Friction factor for ducts of sinusoidal walls with a layer of porous material

Abstract

© 2021 Begell House Inc.. All rights reserved.Ducts with walls having a sinusoidal shape can be used to enhance heat and mass transfer in a number of industrial flows. Modern solar energy systems can benefit by the use of such wavy surfaces resulting in improvements on their overall thermal efficiencies. If a layer of porous material is attached to the walls, further increase in transfer rates of mass and energy can be achieved due to the increase of surface contact area between the fluid and the walls. This article investigates the pressure drop in wavy ducts having different aspect ratios and distinct porous layer thicknesses, porosities, and permeabilities. A mathematical model for flow in a unique computational domain, encompassing both the porous region and the centered clear passage, was applied and numerically resolved. Results indicate that pressure losses were mostly affected by the thickness of the layers rather than the properties of the porous substrate.

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