Applied Thermal Engineering 26 (2006) 2442–2447

www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Fully developed natural convection heat and mass transfer

in a vertical annular porous medium with asymmetric
wall temperatures and concentrations
Ching-Yang Cheng *

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Southern Taiwan University of Technology, 1, Nantai Street, Yungkang 710, Taiwan, ROC

Received 9 September 2005; accepted 15 February 2006

Abstract

This work examines the effects of the modified Darcy number, the buoyancy ratio and the inner radius-gap ratio on the fully devel-
oped natural convection heat and mass transfer in a vertical annular non-Darcy porous medium with asymmetric wall temperatures and
concentrations. The exact solutions for the important characteristics of fluid flow, heat transfer, and mass transfer are derived by using a
non-Darcy flow model. The modified Darcy number is related to the flow resistance of the porous matrix. For the free convection heat
and mass transfer in an annular duct filled with porous media, increasing the modified Darcy number tends to increase the volume flow
rate, total heat rate added to the fluid, and the total species rate added to the fluid. Moreover, an increase in the buoyancy ratio or in the
inner radius-gap ratio leads to an increase in the volume flow rate, the total heat rate added to the fluid, and the total species rate added
to the fluid.
Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Heat and mass transfer; Non-Darcy natural convection; Annular duct; Porous medium; Analytic solution

1. Introduction Bejan [4] summarized the study on the phenomena of nat-

Natural convection heat and mass transfer driven by
combined thermal and solutal buoyancy forces in fluid-sat-
urated porous media may be met in geophysical, geother-
mal and industrial applications. Natural convection heat
and mass transfer for Newtonian fluids in porous media
have been studied by many researchers [1–4]. Bejan and
Khair [1] studied the heat and mass transfer by natural
convection in a porous medium. Lateral mass flux effects
and magnetic field effects on the natural convection heat
and mass transfer along a vertical surface have been stud-
ied by Murthy and Singh [2] and by Cheng [3], respectively.
They have shown that these two factors are very important
for the free convection heat and mass transfer. Nield and
*
Tel.: +886 6 2683734; fax: +886 6 2895877.
E-mail address: cycheng@mail.stut.edu.tw
ural convection in porous media. Rastogi and Poulikakos
[5] studied the natural convection heat and mass transfer
from a vertical surface in a porous region saturated with
a non-Newtonian fluid. They have shown that the non-
Newtonian power-law index has significant effects on heat
and mass transfer rates.
There are previous works that investigated free convec-
tion flow in the annular geometry filled with a porous
material [6–9], which includes (a) free convection in a ver-
tical cylindrical annuli by Havstad and Burns [6], (b) free
convection in a horizontal space bounded by two concen-
tric cylinders for Darcian fluid by Bejan and Tien [7] and
for non-Darcy flow by Muralidhar and Kulacki [8], and
(c) free convection through an vertical annulus with mixed
boundary conditions by Jha [9]. Note that Jha [9] has
shown that the Darcy number and the ratio of outer to
inner radii are the governing factors for heat transfer
through an annular porous medium.

1359-4311/$ - see front matter Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2006.02.014
 C.-Y. Cheng / Applied Thermal Engineering 26 (2006) 2442–2447 2443

Nomenclature

C concentration Greek symbols

D mass diffusivity bc coefficient of concentration expansion
Da modified Darcy number bt coefficient of thermal expansion
g gravitational acceleration e porosity
Gr Grashof number h dimensionless temperature
H total heat rate added to the fluid k inner radius-gap ratio
K permeability m kinematic viscosity
m wall temperature ratio / dimensionless concentration
n wall concentration ratio U dimensionless total species rate added to the
N buoyancy ratio fluid
Nu Nusselt number
Q volume flow rate Subscripts
Ra Darcy-modified Rayleigh number 0 condition at the inlet
Sh Sherwod number 1 condition at the outer surface of the inner
T temperature cylinder
u velocity component 2 condition at the inner surface of the outer
U dimensionless velocity component cylinder
r radial coordinate
R dimensionless radial coordinate

In this work, we want to extend the work of Jha [9] to

study the mass transfer effects on the fully-developed heat
and mass transfer by natural convection inside a vertical
annular duct filled with porous media for asymmetric wall
temperatures and concentrations. The closed-form exact
solutions are derived for the problem by using the non-
Darcy flow model and the effects of the modified Darcy
number, the buoyancy ratio and the inner radius-gap ratio
on heat transfer and mass transfer are examined.

2. Analysis

Consider a steady fully developed laminar natural con-

vection flow in annular region of infinite length embedded
in a homogeneous fluid-saturated porous medium. The
schematic diagram is shown in Fig. 1. The inlet tempera-
ture is T0 and inlet concentration is C0. The outer surface
of the inner cylinder is kept at a constant temperature T1
while the inner surface of the outer cylinder is maintained
at a constant temperature T2. In addition, the concentra-
tion of a certain constituent in the solution that saturates
the porous medium varies from C1 on outer surface of
the inner cylinder to C2 on the inner surface of the outer
cylinder. Because the flow is fully developed, the flow
depends only on the radial coordinate r. The fluid proper-
ties are assumed to be constant except for density varia-
tions in the buoyancy force term.
Fig. 1. The schematic diagram.
With introducing Boussinesq approximations, the equa-
tions governing the steady-state conservation of mass,
momentum, energy and constituent for non-Darcy flow  
through a homogeneous porous medium inside the annular m1 d du m
r  u ¼ gbt ðT  T 0 Þ  gbc ðC  C 0 Þ ð1Þ
duct can be written as [9–11] e r dr dr K
2444 C.-Y. Cheng / Applied Thermal Engineering 26 (2006) 2442–2447

d2 T 1 dT h ¼ a1 lnðk þ RÞ þ a2 ð12Þ
þ ¼0 ð2Þ
dr2 r dr / ¼ a3 lnðk þ RÞ þ a4 ð13Þ
d2 C 1 dC where
þ ¼0 ð3Þ
dr2 r dr
m1 ð1  mÞ ln k
The appropriate boundary conditions for the problem are a1 ¼ ; a2 ¼ 1 þ ;
lnð1 þ 1=kÞ lnð1 þ 1=kÞ
u ¼ 0; T ¼ T 1; C ¼ C1 on r ¼ r1 ð4Þ n1 ð1  nÞ ln k
a3 ¼ ; and a4 ¼ 1 þ
u ¼ 0; T ¼ T 2; C ¼ C2 on r ¼ r2 ð5Þ lnð1 þ 1=kÞ lnð1 þ 1=kÞ

Here u is the volume-averaged velocity component in the
streamwise direction. T and C are the volume-averaged
temperature and concentration, respectively. Property m is
the kinematic viscosity of the fluid and K is the permeabil-
ity of the porous medium. bt and bc are the coefficients for
thermal expansion and for concentration expansion of the
saturated porous medium, respectively, and g is the gravi-
Substituting Eqs. (12) and (13) into Eq. (7) and then solv-
ing Eq. (7) with its corresponding boundary conditions in
Eqs. (10) and (11), we obtain the following equations:
U ¼ a5 I 0 ½Da0:5 ðk þ RÞ þ a6 K 0 ½Da0:5 ðk þ RÞ
þ a7 lnðk þ RÞ þ a8 ð14Þ
where

½ða1 þ a3 N Þ lnðk þ 1Þ þ a2 þ a4 N K 0 ðDa0:5 kÞ  ½ða1 þ a3 N Þ lnðkÞ þ a2 þ a4 N K 0 ½Da0:5 ðk þ 1Þ

a5 ¼
Da1 fI 0 ðDa0:5 mkÞK 0 ½Da0:5 ðk þ 1Þ  I 0 ½Da0:5 ðk þ 1ÞK 0 ðDa0:5 kÞg
½ða1 þ a3 N Þ lnðkÞ þ a2 þ a4 N I 0 ½Da0:5 ðk þ 1Þ  ½ða1 þ a3 N Þ lnðk þ 1Þ þ a2 þ a4 N I 0 ðDa0:5 kÞ
a6 ¼
Da1 fI 0 ðDa0:5 kÞK 0 ½Da0:5 ðk þ 1Þ  I 0 ½Da0:5 ðk þ 1ÞK 0 ðDa0:5 kÞg

tational acceleration. Moreover, e is the porosity of the a7 ¼ Daða1 þ a3 N Þ; and a8 ¼ Daða2 þ a4 N Þ

porous medium. The dimensionless volume flow rate is
Here we introduce the non-dimensional variables: Z 1
R ¼ ðr  r1 Þ=ðr2  r1 Þ; k ¼ r1 =ðr2  r1 Þ; Q ¼ 2p U ðk þ RÞdR ð15Þ
0
U ¼ uðr2  r1 Þ=ðGrmeÞ; h ¼ ðT  T 0 Þ=ðT 1  T 0 Þ; b b
where Q ¼ Q=½Grmeðr 2  r1 Þ and Q is the flux of fluid flow-
/ ¼ ðC  C 0 Þ=ðC 1  C 0 Þ; ing through annular region.
Gr ¼ bt gðT 1  T 0 Þðr2  r1 Þ3 =m2 ð6Þ Substituting Eq. (14) into Eq. (15) and integrating, we
obtain the dimensionless volume flow rate as
Substituting Eq. (6) into Eqs. (1)–(5), we obtain the follow-
Q ¼ a9 I 1 ½Da0:5 ðk þ 1Þ þ a10 I 1 ðDa0:5 kÞ
ing dimensionless governing equations:
þ a11 K 1 ½Da0:5 ðk þ 1Þ þ a12 K 1 ðDa0:5 kÞ
d2 U 1 dU
þ  Da1 U ¼ h  N / ð7Þ þ a13 lnðk þ 1Þ þ a14 lnðkÞ þ a15 ð16Þ
dR R þ k dR
d2 h 1 dh where
þ ¼0 ð8Þ
dR 2
R þ k dR a9 ¼ 2pDa0:5 a5 ðk þ 1Þ; a10 ¼ 2pDa0:5 a5 k;
d2 / 1 dh a11 ¼ 2pDa0:5 a6 ðk þ 1Þ; a12 ¼ 2pDa0:5 a6 k;
þ ¼0 ð9Þ
dR2 R þ k dR
a13 ¼ pa7 ðk þ 1Þ2 ; a14 ¼ pa7 k2 ; and
The relevant boundary conditions in dimensionless form
p
are a15 ¼ ð2k þ 1Þð2a8  a7 Þ
2
U ¼ 0; h ¼ 1; /¼1 on R ¼ 0 ð10Þ
The dimensionless total heat rate added to the fluid is
U ¼ 0; h ¼ m; /¼n on R ¼ 1 ð11Þ Z 1
where Da = K/be(r2  r1)2c is the modified Darcy number, H ¼ 2p U hðk þ RÞdR ð17Þ
0
N = bc(C1  C0)/[bt(T1  T0)] is the buoyancy ratio,
m = (T2  T0)/(T1  T0), and n = (C2  C0)/(C1  C0). where H ¼ H b =½GrmeðT 1  T 0 Þðr2  r1 Þ and H
b is the total
Solving Eqs. (8) and (9) and their corresponding bound- heat rate added to the fluid.
ary conditions, Eqs. (10) and (11), gives the dimensionless Substituting Eq. (14) into Eq. (16) and integrating, we
temperature and concentration as obtain the dimensionless total heat added to the fluid as
 C.-Y. Cheng / Applied Thermal Engineering 26 (2006) 2442–2447 2445

H ¼ a2 Q þ a16 I 1 ½Da0:5 ðk þ 1Þ þ a17 I 1 ðDa0:5 kÞ a36 ¼ 2pDaa3 a6 ;

2
a37 ¼ pa3 a7 ðk þ 1Þ ;
þ a18 I 0 ½Da0:5 ðk þ 1Þ þ a19 I 0 ðDa0:5 kÞ a38 ¼ pa3 a7 k2 ;
2
a39 ¼ pa3 a8 ðk þ 1Þ ;
0:5 0:5
þ a20 K 1 ½Da ðk þ 1Þ þ a21 K 1 ðDa kÞ a40 ¼ a3 a8 pk2 ; and a41 ¼ pa3 ða7  a8 Þð2k þ 1Þ
0:5 0:5
þ a22 K 0 ½Da ðk þ 1Þ þ a23 K 0 ðDa kÞ The local Sherwood number for both walls may be
2 2
þ a24 ½lnðk þ 1Þ þ a25 ðln kÞ þ a26 lnðk þ 1Þ obtained with the aid of Eq. (13) as
1n
þ a27 ln k þ a28 ð18Þ Sh1 ¼ ð23Þ
k lnð1 þ 1=kÞ
where 1n
a16 ¼ 2pDa0:5 a1 a5 ðk þ 1Þ lnðk þ 1Þ; Sh2 ¼  ð24Þ
ðk þ 1Þ lnð1 þ 1=kÞ
a17 ¼ 2pDa0:5 a1 a5 k ln k; a18 ¼ 2pDaa1 a5 ; Note that the local Sherwood number has opposite sign for
a19 ¼ 2pDaa1 a5 ; 0:5
a20 ¼ 2pDa a1 a6 ðk þ 1Þ lnðk þ 1Þ; each wall. For fully developed flow with symmetric wall
concentration (n = 1), the local Sherwood number is
a21 ¼ 2pDa0:5 a1 a6 k ln k; a22 ¼ 2pDaa1 a6 ; zero, and / = 1 for all R, as seen in Eq. (13). For asymmet-
a23 ¼ 2pDaa1 a6 ; a24 ¼ pa1 a7 ðk þ 1Þ2 ; ric wall concentrations, species is transferred from the
2
higher-concentration wall through the fluid to the lower-
a25 ¼ pa1 a7 k2 ; a26 ¼ pa1 a8 ðk þ 1Þ ; concentration wall.
a27 ¼ a1 a8 pk2 ; and a28 ¼ pa1 ða7  a8 Þð2k þ 1Þ
3. Results and discussion
The local Nusselt number for both walls may be
obtained with the aid of Eq. (12) as Fig. 2 plots the variation of the dimensionless volume
1m flow rate Q with the buoyancy ratio N for various modified
Nu1 ¼ ð19Þ Darcy numbers (Da = 0.01, 0.05, 0.1), k = 0.5, m = 0.6, and
k lnð1 þ 1=kÞ
1m n = 0.2. It is shown in the figure that increasing the buoy-
Nu2 ¼  ð20Þ ancy ratio tends to accelerate the fluid flow, thus raising the
ðk þ 1Þ lnð1 þ 1=kÞ
volume flow rate of the fluid flowing through the annular
For fully developed flow with symmetric wall temperatures duct. Because the porous medium with higher modified
(m = 1), the local Nusselt number is zero, and h = 1 for all Darcy numbers Da has lower resistance to the fluid flow,
R, as seen in Eq. (12). For asymmetric wall temperatures, increasing the modified Darcy number of the porous med-
heat is transferred from the hot wall through the fluid to ium leads to an increase in the fluid velocity and thus an
the cool wall.
The dimensionless total species added to the fluid is
Z 1
U ¼ 2p U /ðk þ RÞdR ð21Þ
0 1.0
b
where U ¼ U=½GrmeðC b
1  C 0 Þðr 2  r 1 Þ and U is the total Da=0.01
species added to the fluid. m=0.6 n=0.2 λ=0.5 Da=0.05
Substituting Eq. (14) into Eq. (21) and integrating, we 0.8
Da=0.1
obtain the dimensionless species rate as
U ¼ a4 Q þ a29 I 1 ½Da0:5 ðk þ 1Þ þ a30 I 1 ðDa0:5 kÞ
0.6
þ a31 I 0 ½Da0:5 ðk þ 1Þ þ a32 I 0 ðDa0:5 kÞ
Q
þ a33 K 1 ½Da0:5 ðk þ 1Þ þ a34 K 1 ðDa0:5 kÞ
0.4
þ a35 K 0 ½Da0:5 ðk þ 1Þ þ a36 K 0 ðDa0:5 kÞ
2 2
þ a37 ½lnðk þ 1Þ þ a38 ðln kÞ þ a39 lnðk þ 1Þ
þ a40 ln k þ a41 ð22Þ 0.2

where

a29 ¼ 2pDa0:5 a3 a5 ðk þ 1Þ lnðk þ 1Þ; 0.0

0:5
a30 ¼ 2pDa a3 a5 k ln k; a31 ¼ 2pDaa3 a5 ; 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
N
a32 ¼ 2pDaa3 a5 ; a33 ¼ 2pDa0:5 a3 a6 ðk þ 1Þ lnðk þ 1Þ;
Fig. 2. Effects of buoyancy ratio and modified Darcy number on the
a34 ¼ 2pDa0:5 a3 a6 k ln k; a35 ¼ 2pDaa3 a6 ; volume flow rate.
2446 C.-Y. Cheng / Applied Thermal Engineering 26 (2006) 2442–2447

1.2 1.6
Da=0.01
m=0.6 n=0.2 λ=0.5 1.4 m=0.6 n=0.2 λ=0.5 Da=0.05
1.0
Da=0.1
1.2
Da=0.01
0.8 Da=0.05 1.0
Da=0.1
Φ
H 0.6 0.8

0.6
0.4
0.4

0.2
0.2

0.0 0.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
N N
Fig. 3. Effects of buoyancy ratio and modified Darcy number on the total Fig. 4. Effects of buoyancy ratio and modified Darcy number on the total
heat rate added to the fluid. species rate added to the fluid.

increase in the fluid volume flow rate Q in the annular por- 1.0
ous medium. Da=0.01
The dimensionless total heat rate added to the fluid H is Da=0.05
plotted as functions of the buoyancy ratio for various 0.8 Da=0.1
modified Darcy numbers (Da = 0.01, 0.05, 0.1), k = 0.5,
m = 0.6, and n = 0.2, as shown in Fig. 3. It is clearly shown m=0.6 n=0.2 N=2
in the figure that increasing the buoyancy ratio tends to 0.6
accelerate the fluid flow, raising the heat transfer rate
between the wall and the fluid, and thus increasing the total Q
heat rate added to the fluid. Increasing the modified Darcy
0.4
number tends to accelerate the flow and thus increasing the
heat transfer rates between the fluid and the wall. There-
fore, the heat rate added to the fluid H in the annular duct
tends to increase as the modified Darcy number Da of the 0.2
porous medium is increased.
Fig. 4 shows the variation of the dimensionless total spe-
cies rate added to the fluid U with the buoyancy ratio N for 0.0
various modified Darcy numbers (Da = 0.01, 0.05, 0.1), 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
k = 0.5, m = 0.6, and n = 0.2. It is shown in the figure that
increasing the buoyancy ratio N tends to accelerate the λ
fluid flow, thus enhancing the mass transfer rate between Fig. 5. Effects of inner radius-gap ratio on the volume flow rate.
the wall and the fluid flowing through the annular duct.
Because the porous medium with higher modified Darcy
numbers Da has lower resistance to the fluid flow, increas- ume flow rate of the fluid flowing through the annular
ing the modified Darcy number of the porous medium duct; that is mainly due to the increase of the cross-sec-
tends to increase the fluid velocity and thus to increase tional area of the annular duct.
the total species rate added to the fluid U flowing through The heat rate added to the fluid H is plotted as functions
the annular porous medium. of the inner radius-gap ratio k for various modified Darcy
Fig. 5 plots the variation of the dimensionless volume numbers (Da = 0.01, 0.05, 0.1), N = 2, m = 0.6, and
flow rate Q with the inner radius-gap ratio k for various n = 0.2, as shown in Fig. 6. As the inner radius-gap ratio
modified Darcy numbers (Da = 0.01, 0.05, 0.1), N = 2, k is increased, the total heat rate added to the fluid H tends
m = 0.6, and n = 0.2. It is shown in the figure that increas- to increase. That is mainly because an increase in the inner
ing the inner radius-gap ratio k tends to increase the vol- radius-gap ratio k increases the heat transfer area and the
 C.-Y. Cheng / Applied Thermal Engineering 26 (2006) 2442–2447 2447

2.5 sionless total species rate added to the fluid U flowing

through the annular duct. That is mainly because an
Da=0.01 increase in the inner radius-gap ratio k increases the mass
Da=0.05 transfer area and the volume flow rate of the fluid, thus
2.0
Da=0.1 increasing the total species rate added to the fluid.

m=0.6 n=0.2 N=2 4. Conclusions

1.5

H The fully developed heat and mass transfer by natural

convection of a non-Darcian fluid flowing through a verti-
1.0 cal annular porous medium with asymmetric wall temper-
atures and concentrations has been studied theoretically.
The exact solution for this problem has been obtained.
0.5 The effects of the modified Darcy number, buoyancy ratio
and the inner radius-gap ratio on the volume flow rate,
total heat rate added to the fluid, and the total species rate
0.0 added to the fluid have been carefully examined. The mod-
ified Darcy number is used to represent the resistance of the
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
porous medium to the fluid flow. It is found that increasing
λ
the modified Darcy number tends to increase the volume
Fig. 6. Effects of inner radius-gap ratio on the total heat rate added to the flow rate, the total heat rate added to the fluid, and the
fluid. total species rate added to the fluid. Moreover, an increase
in the buoyancy ratio or in the inner radius-gap ratio leads
4 to an increase in the volume flow rate, the total heat rate
Da=0.0 1
added to the fluid, and the total species rate added to the
fluid.
m=0.6 n=0.2 N=2 Da=0.05
Da=0.1 References
3

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