Simulation of laminar flow and convective heat transfer in conduits filled with porous media using Lattice Boltzmann Method

In the present work, laminar flow and convective heat transfer between two parallel plates of a conduit were simulated using Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM). The conduit core was filled with a porous medium fully and partially. The effect of porous medium was considered by introducing the porosity into the equilibrium distribution. Viscous and inertia flow resistance effects of porous medium were incorporated in the form of force terms in the Boltzmann's equation. To simulate the temperature field, a simplified thermal lattice BGK model with doubled population method was employed. Comparing the results of the present study to the analytical solutions. a reasonable agreement was observed. The effects of various parameters like Darcy number, porous medium thickness, etc. on the conduit thermal performance were investigated. It was found that all these parameters had significant influence on thermal performance of the channel in certain conditions. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.