A Finite-Volume Model for Fluid Flow and Nonequilibrium Heat Transfer in Conjugate Fluid-Porous Domains Using General Unstructured Grids

Abstract

A numerical model for computing fluid flow and heat transfer, under the assumption of local thermal nonequilibrium, is proposed for use with general unstructured, nonorthogonal grids. This model introduces novel interface conditions which are physically-reasoned and ensure strong coupling between the pressure and velocity fields. Special attention is given to the numerical approximation of diffusive and advective fluxes, pressure forces in the momentum equations, pressure–velocity coupling, and gradient reconstruction at interfaces while maintaining second-order accuracy. The resulting model is very robust and is shown to produce physically reasonable results for high laminar Reynolds numbers on nonorthogonal grids.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the computing facilities provided by the Shared Hierarchical Academic Research Computing Network (SHARCNET: www.sharcnet.ca) and Compute/Calcul Canada.

Notes

Note that the number of control volumes is given for the porous plug section only and that the pressure difference is given across the full length of the domain.

Note that the number of control volumes is given for the porous plug section only and that the pressure difference is given across the full length of the domain (which is truncated in comparison to the hexahedral grid case). Also note that for all grids, the growth rate was 10% per row with a maximum characteristic grid size of 4δ _w .