Forced Convection in a Channel Filled With Porous Medium, Including the Effects of Flow Inertia, Variable Porosity, and Brinkman Friction

Abstract

This paper presents a series of numerical simulations which aim to document the problem of forced convection in a channel filled with a fluid-saturated porous medium. In modeling the flow in the channel, the effects of flow inertia, variable porosity and Brinkman friction are taken into account. Two channel configurations are investigated: parallel plates and circular pipe. In both cases, the channel wall is maintained at constant temperature. It is found that the general flow model predicts an overall enhancement in heat transfer between the fluid/porous matrix composite and the walls, compared to the predictions of the widely used Darcy flow model. This enhancement is reflected in the increase of the value of the Nusselt number. Important results documenting the dependence of the temperature and flow fields in the channel as well as the dependence of the thermal entry length on the problem parameters are also reported in the course of the study.