Investigation of heat transfer in irregular porous cavity subjected to various boundary conditions

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the heat transfer in an arbitrary cavity filled with porous medium. The geometry of the cavity is such that an isothermal heating source is placed centrally at the bottom of the cavity. The height and width of the heating source is varied to analyses its effect on the heat transfer characteristics. The investigation is carried out for three different cases of outer boundary conditions such as two outside vertical walls being maintained at cold temperature To, two vertical and top horizontal surface being heated to. To and the third case with top surface kept at To but other surfaces being adiabatic. Design/methodology/approach Finite element method is used to solve the governing equations. Findings It is observed that the cavity exhibits unique heat transfer behavior as compared to regular cavity. The cases of boundary conditions are found to affect the heat transfer rate in the porous cavity. Originality/value This is original work representing the heat transfer in irregular porous cavity with various boundary conditions. This work is neither being published nor under review in any other journal.