Forced Convection in a Bidisperse Porous Medium Embedded in a Circular Pipe

Abstract

Compared to the regular (monodisperse) porous medium (MDPM) with one porosity scale, the bidisperse porous medium (BDPM) has two porosity scales, which may enhance the heat transfer capability. This work investigates the forced convective heat transport through a circular pipe filled with a BDPM. The two-velocity two-temperature model is utilized to describe the flow and temperature fields for both the fracture phase (macropores) and the porous phase (the matrix with micropores). The bidispersion effect is taken into account by altering the permeability of the porous phase in the medium. Analytical solutions of the velocities and temperatures for both phases are derived under the constant wall heat flux boundary condition. The local Nusselt number and heat transfer performance (HTP) are also developed to investigate how the bidispersivity affects the thermal characteristics over a wide range of parameter space.