The effect of anisotropic thermoconvective currents on the onset of double-diffasive convection in a sparsely packed porous medium

Abstract

The affect of anisotropic thermoconvective current on the onset of double-diffusive convection in a sparsely packed porous medium is investigated for the case in which a large coupled diffusion effect is present. The Brinkman extension of the Darcy equation is chosen as the momentum equation with effective Brinkman viscosity different from the fluid viscosity. The normal mode analysis is used to find the condition for the onset of convection. The effect of the porous parameter F, ratio of diffusivities, and a separation parameter are presented graphically. It is found that the thermoconvective currents have a stabilizing effect as well as a destabilizing effect with respect to the case in which these currents are absent. The viscous case results and the Darcy results are obtained as a limiting case of the porous parameter F tending to zero and infinity, respectively.