Natural convection in porous media: An experimental and numerical study for vertical annular and rectangular enclosures
Abstract
Natural convection in vertical annular and rectangular enclosures filled with with saturated porous media is studied numerically and experimentally for Rayleigh numbers up to 10,000. For numerical investigation, both isothermal and uniform heat flux boundary conditions are considered for the cavity whereas in the case of annulus the inner wall is assumed to be isothermally heated. In each case, velocity and temperature fields are analyzed through the streamline and isotherm patterns. The agreement between the experimental values of Nusselt number based on the effective conductivity and the analytical or numerical results is excellent. It is concluded that a unique relationship exists between the Nusselt and Rayleigh numbers unless Darcy's law is inapplicable. The factors which influence the limiting Rayleigh numbers (for breakdown of the formulation based on Darcy's law) are also discussed.
- Publication:
-
Ph.D. Thesis
- Pub Date:
- 1983
- Bibcode:
- 1983PhDT........30P
- Keywords:
-
- Annular Flow;
- Convection;
- Enclosures;
- Numerical Analysis;
- Porous Materials;
- Flow Theory;
- Flow Velocity;
- Isothermal Processes;
- Laminar Flow;
- Temperature Distribution;
- Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer