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International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow
Mixed convection in an inclined channel with heated porous blocks

N. Guerroudj H. Kahalerras
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N. Guerroudj H. Kahalerras, (2012),"Mixed convection in an inclined channel with heated porous blocks",
International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Vol. 22 Iss 7 pp. 839 - 861
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Mixed convection in an inclined

channel with heated porous
blocks
N. Guerroudj and H. Kahalerras

Faculty of Mechanical and Process Engineering,
Houari Boumediene University of Sciences and Technology,
Bab Ezzouar, Algeria
Mixed
convection in an
inclined channel
839
Received 16 March 2010
Revised 21 September 2010,
7 February 2011
Accepted 30 March 2011
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study numerically the fluid flow and heat transfer in an
inclined channel provided with heated porous blocks on its lower plate.
Design/methodology/approach The Brinkman-Forchheimer extended Darcy model with the
Boussinesq approximation is adopted for the flow in the porous regions. The governing equations with
the appropriate boundary conditions are solved by the control volume method. The effect of some
pertinent parameters such as the buoyancy force intensity, the porous blocks shape and height, the
porous medium permeability and the Reynolds number are analyzed for various inclination angles
ranging from 2 908 to 908.
Findings The results reveal, essentially, that the inclination angle of the channel can alter
substantially the fluid flow and heat transfer mechanisms, especially at high Richardson and Darcy
numbers. In this case, the maximum and minimum global Nusselt numbers are reached for a 908
and a 2908, respectively.
Research limitations/implications The results obtained in this work are valid for an inclined
channel with porous blocks attached on the heated parts of the lower plate, whereas the upper wall is
thermally insulated.
Practical implications The results obtained in this worky can be used in the thermal control of
electronic components. The use of porous blocks mounted on the heat sources will increase the
rate of heat removal in order to maintain the electronic components at an acceptable operating
temperature.
Originality/value The paper provides an interesting method to improve the cooling of electronic
devices by use of a porous medium.
Keywords Heat transfer, Flow, Convection, Cooling systems, Mixed convection, Porous blocks,
Inclined channel
Paper type Research paper
Nomenclature
C inertia coefficient, 1F
Cp specific heat at constant pressure
( J/kg K)
Da Darcy number, K/H 2
f friction coefficient,

2dpm =dx Dh =2ru2m
F Forchheimer coefficient
g gravitational acceleration (m/s2)
Gr Grashof number, gbqH 4/kn 2
h convective heat transfer coefficient
(W/m2 K)
hp
H
k
K
l
N
Nu
p
Pr
q
Re
porous blocks height (m)

channel height (m)
thermal conductivity (W/m K)
permeability (m2)
channel length (m)
number of blocks
Nusselt number, hH/k
pressure (Pa)
Prandtl number, mCp/k
heat flux under the blocks (W/m2)
Reynolds number, uiH/n
International Journal of Numerical

Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow
Vol. 22 No. 7, 2012
pp. 839-861
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0961-5539
DOI 10.1108/09615531211255743
HFF
22,7
840
Ri
Rk
Rm
s
T
u
v
w
x
y
Richardson number, Ri Gr/ Re2

thermal conductivity ratio, ke/k
viscosity ratio, me/m
porous blocks spacing (m)
temperature (K)
axial velocity (m/s)
transverse velocity (m/s)
porous blocks width (m)
axial coordinate (m)
transverse coordinate (m)
Greek symbols
1 porosity
r
a
u
m
b
density (kg/m3)
channel inclination (8)
dimensionless temperature
(T 2 Ti)/(qH/k)
viscosity (kg/m s)
thermal expansion coefficient (1/K)
Subscripts
e exit and effective
g global
i inlet
m mean
wa wall
Introduction
Fluid flow and heat transfer in saturated porous media has received a considerable
attention and has been the subject of many investigations in recent years. This interest
is primarily due to the fact that this kind of structure is encountered in many
engineering applications such as drying processes, filtration, thermal insulation,
geothermal systems, ground water and oil flow, as well as compact heat exchangers.
The use of porous blocks attached over heat sources is considered as an effective heat
sink for thermal control of electronic devices. For this reason, several forced convection
studies in parallel plate channel with heated porous blocks mounted on one of the walls
have been conducted. Hadim (1994) performed a numerical study in a channel filled with
a porous medium and containing discrete heat sources on the bottom wall. The results
of Huang and Vafai (1994) showed that a significant heat transfer enhancement can
be achieved through the use of porous blocks. Sung et al. (1995), Fu et al. (1996) and
Chikh et al. (1998) found that the use of porous blocks may alter substantially the flow
pattern and may improve the heat transfer rate for optimal values of the thermo-physical
properties of the porous medium. The effect of porous blocks shape (rectangular, convex
and concave) on the hydrodynamic and thermal fields was analyzed numerically by
Fu and Huang (1997). An experimental study of heat transfer characteristics in a porous
channel with discrete heat sources was conducted by Cui et al. (2001). Angirasa (2002)
demonstrated experimentally that the rate of heat transfer can be improved with
metallic fibrous heat dissipaters. Chiem and Zhao (2004) used a characteristic-based
matrix-free finite volume method on unstructured grids in order to analyze steady and
unsteady incompressible flow and forced convection heat transfer in a channel provided
either with porous blocks or solid blocks. Huang and Yang (2008) found that the
method combining flow pulsation with heated porous block can be considered as an
augment heat transfer tool for cooling electronic devices. Heat transfer due to the flow
over two porous blocks situated in a square cavity was investigated by Shuja et al.
(2009a, b). Li et al. (2010) studied the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics in a
channel with staggered porous blocks. The velocity field, local heat transfer as well as
pressure drop were investigated for different cases with various parameters.
Mixed convection in porous media has been widely investigated under different
configurations due to the interest of the phenomenon in many technological processes,
such as oil extraction, ground water pollution, thermal insulation, etc. Lai et al.
(1988, 1990) showed that porous cavities, in mixed convection, can be used in
regulating skin friction and in enhancement of the heat transfer rate. Including the
Darcian force, buoyancy force and boundary effect, the exact solutions for
temperature and velocity profiles were obtained by Kou and Lu (1993) for laminar
mixed convection in a vertical channel embedded in a porous media. Hadim and Chen
(1994) performed a numerical study of buoyancy assisted mixed convection in a
parallel-plate vertical channel filled with a porous medium and containing discrete heat
sources at the walls. They found that the effect of porous medium permeability is more
pronounced over the first heat source and in the non-Darcy regime. The problem of
mixed convection in a partly porous channel was investigated by Chang and Chang
(1996). The results depend strongly on some controlling parameters such as thickness
of the porous medium, Darcy number and Grashoff number. Kou and Huang (1997)
studied the fully developed laminar mixed convection through a vertical annular duct
embedded in a porous medium. The analytical solution has been derived to obtain
velocity and temperature profiles, mass flow rate, wall friction factor and heat carried
out by fluid. For non-Darcy mixed convection in a channel filled with a porous
medium, Chen et al. (2000) show that the buoyancy force can significantly affect the
heat transfer rate for higher values of Rayleigh and Darcy number and lower values of
the Forchheimer coefficient. In their work, Bae et al. (2004) considered mixed
convection in a channel containing multiple porous blocks heated from below. The heat
flux from the first heater varies in a sinusoidal form, while the others heaters have a
constant flux. In order to justify the use of thermal modulation, the benefit of heat
transfer augmentation is opposed to the increase in friction factor. A numerical study
in laminar mixed convection in a parallel-plate vertical channel with heated
porous blocks was performed by Huang et al. (2004). The results indicate that the size
and strength of recirculating flow induced by the porous blocks make significant
changes in the cooling of strip heaters. The problem of steady, laminar, mixed
convection flow and heat transfer in a vertical porous channel with symmetric and
asymmetric wall temperatures was studied analytically and numerically by
Umavathi et al. (2005). Delache and Ouarzazi (2008) considered the problem of
nonlinear behaviour of mixed convection generated by both unidirectional uniform
flow and a vertical temperature gradient in a rectangular long porous medium. They
found that convection starts to develop in form of either moving three-dimensional
modes if Reynolds number is below a critical value or in the form of stationary
longitudinal rolls otherwise. The work of Jaballah et al. (2008) is a numerical simulation
of mixed convection in a channel irregularly heated and partially filled with a porous
media. They determined particularly the stability curve and the optimal values of
Rayleigh, Reynolds and Darcy numbers leading to maximum heat transfer with
acceptable pressure drop through the channel. An experimental study for heat transfer
enhancement under assisted mixed convection conditions was performed by Kurtbas
and Celik (2009) in a rectangular horizontal channel filled with an aluminium foam.
The work of Storesletten and Barletta (2009) is an analysis of linear stability of laminar
buoyant flow in a horizontal porous layer saturated with cold water by taking into
account viscous dissipation. Guerroudj and Kahalerras (2010) analyzed numerically
the effect of porous blocks shape (from rectangular to triangular) on laminar mixed
convection heat transfer. The nature of unstable three-dimensional disturbances of
viscoelastic flow convection in a porous medium with horizontal through-flow
and vertical temperature gradient was studied by Hirata and Ouarzazi (2010).
Mixed
convection in an
inclined channel
841
HFF
22,7
842
Mixed convection in inclined ducts and channels has been also considered. We can
mention the work of Morcos et al. (1986) who investigated experimentally the mixed
convection in upwardly inclined heated ducts of rectangular cross-section. They found
that the Nusselt number increases with Grashof number and inclination angle up to a
maximum near a 308. Lavine et al. (1989) conducted a study of flow reversal during
opposing mixed convection in an inclined pipe. They found that the reversal length is
an increasing function of Grashof number and inclination angle and a decreasing
function of Reynolds number. Mixed convection in an inclined channel with a discrete
heat source has been studied by Choi and Ortega (1993). Their results indicate that the
heat transfer strongly depends on the inclination angle for values greater than 458.
Busedra and Soliman (2000) investigated experimentally the laminar water flow in the
entrance region of a semicircular duct with upward and downward inclinations (^ 208).
They found for the upward inclinations an increase of the heat transfer with the
Grashof number and the inclination angle, while the effect of Reynolds number is small
and becomes stronger for the downward inclinations. The problem of fully developed
fluid flow and heat transfer in an inclined channel containing a porous layer saturated
with a fluid and a clear viscous fluid was treated by Malashetty et al. (2004). The
Darcy-Brinkman model was used to describe the flow in the porous region. In the same
context, Cimpean et al. (2006) investigated the fully developed opposing mixed
convection flow between inclined parallel plates filled with a porous medium using the
Darcy model. Pressure and heat transfer in an inclined rectangular duct with a heated
plate longitudinally mounted in the middle of the cross section were experimentally
determined by Chong et al. (2007). The results showed that the average Nusselt
numbers and pressure drops decreased with the augmentation of the inclination angle
from 2608 to 608 for Reynolds number less than 1,500, and became independent of
the inclination angles for Re over 1,800. Barletta et al. (2008) considered the effect of
viscous dissipation on the problem of mixed convection flow in an inclined porous
channel. An experimental investigation of laminar and transition mixed convection in
an inclined rectangular duct was conducted by Chong et al. (2008). They found that
there is optimum inclination angles that yielded the maximum heat transfer at
moderate Reynolds numbers and that the friction factor and heat transfer rate became
nearly independent of inclination angle for larger values of Re. Recently, Cimpean et al.
(2009) resolved analytically the problem of fully developed mixed convection in an
inclined parallel-plates channel filled with a fluid-saturated porous medium. Ichimiya
and Matsushima (2009) treated the heat transfer and three-dimensional flow of mixed
convection in a square channel. A thermal performance was evaluated using Nusselt
number ratio and pressure drop ratio with and without buoyancy induced flow.
The above literature review reveals that the most undertaken works in mixed
convection, when a porous medium is added, were dealing with vertical or horizontal
configurations and relatively few investigations have been reported on inclined geometries.
To the best knowledge of the authors, the case of mixed convection in an inclined channel
provided with heated porous blocks has not been treated yet. This has motivated the
present numerical simulation, whose principal objectives are to show the influence of the
channel inclination on the flow structure and heat transfer characteristics under both
buoyancy opposed and assisted conditions, and to find optimal values of the inclination
angle in order to maximize the rate of heat transfer for an acceptable level of pressure drop.
Mathematical formulation
The system under investigation is a two-dimensional parallel-plate inclined channel.
The upper plate is thermally insulated while porous blocks of height hp, spacing s,
width w, and heated from below are attached on the lower one. The remaining of the
plate is adiabatic as shown in Figure 1. The fluid enters the channel with a uniform
Mixed
convection in an
inclined channel
843
(a)
= 90
= 60
= 30
= 0
= 30
= 60
= 90
(b)
(c)
Figure 1.
(a) Schematic of the
physical domain; (b)
position of the channel for
each inclination angle a
and (c) a typical grid
system for the
computational domain
HFF
22,7
844
velocity distribution and a constant temperature. The length behind the last block is
chosen high enough so that fully developed conditions at the exit can be assumed. The
present problem is of fundamental and practical utility and the cooling of electronic
components can be considered as an industrial application dealing with the boundary
conditions given above. Indeed, the thermal energy release in an electronic component
can be approximated as a constant surface heat flux or as volumetric generation and
both these approaches have been used in previous numerical and experimental
investigations.
In order to simplify the problem, some assumptions are considered: the flow is
two-dimensional, laminar, incompressible and in steady state with no internal heat
generation and neglecting viscous dissipation. The thermo-physical properties of the
fluid are assumed to be constant except the density in the gravitational term that
changes linearly with temperature (Boussinesq approximation). The porous medium is
considered homogeneous, isotropic and saturated with a single phase fluid which is in
local equilibrium with the solid matrix.
The flow is modelled by the Brinkman-Forchheimer extended Darcy model (Vafai
and Tien, 1981) in the porous regions to incorporate the viscous and inertia effects and
by the Navier-stokes equations in the fluid domain, and the thermal field by the energy
equation. The dimensionless equations can be written as follows:
Continuity equation:
U V
0
X Y
Momentum equations:
1
12

U
U
U
V
X
Y

2
P R m
X Re

2 U 2 U
1
C ~
U 2 p jVjU
2
Re Da
X 2 Y 2
Da
Riu sin a
1
12

U
V
V
V
X
Y

2
P Rm
Y Re
2 V 2 V
X 2 Y 2

2
1
C ~
V 2 p jVjV
Re Da
Da
Riu cos a
Energy equation:
U
u
u
Rk
V
X
Y
Re Pr
2 u
2 u
2
X
Y 2

4
~ U 2 V 2 , and the porosity 1 and the Darcy number Da are taken equal
where jVj
to unity (1 1) and infinity (Da ! 1) in the fluid region.
The governing equations are made dimensionless by introducing the following
characteristics scales:
x
;
H
y
;
H
u
;
ui
v
;
ui
p
ru2i
and u
T 2 Ti
qH =k
Mixed
convection in an
inclined channel
The dimensionless parameters appearing in the above equations are defined as:
ui H
K
Gr
gbqH 2
mC p
; C 1F;
Re
; Da 2 ; Ri 2
; Pr
2
n
k
H
Re
kui
me
ke
and Rk
m
k
The boundary conditions of equations (1)-(4) are:
At the inlet:
X 0; 0 , Y , 1 : U 1; V 0 and u 0
5
At the exit.
The exit boundary conditions are an open feature and several approaches have been
proposed to deal with this problem. We can mention the specification of an outlet static
pressure and the application of convective or non-reflective boundary conditions
(see for instance the works of Ben Hamed et al. (2009) and Rahli et al. (2009)).
In the present work, fully developed conditions are applied:
Rm
X L;
0,Y,1:
U
0;
X
V0
and
u
0
X
At the lower plate:

Y 0; 0 , X , L : U V 0
( 1
2 Rk under the porous blocks
u
Y
0
elsewhere
7a
7b
At the upper plate:
u
0
8
Y
At the porous-fluid interfaces: continuity of velocity components, temperature, stresses
and heat fluxes.
The local Nusselt number is evaluated as follows:
( hH
qH =k
1
k T wa 2T m uwa 2um under the porous blocks
Nu
9
0
elsewhere
Y 1;
0,X,L:UV0
and
where uw is the dimensionless wall temperature and um the local dimensionless bulk
temperature taken as:
R1
jU ju dY
um R0 1
10
0 jU jdY
R1
Here, 0 jU jdY is the volumetric flow rate.
The average Nusselt number at each block is calculated as follows:
Z
1 X i W
Nu dX
11
Numi
W Xi
where Xi is the position of the block i from the channel entrance.
845
HFF
22,7
846
The global Nusselt number is defined by:

PiN
Numi
Nug i1
N
12
where N is the number of blocks mounted in the channel.

The local friction coefficient is defined as:

dpm
Dh
dP m
1
f 2
2
dx 2ru2m
dX U 2m
13
where pm and um are the mean pressure and mean velocity, respectively, over the
section, and Dh 2H is the hydraulic diameter.
The average friction coefficient is obtained by integration of the local value over the
channel length:
Z
1 L
f dX
14
fm
L 0
Numerical procedure
The previous conservation equations (1)-(4) with the associated boundary conditions
(5)-(8) are solved numerically using the finite volume method (Patankar, 1980), which
is based on the integration of the conservative differential equations over control
volumes enclosing the nodal points. A staggered grid is used such as the velocity
components are located at the control volume faces, whereas pressure and temperature
are located at the centers of control volumes. The velocity and pressure fields are
linked by the SIMPLE algorithm (Patankar, 1980) and the power law scheme is used in
the discretizing procedure. The obtained system of algebraic equations is then solved
using a line-by-line technique, combining between the tridiagonal matrix algorithm
(Fletcher, 1988) and the Gauss-Seidel method. A non-uniform grid in the two directions
is employed. The finer meshes are placed in both the interfacial regions of the porous
blocks and near the solid walls regions (Figure 1(c)). To analyse the effect of the grid
size on the numerical solution, various grid systems from 240 50 to 480 80 (in Xand Y-directions, respectively) are tested for various combinations of the controlling
parameters (a, Ri, Da, Hp and porous blocks shape). Two typical tests are shown in
Tables I and II, and it is found that the maximum relative error between the solutions
of 480 70 and 480 80 is less than 2 per cent. In view of saving computation time a
grid system of 480 70 is chosen for all computations. Convergence of the iterative
Grid number (X, Y)
Table I.
Grid sensitivity analysis
Nug
Relative error (per cent)
fm
240 50
320 50
400 60
480 60
480 70
480 80
5.458
2.833
5.425
0.60
2.615
7.69
5.585
2.95
2.664
1.87
5.490
1.70
2.625
1.46
5.477
0.24
2.597
1.07
5.476
0.02
2.595
0.08
Notes: Rectangular shape; Hp 0.6; Da 102 3; Ri 50 and a 2908
procedure is assumed to be achieved when the relative variations of velocity

components and temperature between two successive iterations are less than a
prescribed value of 102 5, and if the mass source residual is smaller than 102 8.
To verify our numerical simulation, comparison is made first, on forced convection,
with the results obtained by Hadim (1994) in the case of a partially porous channel
where four blocks fill the entire height (Hp 1). The second comparison is made with
the results of Hadim and Chen (1994) concerning the problem of mixed convection in a
vertical porous channel containing three discrete heat sources at the walls. Figure 2(a)
and (b) shows acceptable matching between the different results.
Mixed
convection in an
inclined channel
847
Results and discussion

Due to the great number of parameters under consideration and in order to better
analyze their effects, few of them are kept constant. The numerical calculations are
performed for air (Pr 0.7), a porosity 1 0.97 (metal foams), an inertia coefficient
C 0.1, a viscosity ratio Rm 1 (since the value of the effective viscosity in the
Brinkmans extension remains controversial, it is taken to be the same as the fluid
viscosity as a first approximation) and a Reynolds number Re 100. The values of the
above parameters are chosen in the basis of previous numerical works in this domain
as Hadim (1994) and Chikh et al. (1998), etc. The geometrical parameters are kept
constant at values of Li li/H 3 (this value ensures the independence of the results
for the various conditions under consideration), Le le/H 21, N 3, W w/H 1
and S s/H 1. In this section, the influence of the inclination angle (2 908 # a # 908)
is reported for various values of Richardson number (0 # Ri # 50), Darcy number
(Da 102 3 and 102 6), porous blocks height (0 # Hp hp/H # 1) and thermal
conductivity ratio (1 # Rk # 100). The effect of the porous blocks shape is also
analyzed in this study where, in addition to the rectangular shape, the trapezoidal and
triangular shapes are considered (the details concerning the treatment of the inclined
interfacial surfaces of the blocks are presented in Guerroudj and Kahalerras (2010)). It
should be noted that to illustrate the flow and temperature fields clearly, only part of
the figures is presented. However, a larger domain is used for numerical calculations.
The first set of figures is presented for a porous material with a small effective
thermal conductivity (Rk 1) to eliminate the effect of conduction within the porous
blocks and to concentrate on the influence of the thermophysical parameters. Then
follows the case of porous blocks with high thermal conductivity ratio in the last
figures (Figures 14 and 15).
Figure 3 shows the effect of Richardson number on the flow structure for a porous
medium permeability such as Da 102 3 and for three different inclination angles: 08,
908 and 2 908. In the case of the horizontal channel, the size of the recirculation zone
Grid number (X, Y)

Nug
fm
240 50
320 50
400 60
480 60
480 70
480 80
2.669
0.216
2.761
3.45
0.230
6.48
2.845
3.04
0.220
4.35
2.758
3.06
0.214
2.73
2.755
0.11
0.217
1.40
2.754
0.04
0.215
0.92
Notes: Triangular shape; Hp 0.6; Da 102 6; Ri 5 and a 908
Table II.
Grid sensitivity analysis
HFF
22,7
50
45
Present study
Hadim (1994)
40
848
Num
35
30
25
20
Da = 106
15
Da = 103
10
Fluid case
5
1
Figure 2.
(a) Evolution of the
average Nusselt number at
each block for various
Darcy numbers, Re 100
and Ri 0; (b) streamlines
and isotherms for
Re 1.43, Da 102 2,
Ri 2,450 and a 908
Present study
3
Block number
(a)
Hadim and Chen

(1994)
Present study
Hadim and Chen

(1994)
(b)
downstream from the last porous blocks increases with the augmentation of the
buoyancy force. This behaviour is due to the stronger buoyant upflow when the
Richardson number increases. In the case of assisted mixed convection (vertical channel
with a 908), it can be clearly seen that the flow structure is perturbed by the thermal
buoyancy and the vortex behind the last block disappeared. This is obviously due to the
fact that the net body force is in the axial flow direction, which accelerates the fluid (acts
like a favourable pressure gradient) resulting in more penetration of the fluid in the
porous blocks. This is will lead to an increase of the heat transfer rate as it will be
1
0.8
0.85
0.6
0.55
0.4
0.25
0
0
0.85
0.55
0.25
01
0.0
01
0.0
1
0.0
0.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 0
Mixed
convection in an
inclined channel
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 5
849
0.8
0.8
0.6
0.4
4
0.0
0.01
0
0
0.2
01
0.0
0.2
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 50
(a)
1
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0.9
0.8
0.6
0.6
0.3
0.4
0.9
0.6
0.3
0.2
0
0
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 5
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 50
(b)
0.6
0.3
25
0.0
5
0.0
01
0.001
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0.8
0.5
.1
0.1
0.01
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 5
0.2
0.4
0.2
0.9
0.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0.0
0.5
0.0
7
0.2
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 50
(c)
Notes: (a) = 0; (b) = 90; (c) = 90
discussed later. For the opposed flow case (a 2908), the net body force acts opposite
to the axial flow direction, this delays the flow and causes flow reversal. For Ri 50, the
secondary flow can extend over most of the heated section as it appears in Figure 3(c),
where due to the down flow there is creation of a big circular cell. Its position and
intensity depends on the balance between of the buoyancy force and the inertia force.
The isotherms corresponding to the above flow field (Figure 4) are well distorted due to
the simultaneous presence of the porous blocks and the recirculation zones. They are
closely spaced within the hot regions (porous blocks) than in the cold zones (spacing
between the blocks). The increase of Richardson number results in a decrease of the
maximum temperature in the blocks (higher temperature gradients) and as a
consequence higher values of local heat transfer coefficients are obtained. Globally, the
better cooling performance is obtained in the case of assisted mixed convection
(a 908), whereas the higher values of umax are obtained in the opposed fluid flow
(a 2908). Indeed, in the latter case due to the existence of big cells (Figure 3(c)) next to
the heated regions, the isotherms are disturbed around these zones and cannot extend far
away. The variation of the global Nusselt number, corresponding to the described
temperature field, with a for different values of Ri is shown in Figure 5. We will start
analyzing the effect of the channel inclination angle before discussing the influence of
buoyancy force intensity. It can be observed that the influence of inclination angle is
negligible at low values of Ri and becomes apparent for Ri . 0.5, where the heat transfer
Figure 3.
Effect of Richardson
number on streamlines for
Da 102 3 and Hp 0.6
1
0.8
0.6
0.6
0.4
0.4
0.2
0.01
1
0.8
0.01
HFF
22,7
0.2
0
0
0
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 0 (max = 0.37, = 0.03)
850
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 5 (max = 0.37, = 0.03)
1
0.8
0.6
0.01
0.4
0
0 1
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 50 (max = 0.34, = 0.03)

(a)
0.8
0.6
0.6
0.4
0.4
0.2
0.01
0.01
0.8
0.01
0.2
0
0
0
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 5 (max = 0.34, = 0.03)
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 50 (max = 0.22, = 0.03)

1
0.8
0.8
0.6
0.6
0.4
0.4
0.2
0.2
Figure 4.
number on isotherms for
Da 102 3 and Hp 0.6
0.01
(b)
1
0.01
0.2
0
0
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 5 (max = 0.43, = 0.03)
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 50 (max = 0.28, = 0.03)

(c)
Notes: (a) = 0; (b) = 90; (c) = 90
rate decreases for a , 08 and increases for a . 08. This result is a direct consequence of
the flow structure shown in Figure 3, where the primary flow is delayed for negative
inclination angles and is accelerated for positive inclination angles. This figure also
reveals that the effect of the inclination angle a becomes important at high Richardson
numbers for positive values of a, while its influence is negligible for negative inclination
angles. Thus, for Ri 50 the variation on Nug in comparison to the horizontal channel is
about 32 per cent for a 908 and around 4 per cent for a 2 908. Concerning the
variation of Nug with Richardson number, it appears from Figure 5 that for a . 08 the
heat transfer is larger when Ri increased, while for negative inclination angles Nug
decreases with the augmentation of the intensity of the buoyancy force until a critical
value around Ri 10, beyond which it starts to increase exceeding the forced flow case
(Ri 0) at high values of Richardson number. These results are compared to a reference
case, corresponding to clear channel under forced convection (FC), in order to illustrate
the enhancement or not of the heat transfer. Due to the low value of the thermal
conductivity ratio (Rk 1), an improvement of heat transfer in comparison to this case
is observed only at high values of Ri and for a . 08.
When the Darcy number is decreased to Da 102 6 (Figure 6), the porous blocks
act as solid blocks with appearance of vortices between the blocks and downstream
7.0
Ri = 0
Ri = 5
Ri = 20
6.5
6.0
Mixed
convection in an
inclined channel
Ri = 0.5
Ri = 10
Ri = 50
Fluid case (FC)
851
Nug
5.5
4.5
Figure 5.
Global Nusselt number
versus channel inclination
for various Richardson
number, Hp 0.6 and
Da 102 3
4.0
3.5
90
60
30
0
()
30
60
90
1
0.8
0.8
0.05
0.001
0.05
0.001
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
0.5
.1
0.2
01
0.2
0
0.0
.05
0.2
0.4
0.2
0.8
0.6
0.5
0.4
0
0.001 .05
0.6
0.
0.001 05
0.8
0
0.0
5
0.0
0.1
Ri = 0
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 5
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
3
01
0.2
0.0
0.5
0.15 0
.1
0.0 0.1
01
0.0 0.1
01
0.8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Da=106
Ri = 50
(a)
1
0.8
0.8
0.6
0.5
0.001
0.2
0.2
0.001
0.001
0.4
0.0
0.8
0.9
0.6
0.6
0.4
0.3
0.2
0
0
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 5
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 50
(b)
1
0
0
Ri = 5
0.1
0.001
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 50
(c)
Notes: (a) = 0; (b) = 90; (c) = 90
0.1
0.2
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
0.4
0.1
0.4
0.001
01
.0
0
0.2
0.7
0.6
01
5
0.0
0.2
0.1
.0
0
0.0010.05
0.5
0.4
0.1
0.6
0.8
0.001
0.8
0.001
0.8
0.0010.05
5.0
Figure 6.
number on streamlines for
Da 102 6 and Hp 0.6
0.8
0.8
0.6
0.6
0.4
0.4
0.2
0.01
852
from the last block. For both cases of horizontal channel (a 08) and vertical channel
with a 2 908, these recirculation zones increase in size with the augmentation of
Richardson number especially the cell downstream from the last block with
appearance of a big vortex upstream from the first block for the opposed convection
case and high values of Ri. At opposite, it is observed that these cells tend to
disappear as the buoyancy force increases at a 908 (assisted flow case) due to the
fact that the body force acts in the axial flow direction and leads to an acceleration of
the fluid flow. The examination of the temperature field (Figure 7) shows an uniform
isotherms in X-direction in the porous blocks due to the fact that Da is small, which
results in weak convection and heat transfer is done primordially by conduction. It
also appears from this figure that the temperature field is insensitive to the
inclination angle. This result is confirmed in Figure 8, where the Nug increases
slightly with a and reaches a local maximum near a 2 308 with a variation less
than 1 per cent compared to the value obtained for the horizontal channel, after this it
decreases as the channel inclination angle increases leading to the lowest heat
transfer rate for the assisted mixed convection case (a 908). It can be also noticed
that the increase of the buoyancy force intensity leads globally to an augmentation of
the heat transfer rate.
0.01
HFF
22,7
0.2
0
0
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 0 (max = 0.49, = 0.03)
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 5 (max = 0.49, = 0.03)
1
0.8
0.6
0.01
0.4
0.2
0
0
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 50 (max = 0.49, = 0.03)
0.8
0.6
0.6
0.4
0.4
0.01
0.8
0.01
(a)
1
0.2
0.2
0
0
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 5 (max = 0.49, = 0.03)
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 50 (max = 0.49, = 0.03)

(b)
1
0.8
0.8
0.6
0.6
0.4
0.4
0.2
0.2
Figure 7.
number on isotherms for
Da 102 6 and Hp 0.6
0.0
0.01
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 5 (max = 0.49, = 0.03)
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri = 50 (max = 0.49, = 0.03)

(c)
Notes: (a) = 0; (b) = 90; (c) = 90
5.84
5.83
2.60
Ri = 0
Ri = 5
Ri = 20
2.55
Nug
2.50
Ri = 0.5
Ri = 10
Ri = 50
853
2.45
2.40
2.35
2.30
2.25
2.20
2.15
90
60
30
30
60
90
()
Figure 8.
for various Richardson
number, Hp 0.6 and
Da 102 6
In order to study the performance of any system it is necessary to compare the net
energy gain (or energy loss) which can be achieved to the generated pressure drop. For
this reason we have reported in Figure 9 the global Nusselt number ratio (Nug/(Nug)Ri 0)
against the mean friction ratio (fm/(fm)Ri 0) under mixed (Ri 0) and forced (Ri 0)
convection for various Richardson numbers and for Da 102 3 and Da 102 6. This
figure can be divided into four regions, the first one (bottom-left), corresponding to
global Nusselt number ratio and pressure drop ratio lower than the unity which means
low heat transfer and pressure drop. The second region (top-left) corresponds to high
heat transfer and low pressure drop. The third and fourth zones (top-right) and
(bottom-right) are high and low heat transfer, respectively, but both high pressure drop.
It appears that the second zone is the most interesting for our study (thermal control of
1.15
1.10
> 0
> 0
= 90
= 0
1.05
Nug/(Nug)Ri = 0
Mixed
convection in an
inclined channel
Fluid case (FC)
= 90
1.00
0.95
= 90
0.90
0.85
= 90
Da = 103:
Ri = 0.5
Ri = 5
Ri = 10
106:
Ri = 0.5
Ri = 5
Ri = 10
Da =
0.80
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
fm/(fm)Ri = 0
1.4
1.6
1.8
2.0
2.2
Figure 9.
Nug/(Nug)Ri 0 versus
fm/(fm)Ri 0 for various
Richardson number and
Hp 0.6
HFF
22,7
854
electronic components) and in this case the system is efficient for positive inclination
angles when Da 102 3 and for a between 08 and 608 when Da 102 6.
To verify if the behaviour of Nug with a is repeated whatever the block height, the
value of the Richardson number is kept constant (Ri 5), and Hp is varied between
0 corresponding to the fluid case without porous blocks and 1 corresponding to the case
where the blocs occupy all the height of the channel. The obtained results are shown in
Figure 10 for two Darcy numbers: Da 102 3 and Da 102 6. Globally, the heat
transfer increases for positive inclination angles and decreases for negatives a, but the
influence of the inclination angle becomes negligible at high values of Hp. Thus, for
Da 102 3, the rate of heat transfer augmentation between a 08 and 908 is about
12 per cent at Hp 0.2 and 1.2 per cent at Hp 1 whereas, the rate of reduction
between a 08 and a 2 908 is around 19 per cent at Hp 0.2 and 1.5 per cent at
Hp 1. An improvement of heat transfer in comparison to the clear channel under
8.5
8.0
Hp = 1
7.5
Hp = 0.8
7.0
Nug
6.5
Fluid case (FC)
6.0
5.5
Hp = 0.6
Fluid case
5.0
4.5
Hp = 0.2
4.0
3.5
Hp = 0.4
3.0
90
60
30
Da = 103
30
60
90
Nug
()
Figure 10.
for various porous blocks
height and Ri 5
Da = 106
9.928
9.920
9.912
9.904
6.6
6.3
6.0
5.7
5.4
5.1
4.8
4.5
4.2
3.9
3.6
3.3
3.0
2.7
2.4
2.1
Hp = 1
Fluid case (FC)

Fluid case
Hp = 0.8
Hp = 0.2
Hp = 0.6
Hp = 0.4
90
60
30
()
30
60
90
1.15
Mixed
convection in an
inclined channel
855
< 0
> 0
1.10
1.05
Nug/(Nug)Ri = 0
forced convection is obtained for all the inclination angles at high Hp and only for
a . 08 when Hp 0. The examination of the performance curve (Figure 11) shows
that for Da 102 3, high heat transfer and low pressure drop are obtained for positive
inclination angles whatever the height of the porous blocks. When the Darcy number is
decreased (Da 102 6), this performance is then obtained for a between 08 and 608 at
high Hp and for a . 08 at low height.
The results presented previously are for the case of rectangular porous blocks.
Attention is now turned to the discussion of the block shape. Figure 12 shows the variation
of Nug for three typical shapes: rectangular, trapezoidal and triangular. It appears that the
optimal angle a leading to the maximum heat transfer rate for the considered blocks shape
is 908 at Da 102 3 and 2308 at Da 102 6. Concerning the effect of the porous blocks
shape on the heat transfer characteristics, it can be seen from this figure and for this block
height (Hp 0.6), that the optimal shape leading to the highest Nug is function of the
permeability of the porous medium. At small permeability (Da 102 6), the maximum
heat transfer rate is obtained when the block shape is triangular, whereas when
Da 102 3, the optimal shape becomes the rectangular shape. This is due to the fact that
for Da 102 3, the fluid penetrates into the blocks and the heat exchange area is then
more important since it also includes the internal surface from which the interest, in this
case, of the porous blocks volume. It can be concluded that the blocks of rectangular shape
improve better the heat transfer in comparison to the triangular shape since their volumes
are twice greater. If the generated pressure drop is taken into account, it appears from
Figure 13 that high heat transfer and low pressure drop are obtained for positive
inclination angles whatever the shape of the blocks when Da 102 3 with reduction of
this range of angles if the permeability is decreased to Da 102 6.
The above results are obtained for a thermal conductivity ratio equal to 1. Thus, it is
worth exploring the case of porous material with higher effective thermal conductivity
(Rk . 1). As expected, the heat transfer is improved and exceeds the case of clear channel
under forced convection (FC) whatever the value of the inclination angle (Figure 14).
The performance curve (Figure 15) shows that for Rk . 1, the optimal cases of heat
transfer and pressure drop are obtained for positive inclination angles, and that the
1.00
= 90
0.95
= 90
0.90
0.85
0.80
Da = 103:
6
Da = 10 :
Hp = 0.2
Hp = 0.6
Hp = 0.8 Fluid case
Hp = 0.2
Hp = 0.6
Hp = 0.8
0.75
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
fm/(fm)Ri = 0
1.8
2.0
2.2
2.4
2.6
Figure 11.
porous blocks height and
Ri 5
HFF
22,7
5.9
Fluid case (FC)
5.8
Rectangular
Trapezoidal
Triangular
5.0
4.6
4.4
4.2
4.0
3.8
Da = 103
3.6
90
60
30
30
60
90
()
5.84
5.82
5.80
Fluid case (FC)
Da = 106
Rectangular
Trapezoidal
Triangular
3.4
3.2
Nug
856
Nug
4.8
3.0
2.8
Figure 12.
for various porous blocks
shape, Ri 5 and
Hp 0.6
2.6
2.4
2.2
90
60
30
30
60
90
()
mean friction coefficients are slightly affected by the variation of the thermal
conductivity ratio. This last result leads us to conclude that in the case of highly
conducting material, such system seems to be efficient.
Conclusion
Mixed convection in an inclined channel provided with porous heated blocks on its lower
plate is studied numerically using control volume method. The flow structure is affected
by the presence of the porous blocks, resulting in the formation of vortices downstream
from each block. The strength and the extent of theses vortices become larger by
increasing the Richardson number and decreasing the permeability of the porous blocks
for the horizontal channel and the negative inclination angles, whereas these vortices
tend to disappear by increasing the positive inclination angles. This flow structure has a
big effect on the heat transfer characteristics. In general, the global Nusselt number
increases for a . 08 and decreases for a , 08 and the rate of augmentation or reduction
1.15
> 0
Mixed
convection in an
inclined channel
< 0
1.10
Nug/(Nug)Ri = 0
= 90
857
1.00
0.95
= 90
0.90
0.85
0.80
Da = 103:
Rectangular
Trapezoidal
Triangular
106:
Rectangular
Trapezoidal
Triangular
Da =
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2.0
fm/(fm)Ri = 0
Figure 13.
porous blocks shape,
Ri 5 and Hp 0.6
32
30
Da = 103:
Rk = 1
Rk = 10
Rk = 100
28
106:
Rk = 1
Rk = 10
Rk = 100
Da =
16
14
Nug
1.05
12
10
8
Fluid case (FC)
6
4
2
90
60
30
30
60
90
()
of heat transfer becomes significant with the increase of the buoyancy force intensity,
permeability and thermal conductivity ratio and with the decrease of the porous blocks
height. An interesting result has also been found where, at low Darcy number and in
spite of the weak dependence of Nug with a, there is an optimal inclination angle around
2 308 leading to a maximum heat transfer. Concerning the benefit of porous blocks
shape, the results show that, for all values of a, the triangular shape leads to the highest
rates of heat transfer at small values of Darcy number, whereas the rectangular shape
becomes the optimal shape at high permeability. The comparison of the net energy gain
(or energy loss) to the generated pressure drop shows that high heat transfer and low
pressure drop are obtained for positive inclination angles with reduction of this range of
angles when the permeability of the porous blocks is reduced.
Figure 14.
for various thermal
conductivity ratio, Ri 5
and Hp 0.6
HFF
22,7
1.08
>0
1.06
1.04
= 90
< 0
= 0
= 90
858
Nug/(Nug)Ri = 0
1.02
1.00
0.98
0.96
= 90
0.94
= 90
0.92
0.90
Figure 15.
thermal conductivity ratio,
Ri 5 and Hp 0.6
0.88
Da = 103:
Rk = 1
Rk = 10
Rk = 100
106:
Rk = 1
Rk = 10
Rk = 100
Da =
0.86
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
fm/(fm)Ri = 0
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Corresponding author
H. Kahalerras can be contacted at: kahalerrashenda@yahoo.fr
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International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow

Mixed convection in an inclined channel with heated porous blocks

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About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com

Mixed convection in an inclined

N. Guerroudj and H. Kahalerras

porous blocks height (m)

International Journal of Numerical

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Richardson number, Ri Gr/ Re2

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At the lower plate:

At the upper plate:

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The global Nusselt number is defined by:

where N is the number of blocks mounted in the channel.

Grid number (X, Y)

Notes: Rectangular shape; Hp 0.6; Da 102 3; Ri 50 and a 2908

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procedure is assumed to be achieved when the relative variations of velocity

Results and discussion

Grid number (X, Y)

Notes: Triangular shape; Hp 0.6; Da 102 6; Ri 5 and a 908

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Hadim and Chen

Hadim and Chen

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Notes: (a) = 0; (b) = 90; (c) = 90

Ri = 0 (max = 0.37, = 0.03)

Ri = 5 (max = 0.37, = 0.03)

Ri = 50 (max = 0.34, = 0.03)

Ri = 5 (max = 0.34, = 0.03)

Ri = 50 (max = 0.22, = 0.03)

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Ri = 5 (max = 0.43, = 0.03)

Ri = 50 (max = 0.28, = 0.03)

Notes: (a) = 0; (b) = 90; (c) = 90

Fluid case (FC)

Notes: (a) = 0; (b) = 90; (c) = 90

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Ri = 0 (max = 0.49, = 0.03)

Ri = 5 (max = 0.49, = 0.03)

Ri = 50 (max = 0.49, = 0.03)

Ri = 5 (max = 0.49, = 0.03)

Ri = 50 (max = 0.49, = 0.03)

Ri = 5 (max = 0.49, = 0.03)

Ri = 50 (max = 0.49, = 0.03)

Notes: (a) = 0; (b) = 90; (c) = 90

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Fluid case (FC)

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Fluid case (FC)

Fluid case (FC)

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Hp = 0.8 Fluid case

Fluid case (FC)

Fluid case (FC)