Lattice Boltzmann Simulation of Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer through Partially Filled Porous Media

Abstract

The main aim of this work is to observe the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics through porous media at the REV (Representative Elementary Volume) scale in an enclosed squared cavity using LBM (Lattice Boltzmann Method) instead of traditional FVM, FDM, or FEM. Results are generated by varying the porosity (e = 0.4, 0.6, 0.9), and other dimensionless variables: Rayleigh number (Ra = 103, 104, 105, 106), and Darcy number (Da =10-2, 10-3). The enclosed cavity was considered to be half-filled with pore materials, with horizontal porous layer and vertical porous layer, these two cases are studied for all the considered parameters. The influence of the dimensionless parameters as well as porosity on the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics has been discussed in detail along with the influence of the placement of the pore material inside the cavity. In the end, it is observed form the results that the nature of the flow and rate of the heat transfer are affected significantly by the Ra values, Da values, and porosity level. The placement differences of the pore materials further shows differences in the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics. A new and simpler forcing term for the porous media is used. This study can be useful while using a porous media in numerical designs and experimental designs. Fortran 90 is used for numerical simulations.

Keywords

• lattice boltzmann method
• porous media
• rev scale
• natural convection
• fluid flow
• heat transfer