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Title: Similarity solutions for buoyancy-induced flow of a power-law fluid over a horizontal surface immersed in a porous medium

Journal Article · · International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer
 [1]
  1. Kuwait Univ., Safat (Kuwait). Dept. of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

There has been considerable interest in studying natural or buoyancy-induced flows in fluid-saturated porous media adjacent to surfaces in recent years. This interest stems from numerous possible industrial and technological applications. Examples of some applications include geothermal reservoirs, drying of porous solids, heat exchanger design, petroleum production, filtration, chemical catalytic reactor, nuclear waste repositories, and geophysical flows. Here, continuum equations governing steady, laminar, buoyancy-induced flow and heat transfer of a power-law fluid over a horizontal surface immersed in a uniform porosity and permeability porous medium are developed. These partial differential equations are transformed into ordinary differential equations by using a general similarity transformation for variable surface temperature and constant heat flux cases. The resulting equations are solved numerically by an implicit finite-difference method. Numerical results for typical velocity and temperature profiles are presented and discussed.

OSTI ID:
531510
Journal Information:
International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol. 24, Issue 6; Other Information: PBD: Oct 1997
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English