Numerical Study of Heat Transfer in a Rectangular Channel with Porous Covering Obstacles

Abstract

A numerical study is performed to analyze steady laminar forced convection in a channel in which discrete heat sources covered with porous material are placed on the bottom wall. Hydrodynamic and heat transfer results are reported. The flow in the porous medium is modeled using the Darcy–Brinkman–Forchheimer model. A computer program based on control volume method with appropriate averaging for diffusion coefficient is developed to solve the coupling between solid, fluid, and porous region. The effects of parameters such as Reynolds number, Prandtl number, inertia coefficient, and thermal conductivity ratio are considered. The results reveal that the porous cover with high thermal conductivity enhances the heat transfer from the solid blocks significantly and decreases the maximum temperature on the heated solid blocks. The mean Nusselt number increases with increase of Reynolds number and Prandtl number, and decrease of inertia coefficient. The pressure drop along the channel increases rapidly with the increase of Reynolds number.