Non-Darcian effects on conjugate natural convection between horizontal concentric cylinders filled with a porous medium

An analysis is presented of steady conjugate free convection between two horizontal concentric cylinders filled with a fluid-saturated porous medium; the innermost cylinder surface is maintained at a high temperature and the outermost cylinder surface at a lower one. The velocity-pressure-gradient relation is taken to be nonlinear, with departure from the linear Darcy situation measured by a parameter F₀. The investigation is based on the numerical solution, by a finite-difference method, of the full momentum and energy equations. The streamline and isotherm patterns as well as the local and mean Nusselt numbers are plotted for several physical parameters to show some of the flow and heat transfer characteristics. It is found that all parameters play an important role in the flow and heat transfer characteristics. The model can be applied to a variety of engineering problems.