Thermal nonequilibrium and viscous dissipation in the thermal entrance region of a Darcy flow with streamwise periodic boundary conditions

The thermal entrance region in a plane-parallel channel filled by a fluid saturated porous medium is investigated with reference to steady forced convection and to a thermal boundary condition given by a wall temperature longitudinally varying with a sinusoidal law. The effect of viscous dissipation in the fluid is taken into account, and a two-temperature model is employed in order to evaluate separately the local fluid and solid matrix temperatures. The asymptotic temperature distributions are determined analytically. The governing equations in the thermal entrance region are solved numerically by a finite element method and by the method of lines. © 2011 American Society of Mechanical Engineers.