Forced Convection Analysis of Discrete Heated Porous Convergent Channel

Abstract

This study investigates numerically forced convection heat transfer and flow analyses of a passive heat exchanger for nonporous and partially filled porous channels with varying exit height (1, 0.5, and 0.25). Four discrete heat sources with uniform heat flux are simulated on the channel bottom wall. The partially filled porous channels are tested at two different porous block heights (0.5 and 1). The flow field and thermal analyses inside the channels are investigated across a wide range of Reynolds and Darcy numbers for Prandtl number of 0.71. The results reveal that the porous block and the exit height affect substantially the flow and heat transfer characteristics inside the tested channels. The Nusselt number is enhanced by 20–40% for the partially filled porous convergent channel (exit height = 0.25 and porous block height = 1) compared to the nonporous channel. Consequently, the heat exchanger size can be reduced by 37.5%. Moreover, the overall heat transfer performance parameter is enhanced with further increase in Darcy number at low Reynolds number. As a result, compact heat exchangers that provide superior heat transfer coefficients lead to development of macro- and microelectronic devices.