Mixed convection flow in a vertical channel filled with a fluid-saturated porous medium divided by a perfectly conductive baffle

Abstract

This study aims to investigate fully-developed laminar mixed convection flow in a vertical channel with a thin and perfectly conductive baffle, containing a viscous fluidsaturated porous medium. Uniform wall temperatures with asymmetric heating, taking into account the viscous and Darcy dissipations in energy equation, have been considered. The nonlinear governing equations are solved analytically by the perturbation method and numerically by the finite-difference method. The influence of the porous parameter, ratio of Grashof number to Reynolds number, Brinkman number, viscosity ratio and baffle position on the velocity, temperature distribution and the Nusselt number variation for the system is explored. It is found that the velocity and temperature profiles are distorted by the effect of porous parameter, Brinkman number, Grashof number to Reynolds number and the viscosity ratio. The increase in the porous parameter and Brinkman number results in the enhancement in temperature, while the temperature decreases with the increase of the viscosity ratio. Flow reversal can be also found even in the double-passage channel with suitable combination of parameters. Heat transfer rates at both walls are enhanced by increasing values of the porous parameter. © 2016 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.