Non-Darcian Effects on the Mixed Convection Heat Transfer in a Metallic Porous Block with a Confined Slot Jet

Abstract

The present numerical investigation addresses non-Darcian effects on the mixed convection heat transfer in a metallic porous block with a confined slot jet. The generalized model of the momentum equation, which is also known as the Forchheimer-Brinkman extended Darcy model, was used in representing the fluid motion inside the porous layer. The local thermal equilibrium condition was assumed to be valid for the range of the thermophysical parameters considered in the present investigation. The transport equations were solved using the finite element formulation based on the Galerkin method of weighted residuals. The validity of the numerical code used was ascertained by comparing our results with previously published results. Our results revealed that the heat transfer performance of the slot jet was 2.4 times as large as that without the presence of a porous block. In addition, the average Nusselt number was found to increase with a decrease in porosity and an increase in the thermal conductivity ratio. The present results illustrate that the average Nusselt number increases with a decrease in the dimensionless height of the porous layer up to H _porous =  0.05 , after which the Nusselt number decreases.

We acknowledge support for this work by the Kuwait University Research Grant No. ZE 03/08.