An experimental study of thermal convection in a porous medium investigates the heat transfer across a horizontal layer heated from below at high Rayleigh number. Using a packed bed of polypropylene spheres in a cubic enclosure saturated with compressed argon, the pressure was varied between 5.6 bar and 77 bar to obtain fluid Rayleigh numbers between 1.68 × 109 and 3.86 × 1011, corresponding to Rayleigh–Darcy numbers between 7.47 × 103 and 2.03 × 106. From the present and earlier studies of Rayleigh–Benard convection in both porous media and homogeneous fluid systems, the existence and importance of a thin thermal boundary layer are clearly demonstrated. In addition to identifying the governing role of the thermal boundary layer at high Rayleigh numbers, the successful correlation of data using homogeneous fluid dimensionless groups when the thermal boundary layer thickness becomes smaller than the length scale associated with the pore features is shown.
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Thermal Convection in Porous Media at High Rayleigh Numbers
Daniel J. Keene,
Daniel J. Keene
1
Department of Engineering and Computer Science,
e-mail: keened@spu.edu
Seattle Pacific University
,Seattle, WA 98119
e-mail: keened@spu.edu
1Corresponding author.
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R. J. Goldstein
R. J. Goldstein
Mechanical Engineering Department,
University of Minnesota
,Minneapolis, MN 55455
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Daniel J. Keene
Department of Engineering and Computer Science,
e-mail: keened@spu.edu
Seattle Pacific University
,Seattle, WA 98119
e-mail: keened@spu.edu
R. J. Goldstein
Mechanical Engineering Department,
University of Minnesota
,Minneapolis, MN 55455
1Corresponding author.
Contributed by the Heat Transfer Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF HEAT TRANSFER. Manuscript received July 7, 2014; final manuscript received November 4, 2014; published online December 17, 2014. Assoc. Editor: Oronzio Manca.
J. Heat Transfer. Mar 2015, 137(3): 034503 (4 pages)
Published Online: March 1, 2015
Article history
Received:
July 7, 2014
Revision Received:
November 4, 2014
Online:
December 17, 2014
Citation
Keene, D. J., and Goldstein, R. J. (March 1, 2015). "Thermal Convection in Porous Media at High Rayleigh Numbers." ASME. J. Heat Transfer. March 2015; 137(3): 034503. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4029087
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