suction or injection were investigated. Similarity solutions of the laminar boundary layer equations describing heat transfer and fluid flow in a quiescent fluid were obtained and solved numerically. Velocity and temperature profiles as well as the Nusselt number, Nu, were studied for two thermal boundary conditions; uniform surface temperature and variable surface temperature, for different parameters; Prandtl number Pr, temperature exponent b, velocity exponent m, injection parameter d and power-law index n. It was found that decreasing injection parameter d, and power-law index n and increasing Prandtl number Pr and surface temperature exponent b enhance the heat transfer coefficient. Received on 27 April 2000     

Flow and heat transfer of an electrically conducting fluid of second grade in a porous medium over a stretching sheet subject to a transverse magnetic field

An analysis is performed for flow and heat transfer of a steady laminar boundary layer flow of an electrically conducting fluid of second grade in a porous medium subject to a transverse uniform magnetic field past a semi-infinite stretching sheet with power-law surface temperature or power-law surface heat flux. The effects of viscous dissipation, internal heat generation of absorption and work done due to deformation are considered in the energy equation. The variations of surface temperature gradient for the prescribed surface temperature case (PST) and surface temperature for the prescribed heat flux case (PHF) with various parameters are tabulated. The asymptotic expansions of the solutions for large Prandtl number are also given for the two heating conditions. It is shown that, when the Eckert number is large enough, the heat flow may transfer from the fluid to the wall rather than from the wall to the fluid when Eckert number is small. A physical explanation is given for this phenomenon.     

Three dimensional unsteady convection and mass transfer flow through porous medium

The problem of three dimensional unsteady convection flow through a porous medium, with effect of mass transfer bounded by an infinite vertical porous plate is discussed, when the suction at the plate is transverse sinusoidal and the plate temperature oscillates in time about a constant mean. Assuming the free stream velocity to be uniform, approximate solutions are obtained for the flow field, the temperature field, the skin-friction and the rate of heat transfer. The dependence of solution on Pr (Prandtl number), Gr (Grashof number based on temperature), Gc (modified Grashof number based on concentration difference), Sc (Schimdt number), the frequency and the permeability parameter is also investigated.     

Unsteady natural convection Couette flow of heat generating/absorbing fluid between vertical parallel plates filled with porous material

The extended Brinkman Darcy model for momentum equations and an energy equation is used to calculate the unsteady natural convection Couette flow of a viscous incompressible heat generating/absorbing fluid in a vertical channel(formed by two infinite vertical and parallel plates) filled with the fluid-saturated porous medium.The flow is triggered by the asymmetric heating and the accelerated motion of one of the bounding plates.The governing equations are simplified by the reasonable dimensionless parameters and solved analytically by the Laplace transform techniques to obtain the closed form solutions of the velocity and temperature profiles.Then,the skin friction and the rate of heat transfer are consequently derived.It is noticed that,at different sections within the vertical channel,the fluid flow and the temperature profiles increase with time,which are both higher near the moving plate.In particular,increasing the gap between the plates increases the velocity and the temperature of the fluid,however,reduces the skin friction and the rate of heat transfer.     

Heat transfer in laminar entrance region of a flat channel for the temperature boundary condition of the third kind

To explore the influence of the developing flow in a flat channel on the laminar forced convection heat transfer, the non-linear momentum and the linear energy equation are solved successively by employing the Galerkin-Kantorowich method of variational calculus. Assuming constant fluid properties, negligible axial diffusion and temperature boundary condition of the third kind, semi analytic solution for velocity and temperature is derived. The local Nusselt numbers are tabulated for various values of Biot and Prandtl number.     

State space approach to unsteady magnetohydrodynamics natural convection heat and mass transfer through a porous medium saturated with a viscoelastic fluid

A technique of the state space approach and the inversion of the Laplace transform method are applied to dimensionless equations of an unsteady one-dimensional boundary-layer flow due to heat and mass transfer through a porous medium saturated with a viscoelastic fluid bounded by an infinite vertical plate in the presence of a uniform magnetic field is described. Complete analytical solutions for the temperature, concentration, velocity, and induced magnetic and electric fields are presented. The inversion of the Laplace transforms is carried out by using a numerical approach. The proposed method is used to solve two problems: boundary-layer flow in a viscoelastic fluid near a vertical wall subjected to the initial conditions of a stepwise temperature and concentration and viscoelastic fluid flow between two vertical walls. The solutions are found to be dependent on the governing parameters including the Prandtl number, the Schmidt number, the Grashof number, reaction rate coefficient, viscoelastic parameter, and permeability of the porous medium. Effects of these major parameters on the transport behavior are investigated methodically, and typical results are illustrated to reveal the tendency of the solutions. Representative results are presented for the velocity, temperature, concentration, and induced magnetic and electric field distributions, as well as the local skin-friction coefficient and the local Nusselt and Sherwood numbers.     

Numerical study of Prandtl effect on MHD flow at a lid‐driven porous cavity

In this paper, the lattice Boltzmann method is used to study the Prandtl number effect on flow structure and heat transfer rates in a magnetohydrodynamic flow mixed convection in a lid‐driven cavity filled with a porous medium. The right and left walls are at constant but different temperatures (θ_h and θ_c), while the other walls are adiabatic. Gallium and salt water (0.02 < Pr < 13.4) are used as samples of the electroconducting fluids in the cavity. Typical sets of streamlines and isotherms are presented to analyze the flow patterns set up by the competition among the forced flow created by the lid‐driven wall, the buoyancy force of the fluid and the magnetic force of the applied magnetic field. Mathematical formulations in the porous media were constructed based on the Brinkman–Forchheimer model, while the multidistribution‐function model was used for the magnetic field effect. Numerical results were obtained and the effects of the Prandtl number and the other effective parameters such as Richardson, Hartman, and Darcy numbers were investigated. It was found that the fluid fluctuations within the cavity were reduced by increasing the Hartman number. A similar pattern was observed for the Darcy number reduction. Heat transfer was essentially dominated by the conduction for the low Prandtl number and forced convection dominated as the Prandtl number increased. Also, the average Nusselt number was raised by increasing the Prandtl number. It was discovered that a remarkable heat transfer enhancement of up to 28% could be reached by increasing the Prandtl number (from 0.02 to 13.4) at constant Richardson and Darcy numbers. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

Effects of temperature dependent fluid properties and variable Prandtl number on the transient convective flow due to a porous rotating disk

In this paper we have studied the effects of temperature dependent fluid properties such as density, viscosity and thermal conductivity and variable Prandtl number on unsteady convective heat transfer flow over a porous rotating disk. Using similarity transformations we reduce the governing nonlinear partial differential equations for flow and heat transfer into a system of ordinary differential equations which are then solved numerically by applying Nachtsheim–Swigert shooting iteration technique along with sixth-order Runge–Kutta integration scheme. Comparison with previously published work for steady case of the problem were performed and found to be in very good agreement. The obtained numerical results show that the rate of heat transfer in a fluid of constant properties is higher than in a fluid of variable properties. The results further show that consideration of Prandtl number as constant within the boundary layer for variable fluid properties lead unrealistic results. Therefore, modeling thermal boundary layers with temperature dependent fluid properties Prandtl number must treated as variable inside the boundary layer.     

Numerical Simulation of Turbulent Flow and Heat Transfer in a Three-Dimensional Channel Coupled with Flow Through Porous Structures

This study investigates numerically the turbulent flow and heat transfer characteristics of a T-junction mixing, where a porous media flow is vertically discharged in a 3D fully developed channel flow. The fluid equations for the porous medium are solved in a pore structure level using an Speziale, Sarkar and Gatski turbulence model and validated with open literature data. Overall, two types of porous structures, consisted of square pores, are investigated over a wide range of Reynolds numbers: an in-line and a staggered pore structure arrangement. The flow patterns, including the reattachment length in the channel, the velocity field inside the porous medium as well as the fluctuation velocity at the interface, are found to be strongly affected by the velocity ratio between the transversely interacting flow streams. In addition, the heat transfer examination of the flow domain reveals that the temperature distribution in the porous structure is more uniform for the staggered array. The local heat transfer distributions inside the porous structure are also studied, and the general heat transfer rates are correlated in terms of area-averaged Nusselt number accounting for the effects of Reynolds number, velocity ratio as well as the geometrical arrangement of the porous structures.