Computational modeling of porous medium inside a channel with homogeneous nanofluid

Abstract

In the present study, the flow field and heat transfer have been simulated numerically inside a channel. The channel is under the constant heat flux. The main objective of this research is investigating the effect of the arrangement of the porous medium in water/Al2O3 nanofluid inside the channel on the flow and heat transfer characteristics. The effect of various arrangements of porous medium with two porosities and different volume fractions of nanoparticles has been investigated in a constant cross section of the porous medium. The results are validated with other references, and excellent consistency has been seen. The results show that using the porous medium has more effect on heat transfer than using nanofluid, and the arrangement of the porous medium has a strong influence on temperature profile and heat transfer. Based on the results, using stair arrangement of porous medium with the distance of 30 cm from each other and the length of 30 cm and using nanofluid with 0.02 volume fraction of Al2O3 nanoparticles have better performance than other considered arrangements.