Thermal Instability in a Horizontal Porous Channel with Horizontal Through Flow and Symmetric Wall Heat Fluxes

Abstract

The linear thermoconvective instability of the basic parallel flow in a plane and horizontal porous channel is investigated. The boundary walls are assumed to be impermeable and subject to symmetric and uniform heat fluxes. The wall heat fluxes produce either a net heating or a net cooling of the fluid saturated porous medium. A horizontal mass flow rate is externally impressed leading to a stationary basic state with a temperature gradient inclined to the vertical. A region of possibly unstable thermal stratification exists either in the lower half-channel (boundary heating), or in the upper half-channel (boundary cooling). The convective instability of the basic flow is governed by the Rayleigh number and by the Peclet number. In the case of boundary heating, the thermal instability arises when the Rayleigh number exceeds its critical value, that depends on the Peclet number. The change of the critical Rayleigh number as a function of the Peclet number is determined numerically for arbitrary normal modes oblique to the basic flow direction. The most dangerous modes are the longitudinal rolls, with a wave vector perpendicular to the basic velocity. There exists a minimum value of the Peclet number, 19.1971, below which no linear instability is detected.