Pressure drop characteristics of parallel-plate channel flow with porous obstructions at both walls

Abstract

In this work, numerical solutions are presented for turbulent flow in a channel containing fins made with porous material. The condition of spatially periodic cell is applied longitudinally along the channel. A macroscopic two-equation turbulence model is employed in both the porous region and the clear fluid. The equations of momentum, mass continuity and turbulence transport equations are written for an elementary representative volume yielding a set of equations valid for the entire computational domain. These equations are discretized using the control volume method and the resulting system of algebraic equations is relaxed with the SIMPLE method. Results are presented for the velocity field as a function of Reynolds number, porosity and permeability of the fins.