Mixed convection in a horizontal porous duct with a sudden expansion and local heating from below

Results are reported for an experimental and numerical study of forced and mixed convective heat transfer in a liquid-saturated horizontal porous duct. The cross section of the duct has a sudden expansion with a heated region on the lower surface downstream and adjacent to the expansion. Within the framework of Darcy’s formulation, the calculated and measured Nusselt numbers for 0.1 < Pe < 100 and 50 < Ra < 500 are in excellent agreement. Further, the calculated Nusselt numbers are very close to those for the bottom-heated flat duct. This finding has important implications for convective heat and mass transfer in geophysical systems and porous matrix heat exchangers. The calculations were also carried out for glass bead-packed beds saturated with water using non-Darcy’s formula. The streamlines in the forced convection indicate that, even with non-Darcy effects included, recirculation is not observed downstream of an expansion and the heat transfer rate is decreased but only marginally.