Natural Convection From Two Thermal Sources in a Vertical Porous Layer

Abstract

Numerical study of natural convection flow induced by two isothermally heated elements located on adiabatic vertical plate immersed in a Darcian porous medium is carried out in the present article. The natural convection is affected by the Rayleigh number, the separation distance between the elements, their temperature ratio, and the length of the upper element. The numerical results are presented as average Nusselt number versus Rayleigh number for wide ranges of the governing parameters. It is found that the heat transfer from the lower element is not affected by the presence of the upper element for equal temperatures of the elements. The heat transfer from the lower element can be enhanced by increasing the temperature of the upper element due to the suction effect. The average Nusselt number along the upper heated element is found to increase with the increase of any of the governing parameters.