Numerical investigation of natural convection in an inclined porous enclosure using non-Darcian flow model

Abstract

PurposeA thoroughly literature review reveals that considerable attention have been given only to the two common cases, i.e. enclosure heated from below and heated from the side. For the inclined layer, on the other hand, the numbers of investigations are relatively small. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the natural convective heat transfer in an inclined porous cavity using non-Darcian flow model, including the boundary surface and inertia effects.Design/methodology/approachThe flow characteristics have been assumed to be two-dimensional, steady, incompressible flow, whereas the properties of porous media have been considered to be homogeneous and isotropic properties solid matrix. The non-Darcian flow model, including the boundary surface and inertia effects, has been numerically solved using finite difference method.FindingsThe initiation of multicellular flow and counter-rotating cell are strongly dependent on the aspect ratio A and the inclination angle θ. The orientation of the porous cavity, for a given Ra*, Fs/Pr* and A, has a significant effect on the heat transfer rate. The results also indicated that A has a dominant effect on the Nusselt number. The Nusselt number is strongly dependent on the Ra*, Fs/Pr*, A and θ. Therefore, operating conditions and geometry of the porous enclosure are required to be properly designed to achieve the desired objective.Originality/valueThe developed model can reveal the non-Darcian effects on the fluid flow and heat transfer in inclined porous media under natural convection case.