Simulations of flow through fluid/porous layers by a characteristic-based method on unstructured grids

An upwind characteristic-based nite volume method on unstructured grids is employed for numerical simulation of incompressible laminar ow and forced convection heat transfer in 2D channels containing simultaneously uid layers and uid-saturated porous layers. Hydrodynamic and heat transfer results are reported for two con gurations: the rst one is a backward-facing step channel with a porous block inserted behind the step, and the second one is a partially porous channel with discrete heat sources on the bottom wall. The e ects of Darcy numbers on heat transfer augmentation and pressure loss were investigated for low Reynolds laminar ows. The results demonstrate the accuracy and robustness of the numerical scheme proposed, and suggest that partially porous insertion in a channel can signi cantly improve heat transfer performance with a ordable pressure loss