Parametric Study of Unsteady Flow and Heat Transfer of Compressible Helium–Xenon Binary Gas through a Porous Channel Subjected to a Magnetic Field

Abstract

A numerical analysis of unsteady fluid and heat transport of compressible Helium–Xenon binary gas through a rectangular porous channel subjected to a transverse magnetic field is herein presented. The binary gas mixture consists of Helium (He) and Xenon (Xe). In addition, the compressible gas properties are temperature-dependent. The set of governing equations are nondimensionalized via appropriate dimensionless parameters. The dimensionless equations involve a number of dimensionless groups employed for detailed parametric study. Consequently, the set of equations is discretized using a compact finite difference scheme and solved by using the 3rd-order Runge–Kutta method. The model’s computed results are compared with data from past literature, and very favorable agreement is achieved. The results show that the magnetic field, compressibility and variable fluid properties profoundly affect heat and fluid transport. Variations of density with temperature as well as pressure result in an asymmetric mass flow profile. Furthermore, the friction coefficient is greater for the upper wall than for the lower wall due to larger velocity gradients along the top wall.