Forced convection in a channel partly occupied by a bidisperse porous medium: Asymmetric case

This paper presents an analytic investigation of forced convection in parallel-plate channel partly occupied by a bidisperse porous medium and partly by a fluid clear of solid material, the distribution being asymmetrical. The walls of the channel are subject to an uniform heat flux; the flow is assumed to be hydrodynamically and thermally fully developed. The layer of a bidisperse porous medium is attached to one of the channel walls; it is modeled utilizing a two-velocity two-temperature formulation using Darcy’s law. The Beavers–Joseph boundary condition is employed at the bidisperse porous medium/clear fluid interface. The dependences of the Nusselt number on a conductivity ratio, a velocity ratio, a volume fraction, internal heat exchange parameter, and the position of the porous-fluid interface are investigated. Both cases of symmetric and asymmetric heating are investigated, which is specified by the asymmetry heating parameter introduced here. For the case of asymmetric heating, a singular behavior of the Nusselt number is found and explained.