Chemical Engineering Science 59 (2004) 4481 – 4492

www.elsevier.com/locate/ces

Viscous flow past a porous sphere with an impermeable core : effect of

stress jump condition
Anindita Bhattacharyya, G.P. Raja Sekhar∗
Department of Mathematics, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur - 721302, India

Received 5 April 2004; received in revised form 9 June 2004; accepted 12 June 2004
Available online 24 August 2004

Abstract
An arbitrary flow of a viscous, incompressible fluid past a porous sphere of radius ‘a’ with an impermeable core of radius ‘b’, using
Brinkman’s equation in the porous region is discussed. At the interface of the clear fluid and porous region, stress jump boundary condition
for the tangential stresses along with the continuity of normal stresses and the velocity components are used. On the surface of the
impermeable core no slip condition is used. The corresponding Faxen’s laws are derived to compute the drag and torque acting on the
surface r = a. It is found that the drag and torque not only change with the change of the permeability, but also a significant effect of
the stress jump co-efficient is observed. The variation of drag and torque with permeability for different thickness (a − b) of the porous
region as well as for different values of stress jump coefficient is discussed when the basic flow is due to uniform flow, two dimensional
irrotational flow, doublet in a uniform flow, stokeslet, rotlet. In case of uniform flow the flow field has been plotted. In all the cases, a
significant effect of the stress jump coefficient has been realized.
䉷 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

MSC: 76xx; 76D07; 76S05

Keywords: Stokes flow; Brinkman equation; Impermeable core; Stress jump co-efficient

1. Introduction engineering. In chemical engineering, mainly in industry

Flow through porous media has been a topic of longstand-
ing interests in many areas of science and engineering. En-
gineering systems based on fluidized bed combustion, en-
hance oil reservoir recovery, combustion in an inert porous
matrix, underground spreading of chemical waste and chem-
ical catalytic reactors are just a few examples of applica-
tions of the study of flow through porous media. Due to its
broad range of applications in science and industry this inter-
disciplinary field has gained extensive attention lately. In a
broader sense, the study of porous media embraces fluid and
thermal sciences, geothermal, petroleum and combustion
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91-3222-283684; fax: +91-3222-
255303.
E-mail address: rajas@maths.iitkgp.ernet.in (G.P. Raja Sekhar).
0009-2509/$ - see front matter 䉷 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ces.2004.06.017
one oftenly used word is chemical agglomeration. Agglom-
eration is the process by which solid particles are enlarged.
The general agglomeration methods include partial melting,
moisture absorption from the air, electrostatic clinging and
pressing. Many processes need agglomeration to form the
product, e.g., tablets, fertilize pellets, fly ash or charcoal bri-
quettes. Immersion of permeable agglomerates in their pro-
cessing media results in their progressive infiltration by the
fluid. This phenomenon was observed and monitored ear-
lier in the case of silica, calcium carbonate, carbon black
and titanium dioxide agglomerates (Bohin et al., 1994; Lev-
resse et al., 1999). Matrix infiltration effects the dispersion
property of agglomerates (Bohin et al., 1996). Hydrody-
namic analysis of porous spheres with infiltrated periph-
eral shells in linear flow fields was discussed by Levresse
et al. (2001). Such physical problems formulated would
lead to solving a mathematical model subject to proper
4482 A. Bhattacharyya, G.P. Raja Sekhar / Chemical Engineering Science 59 (2004) 4481 – 4492
y stress but only continuity of pressure has been used instead
u of a viscous and incompressible fluid about a porous sphere,
h et al. (1993). Levresse et al. (2001) have considered a per-
uB
x
B depicted in Fig. 2 is a good model for typical agglomerates.
Q
Permeable
material
Fig. 1. Velocity profile for the rectilinear flow in a horizontal channel
formed by a permeable lower wall (y = 0) and an impermeable upper
wall (y = h).
boundary conditions at the liquid–porous interface. De-
pending on the physical problem the boundary conditions
change.
Beavers and Joseph (1967) have proposed an empirical
slip flow condition at the interface for a plane boundary,
which is given for a rectilinear flow of a viscous fluid
through a two dimensional parallel channel formed by im-
permeable upper wall and a permeable lower wall (Fig. 1) as
*u
|
*y y=Q+
=
(uB − Q) where Q+ is a boundary limit point
from the exterior fluid, Q is the velocity in the porous region
and uB is the velocity in the interface,
is the adjustable co-
efficient. In the limit of small permeability (k → 0) Saffman
(1971) gave a slip flow condition for the tangential velocity
at the interface which is consistent with Beavers and Joseph
condition when the porous medium is governed by the Darcy
equation. Raja Sekhar and Amaranath (2000) have used
Saffman’s condition for the Stokes flow of a viscous, incom-
pressible fluid inside a porous spherical shell, where Darcy’s
equation is used inside the porous region. Feng (1998) has
also used the Saffman’s condition to discuss the motion of a
permeable sphere at finite but small Reynolds number where
the permeable region is governed by Darcy’s equation.
Stokes flow past a porous sphere with an impermeable core
has been discussed by Raja Sekhar and Amaranath (1996),
where they have considered Darcy’s equation in the porous
region and used Saffman’s boundary conditions. But Darcy’s
equation is first order and whereas Stokes equation is second
order. Therefore while using continuity of velocity compo-
nents along with Saffman’s condition, the continuity of stress
component would be over determined. If we use Brinkman’s
equation, which is also a second order equation one can
overcome this difficulty. Kaloni and Qin (1993) have used
continuity of velocity components, continuity of tangential
of continuity of normal stress, while discussing uniform
flow past a porous spherical shell. An arbitrary Stokes flow
using Brinkman’s equation was studied by Padmavathi
meable sphere of radius ‘a’ which was characterized by an
infiltrated outer shell of constant thickness d surrounding
a core of radius r. The partially infiltrated porous sphere
Levresse et al. have used the continuity of velocity compo-
nents and the stress components at the fluid–porous inter-
face as the boundary conditions. But recently Ochoa-Tapia
and Whitaker (1995a,b) suggested a stress jump boundary
condition at the fluid–porous interface when the porous re-
gion is governed by Brinkman’s equation. The stress jump
p l
condition they proposed is −1 **uy − **uy = √ up where
k
up , ul are tangential velocity components in porous region
and liquid region, respectively.  is the stress jump coef-
ficient,  is the porousity and k is the permeability of the
homogeneous portion of the porous region. The above con-
dition says if   = 0, there is a discontinuity in the shear
stress at the porous–liquid interface. This jump condition is
constructed to join Darcy’s law with the Brinkman correc-
tion to Stokes equations. Kuznetsov (1998, 1996) used this
stress jump boundary condition at the interface between a
porous medium and a clear fluid to discuss flow in channels
partially filled with porous medium. His results shows that
the velocity at the interface which is called interfacial ve-
locity varies with stress jump coefficient. Also it has been
mentioned that the range of  is from −0.9 to 0.9. Also
Raja Sekhar and Sano (2003) have used stress jump bound-
ary condition while discussing two dimensional viscous
flow in a granular material with a void of arbitrary shape.
Therefore one cannot ignore this stress jump condition and
hence here we take stress jump boundary condition into
consideration.
In this paper, we have considered an arbitrary Stokes
flow past a porous sphere with an impermeable core and
Brinkman’s model is used for the porous medium. The stress
jump boundary condition for tangential stresses together
with continuity of velocity components and continuity of
normal stresses at the permeable boundary are used. Physi-
cal properties like drag and torque are discussed by deriving
the corresponding Faxen’s (1924) laws. It is found that these
properties not only change with varying permeability, but
also change for different values of stress jump co-efficient.
Several examples are discussed as, when the basic flow is
due to uniform flow, two dimensional irrotational flow, dou-
blet in a uniform flow, stokeslet and rotlet. In all these cases,
a significant effect of the stress jump coefficient is felt. When
the basic flow is uniform flow, the flow field has been plotted
and a significant effect of the stress jump coefficient has been
observed on the volume flow. Also the effect of the thickness
of the porous region on the drag and torque has been noticed
here.
 A. Bhattacharyya, G.P. Raja Sekhar / Chemical Engineering Science 59 (2004) 4481 – 4492 4483

2. Formulation By applying sophisticated volume averaging technique,

Ochoa-Tapia and Whitaker (1995) have shown that the pro-
We consider an arbitrary Stokes flow of a viscous, incom- cess of matching the Brinkman-extended Darcy law to the
pressible fluid, past a stationary porous sphere of radius ‘a’ Stokes equation requires a discontinuity in the stress but re-
with an impermeable core of radius ‘b’ (Fig. 2). Hereafter, tains the continuity of the velocity. Here to match the so-
we refer the porous sphere of radius ‘a’ with an impermeable lution at the interface we use along with the continuity of
core of radius ‘b’ as the ‘porous core’. For the porous region velocity components, continuity of the normal stress, the
b < r < a, we consider the Brinkman’s equation given by Ochoa-Tapia and Whitaker boundary condition (stress-jump
 condition) for tangential stresses as follows:
−∇p I + ∇ 2 VI = VI , (1) On the porous–liquid interface r = a
k
∇.VI =0, (2)
(1) Continuity of the velocity components
where  is the co-efficient of viscosity, k > 0 is the perme-
ability of the porous region. VI is the volume rate of flow qrI I = qrI , (8)
per unit cross section area and pI is the pressure. The su-
qI I = qI , (9)
perscript ‘I ’ is used to indicate that the flow is internal to
the porous sphere. The flow in the free flow region r > a is qI I = qI . (10)
governed by the Stokes equations
(2) Continuity of the normal stress
∇ 2 VI I = ∇pI I , (3)
TrrI = TrrI I . (11)
∇.VI I = 0, (4)
As mentioned earlier, here we use the stress jump
where VI I is the velocity and p I I is the pressure. The su- boundary condition for the tangential stresses given by
perscript ‘I I ’ is used to indicate the external flow. Let the
velocity components in spherical (r, , ) coordinate system *qI *qI I
be (qr , q , q ) and the corresponding stress components are − = √ qI , (12)
*r *r k
given by
*qI *qI I
*q r − = √ qI , (13)
Trr = −p + 2 , (5) *r *r k
*r

 where  is the stress jump coefficient.On the inner rigid
1 *q r q *q
Tr  =  − +  , (6) core r = b
r * r *r
(3) The impermeable condition
 
1 *q r q *q
Tr  =  − + (7) qrI = 0, (14)
r sin  * r *r
qI = 0, (15)

Z qI = 0. (16)

(4) Condition at infinity : Let V = V0 + V∗ where V0 is

P Porous Region the velocity of the basic flow and V∗ is the disturbance
C Core Region in presence of the porous core, then the condition at
P infinity demands that V∗ → 0 or V → V0 as r → ∞.

3. Solution method
X
Recently, Raja Sekhar et al. (1997) have shown the com-
C pleteness of a representation of the Brinkman’s equation. In
fact this representation has been used by Padmavathi et al.
(1993). For the flow inside the porous region we use this
representation given by
VI = CurlCurl(rAI ) + Curl(rB I ), (17)
Y
*
p I = p0 +  [r(∇ 2 − 2 )AI ], (18)
Fig. 2. Model of the problem considered. *r
4484 A. Bhattacharyya, G.P. Raja Sekhar / Chemical Engineering Science 59 (2004) 4481 – 4492

where 2 = k1 , p0 is a constant and AI , B I are the scalars that
n ,
n , n , Anm , Bnm , Cnm and Dnm are known constants.
satisfy ∇ 2 (∇ 2 − 2 )AI = 0 and (∇ 2 − 2 )B I = 0 and r is the Also A0 and B0 satisfy ∇ 4 A0 = 0 and ∇ 2 B0 = 0. Now due
position vector. In fact Manas-Zloczower et al. (2001) have to the presence of the porous body the modified flow in the
used this representation while discussing the stress distribu- liquid region r > a is represented by
tion inside a partially infiltrated porous sphere of uniform ∞

permeability k, in various linear flow fields (simple shear, AI I = {
n r n +
n r (n+2) + n r −(n+1)
planar elongation and uniaxial extension). n=1
For the velocity and pressure outside the porous sphere, +n r −(n−1) }Sn (, ), (25)
which are due to Stokes flow, we use the following repre-
sentation: ∞

BI I = {n r n + n r −(n+1) }Tn (, ), (26)
II II II
V = CurlCurl(rA ) + Curl(rB ), (19) n=1

* where n , n , n are unknown constants to be determined

p I I = p0 +  (r∇ 2 AI I ), (20)
*r using the boundary conditions. The form of AI I and B I I
are chosen such that ∇ 4 AI I = 0, ∇ 2 B I I = 0 and
where AI I and B I I are scalars such that ∇ 4 AI I =0, ∇ 2 B I I =
0. It has been shown by Padmavathi et al. (1998) that this is lim AI I = A0 ,
r→∞
a complete general solution of Stokes equations. The repre-
sentations given in Eqs. (17) and (19) support the following lim B I I = B0 .
r→∞
general form for the velocity components:
Flow in the porous region b < r < a is represented by
1
qr = − LA, ∞
r 
AI = {n r n + n r −(n+1) +
n fn (r) +
n gn (r)}
1 * * *B n=1
q = (rA) + csc  ,
r * *r * ×Sn (, ), (27)
∞

1 * * *B
q = (rA) − , BI = {n fn (r) + n gn (r)}Tn (, ), (28)
r sin  * *r *
n=1
2
1 * * *
where L = sin  *
(sin  * ) + csc2  which is the trans- where n , n ,
n ,
n , n , n are unknown constants to be de-
*2
verse part of the Laplacian in (r, , ) co-ordinate system. termined from the boundary conditions. fn (r) and gn (r)
Since we are considering an arbitrary Stokes flow without are the modified spherical Bessel functions of first kind and
any singularities as basic flow, the velocity corresponding to second kind which are finite at origin and infinity, respec-
the basic flow is tively. The form of AI and B I given in Eqs. (27) and (28 )
satisfy the equations ∇ 2 (∇ 2 −2 )AI =0 and (∇ 2 −2 )B I =0.
V0 = CurlCurl(rA0 ) + Curl(rB0 ) Also AI and B I are such that there are no singularities at
the origin.
and A0 and B0 are given by The boundary conditions given in Eqs. (8)–(13), on the
∞
 permeable boundary r = a can be written in terms of the
A0 (r, , ) = {
n r n +
n r (n+2) }Sn (, ), (21) scalars AI I , B I I and AI , B I as follows:
n=1
AI I = AI , (29)
∞

B0 (r, , ) = n r n Tn (, ), (22) *AI I *AI
= , (30)
n=1 *r *r
 2   I
* AI * AI I *AI
2
where A
n
− =  + , (31)
 *r 2 *r 2 r *r
Sn (, ) = Pnm ( )(Anm cos m + Bnm sin m), (23)

3 *(rAI )
m=0 3
* I II
r (A − A ) =  2
− , (32)
n
 *r 3 r *r
Tn (, ) = Pnm ( )(Cnm cos m + Dnm sin m) (24)
m=0 BI I = BI , (33)

are the spherical harmonics and = cos  , Pnm is the asso- *B I *B I I

− = B I . (34)
ciated Legendre polynomial. *r *r
 A. Bhattacharyya, G.P. Raja Sekhar / Chemical Engineering Science 59 (2004) 4481 – 4492 4485

The boundary conditions given in Eqs. (14)–(16) on the −pv(3 + a ) + f s(3 + a ) − a (qv + gs)
T=4a 2
impermeable boundary r = b can be written in terms of {s(f − g) − v(p + q)}
scalars AI and B I as follows: ×[∇ × Q0 ]0 (43)

AI (b, , ) = 0, (35) where Q0 is the velocity corresponding to the basic flow and
[ ]0 is the evaluation at the origin r = 0. p, q, v, s, f , g are
*AI defined in the Appendix. If the basic flow is irrotational then
(b, , ) = 0, (36)
*r the torque vanishes, which agrees with example (ii) given
in Section 5. Now if we take the limit k → 0 and a = b the
B I (b, , ) = 0. (37) expressions for drag and torque for the ‘porous core’ given
in Eqs. (42) and (43) reduce to
Now using these boundary conditions, we have to deter-
mine the unknown co-efficients in expressions (25)–(28). D = 6a[Q0 ]0 + a 3 [∇ 2 Q0 ]0 ,
While doing this we get a system of nine equations in nine
unknowns. We have solved the system using Mathematica
version 4.2. Solving them gives a cumbersome expressions
of these unknown coefficients in terms of the known co-
efficients
n ,
n and n . Since our immediate concern here
is to discuss examples for particular flows and to derive
the corresponding Faxen’s laws (1924) which give drag and
torque acting on the porous core, we have given the unknown
coefficients wherever it is necessary.
4. Faxen’s laws for a porous core
Faxen’s laws (1924) provide us expressions for computing
drag and torque. For a spherical surface r = a, the force drag
D exerted on the surface r = a by the fluid and the torque
T are given by
T = 4a 3 [∇ × Q0 ]0
which are the corresponding ones for an arbitrary Stokes
flow past a solid sphere.
5. Examples
Here we discuss few examples. Generally, a simple phys-
ical model is when the basic flow is due to uniform flow.
In case of electromagnetic field theory application, etc., the
simplest situation is when the basic field is potential. There-
fore by considering irrotational flow as basic flow one can
study some applications related to electromagnetic theory.
Then the complex situations would be when the flow is gen-
erated by a source or a sink or a combination of them. Hence,
2
 keeping this in view we discuss the following examples. The
examples are discussed with a configuration such that the
D= [Trr êr + Tr  ê + Tr  ê ]r=a
0 0 origin of the ‘porous core’ is located at (0,0,0).
×a 2 sin  d d, (38) (i) Uniform flow along OX. Consider uniform flow U
along x-direction.

2

The basic flow is given by (A0 , B0 ) where
T= [rT r  ê − rT r  ê ]r=a a 2 sin  d d, (39)
0 0 U
A0 = r cos , (44)
We now derive the corresponding Faxen’s laws which pro- 2
vide expressions for the drag and torque acting on the porous
B0 = 0 (45)
body in an unbounded arbitrary Stokes flow. TrrI , TrI and
TrI are computed using the expression given in Eqs. (5)–(7) for which
and are used in Eqs. (38), (39) to get the following expres- U
sions for drag and torque as
1 = ,
2
D = −8(A11 î + B11 jˆ + A10 k̂)1 , (40)
1 = 0.
T = −8(C11 î + D11 jˆ + C10 k̂)1 . (41) Hence using Eqs. (40) and (41), drag and torque are given by
Here L U
D = −8 î, (46)
L M  De 2
1 =
1 +
and 1 = −K 1 ,
De De 1 T = 0. (47)
where L , M, De and K are given in the Appendix. The variation of drag with permeability for different values
Therefore, the drag and torque reduces to the following of the stress jump coefficient  has been plotted. As per
form: Ochoa-Tapia and Whitaker, the values of  ranges from −0.9
L 2 M 2 to 0.9. Therefore, we have plotted for some negative values
D = −4 [Q0 ]0 −  [∇ Q0 ]0 , (42) and some positive values within the range −0.9 to 0.9.
De 5 De
4486 A. Bhattacharyya, G.P. Raja Sekhar / Chemical Engineering Science 59 (2004) 4481 – 4492

400
120

100 300

80 (iii)
200
60
(ii) (i)
100
40 Drag
Drag (iii)
(ii)
20
10 20 30 40 50

-100
10 20 30 40 (i) 50
Permeability k
Permeability k
Fig. 5. Variation of drag with permeability for uniform flow when thickness
Fig. 3. Variation of drag with permeability for uniform flow when a = 4, of the porous region (i) a = 4, (a − b) = 3, (ii) a = 6, (a − b) = 5, (iii)
(i)  = −0.9, (ii)  = −0.5, (iii)  = −0.3. a = 11, (a − b) = 10.

11.5 6 13.1 6
9.51 10.1
7.51 8.03
4 6.03 4
80 4.51
3.51 4.03
2.51
1.51
0.50
2 2.05
1.05 2
0

Y
0

Y
60
-2 -2
-4 -4
40 (iii) -6 -6
(ii) (i) -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6
(i) X (ii) X
Drag
20 6
12.8
10.8
8.8
6.8
4.8
4
2.8
1.8 2
0.8
10 20 30 40 50

Y
Permeability k 0
-2
Fig. 4. Variation of drag with permeability for uniform flow when a = 4,
(i)  = 0.3, (ii)  = 0.5, (iii)  = 0.9. -4
-6
-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6
(iii) X
Here drag decreases as the permeability increases and
it is observed from Figs. 3 and 4 that as the stress jump Fig. 6. Streamlines for uniform flow with k = 10, a = 5, (a − b) = 4, (i)
coefficient increases from −0.9 to 0.9 the rate at which  = −0.5, (ii)  = 0, (iii)  = 0.5.
the drag is decreasing has been reduced. Also, if we see
closely, for negative values of , the magnitude of the drag
is smaller than that of the positive values of . Also the of the porous body are related as follows:
variation of drag with permeability for different thickness 
 18.32 Q∞  = −0.9,
d = (a − b) of the porous region has been plotted. If we see 



Fig. 5, in general as permeability increases the magnitude 
 19.02 Q∞  = −0.5,

of drag decreases. But the variation of drag also depends on
Q0 = 20.2 Q∞  = 0, (48)
the thickness of the porous region. As the thickness of the 



porous region increases the rate at which drag is decreasing 
 21.6 Q∞  = 0.5,


has been reduced.
23.2 Q∞  = 0.9
Here streamlines are plotted in case of uniform flow. If
we observe Fig. 6(i)–(v) for a fixed thickness of the porous which means that as  increases there is an increase in the
region d = (a − b) = 4 cm, when the permeability is as large volume flow coming inside porous body.
as k = 10 cm2 , the volume flow coming inside the porous In Fig. 7(i)–(v), the streamlines are plotted for k = 10 cm2
region Q0 and Q∞ that flows into the same region in absence and for small thickness d = (a − b) = 1cm. Here Q0 and
 A. Bhattacharyya, G.P. Raja Sekhar / Chemical Engineering Science 59 (2004) 4481 – 4492 4487

9.26
6 9.35 6 8.07 6 6
7.26 7.35 7.07 8.12
6.07 7.12
5.26 5.35 5.07 6.12
3.26
4 4.35 4 4.07 4 5.12
4.12 4
2.35 2.07 3.12
2.26
2.12
1.26 2 1.35
2 1.07
2 1.12 2
0.35
0.07 0.12

Y
0

Y
0 0

Y
0

Y
-2 -2 -2 -2
-4 -4 -4 -4
-6 -6 -6 -6
-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6
(i) X (ii) X (i) X (ii) X
6 6
8.46 8.26
7.46 7.26
5.46 6.26
4.46
3.46
4 4.26 4
2.46
2.26
1.46
0.46
2 1.26
2
0.26
0 Y 0

Y
-2 -2
-4 -4
-6 -6
-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6
(iii) X (iii) X

Fig. 7. Streamlines for uniform flow with k = 10, a = 5, (a − b) = 1, (i) Fig. 8. Streamlines for uniform flow with k = 0.02, a = 5, (a − b) = 4,
 = −0.5, (ii)  = 0, (iii)  = 0.5. (i)  = −0.5, (ii)  = 0, (iii)  = 0.5.

Q∞ are related as follows: 6


 14.38 Q∞  = −0.9,




4

 14.52 Q∞  = −0.5,

Q0 = 14.70 Q∞  = 0, (49) 2





 14.92 Q∞  = 0.5,

 0

Y
15.10 Q∞  = 0.9.
Even when the thickness of the shell is small the volume -2
flow coming inside increases as the value of  increases.
But, since the thickness of the porous region is small, the
-4
streamlines experience the effect of the rigid core much early
and would be deviated, which results in a smaller volume
flow compared to the larger thickness. -6
-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6
In Fig. 8(i)–(v), the streamlines are plotted for very small X
permeability k = 0.02 cm2 and for the larger thickness (a −
b)=4 cm. Here also as in the earlier cases there is an increase Fig. 9. Streamlines for uniform flow with k = 0.02, a = 2, (a − b) = 0.5.
in the volume flow Q0 coming inside the porous region
which can be seen from
 d = (a − b) = , < 1, with small permeability k = 0.02
 14.10 Q∞  = −0.9, the entire body is almost like a solid sphere and hence the



 streamlines deviate much early.

 14.14 Q∞  = −0.5,
 (ii) Two dimensional irrotational flow. Let the flow at
Q0 = 14.24 Q∞  = 0, (50) infinity be given by the following cartesian components of



 velocity:

 14.52 Q∞  = 0.5,


16.52 Q∞  = 0.9. u = x, (51)

It is noticeable here that as the permeability is very less v = −y, (52)

the volume flow rate coming into the porous region is less w = 0, (53)
than that of the higher permeability (k = 10) case. It is
observed from Fig. 9 that if we consider very small thickness, where  is a constant.
4488 A. Bhattacharyya, G.P. Raja Sekhar / Chemical Engineering Science 59 (2004) 4481 – 4492

In terms of A0 and B0 the basic flow is given by direction of the x-axis. The corresponding expressions for
 2 2 A0 and B0 in terms of spherical harmonics are
A0 = r P2 ( ) cos 2, (54) ∞
18 F1 
A0 =
B0 = 0 (55) 8
 n=1 
for which r (n+2) (n − 2)r n
× −
(n + 1)(2n + 3)c (n+2) n(n + 1)(2n − 1)cn

1 = 0, (56)
×Pn1 ( ) cos , (68)

1 = 0, (57)
∞

 F1  rn

2 = , B0 = Pn1 ( ) sin . (69)
18
(58) 8 n(n + 1)c(n+1)
n=1

2 = 0. (59) We get
n ,
n and n as follows:

Corresponding drag and torque are given by F1 (n − 2)

n = − , (70)
8 n(n + 1)(2n − 1)cn
D = 0, (60)
F1 1
T = 0.
n = , (71)
(61) 8 (n + 1)(2n + 3)c(n+2)
Here the vanishing of torque when the basic flow is irro- F1 1
n = . (72)
tational agrees with the observation made from the general 8 n(n + 1)c(n+1)
expression of torque given in Eq. (43).
(iii) Doublet in a uniform flow. Consider a doublet of Since drag and torque requires 1 and 1 which are in terms
strength m in a uniform flow U , at the point (0, 0, c). The of
1 ,
1 and 1 , the corresponding drag and torque for
basic flow for this is given by stokeslet can be computed using Eqs. (70)–(72) for n = 1.
Hence if the basic flow is due to a stokeslet, the correspond-
 ∞

m m U rn ing drag and torque are given by
A0 = 2 + 3 − r cos  + Pn ( ), (62) 
c c 2 c(n+1) 1 L 1 M
n=2 D = F1 + î, (73)
2c De 10c3 De
B0 = 0. (63)
F1
Here we get T=
2c2
m U −pr(3 + a ) + f s(3 + a ) − a (qr + gs) ˆ

1 = − , (64) × j,
c3 2 {s(f − g) − r(p + q)}
(74)

1 = 0. (65)
where L , M, De, p, q, r, s, f and g are given in the
The corresponding drag and torque are given by Appendix.
 Drag for stokeslet. In this case also the variation of drag
L m U
D = −8 − î, (66)
De c3 2 gion are plotted in Fig. 10. Here also the same effect of the
T = 0. (67)
The behavior of drag with variation of permeability for dif-
ferent thickness of the porous region as well as for different
values of stress jump coefficient is almost similar to the case
of uniform flow.
(iv) Stokeslet. The singularities of Stokes flows have been
classified as: free-space singularities, singularities of inter-
nal flows and singularities of bounded flows. Two impor-
tant examples of free-space singularities are stokeslet and
rotlet which have been considered here. We discuss the fol-
lowing problem. In this discussed problem the center of the
spherical ‘porous core’ of radius ‘a’ is at (0,0,0). Consider a
with permeability for different thickness of the porous re-
thickness of the porous region on drag has been found as in
the case of uniform flow.
Again the variation of drag with permeability is plotted
for different values of the stress jump coefficient . It is ob-
served from the above two figures Figs. 11 and 12 that for
different values of stress jump coefficient , as permeability
increases drag first decreases and then increases in magni-
tude. Let us define the permeability where drag changes its
behavior as ‘critical permeability’. As we see, as the mag-
nitude of  is increasing the value of critical permeability
is decreasing which implies that drag changes its behav-
ior rapidly as  increases. In fact, when Darcy equation to-
gether with Saffman’s conditions are used by Raja Sekhar
stokeslet of strength 8F
1
located at the point with cartesian and Amaranath (1996), they also observed that in case of
coordinates (0,0,c), (c > a) whose axis is along the positive stokeslet drag decreases as permeability increases.
 A. Bhattacharyya, G.P. Raja Sekhar / Chemical Engineering Science 59 (2004) 4481 – 4492 4489

2 4

1.75
3
1.5
2 (iii)
1.25 (iii)
Torque
Drag 1 (ii)
10 20 30 40 50
0.75 (ii)
(i) 10 20 30 40 50
0.5 (i)

Permeability k Permeability k

Fig. 10. Variation of drag with permeability for stokeslet when thickness Fig. 13. Variation of torque for stokeslet with permeability when thickness
of the porous region (i) a = 4, c = 5, (a − b) = 3, (ii) a = 6, c = 7, of the porous region (i) a=4, c=5, (a−b)=3, (ii) a=6, c=7, (a−b)=5,
(a − b) = 5, (iii) a = 11, c = 12, (a − b) = 10. (iii) a = 11, c = 12, (a − b) = 10.

0.4
0.25
0.3
(iii) 0.2
0.2 (ii)

0.15
0.1

Drag 0.1
10 20 30 40 50 Torque

-0.1 (i) 0.05 (i)

(ii) (iii)
-0.2
10 20 30 40 50
Permeability k

Fig. 11. Variation of drag with permeability for stokeslet when a = 4, Permeability k
c = 5 (i)  = −0.9, (ii)  = −0.5, (iii)  = 0.3.
Fig. 14. Variation of torque for stokeslet with permeability when a = 4,
c = 5 (i)  = −0.9, (ii)  = −0.5, (iii)  = −0.3.

0.35

creases with permeability but this rate of decrement is lower

0.3 (iii) (ii)
as the thickness of the porous region increases.
(i) Fig. 14 shows that for negative  torque first decreases in
magnitude along positive x-axis and then increases in mag-
0.25 nitude along negative x-axis. Again Fig. 15 shows that for
positive  the magnitude of the torque first increases and
Drag then decreases along negative x-axis. The critical perme-
10 20 30 40 50 ability at which torque changes behavior, decreases as stress
jump coefficient increases from −0.9 to 0.9. So torque is
changing its behavior rapidly as  is increasing.
0.15 Permeability k (v) Rotlet. We have considered a rotlet of strength 8F2

at (0,0,c), (c > a) whose axis is along the positive y-axis

Fig. 12. Variation of drag with permeability for stokeslet when a = 4,
c = 5 (i)  = 0.3, (ii)  = 0.5, (iii)  = 0.9. direction. The corresponding expression for A0 , B0 in terms
of the spherical harmonics are as follows:

∞

Torque for stokeslet. Here the variation of torque with per- F2  rn
meability for different thickness of the porous region has A0 = − Pn1 ( ) sin , (75)
8 n(n + 1)c(n+1)
been plotted. It is observed from Fig. 13 that torque de- n=1
4490 A. Bhattacharyya, G.P. Raja Sekhar / Chemical Engineering Science 59 (2004) 4481 – 4492

0.1
10 20 30 40 50
(i)

10 20 30 40 50
-0.1
(i) (ii)
(ii)
(iii) -0.1

-0.2 (iii)
Torque
-0.2
Torque
-0.3
-0.3

Permeability k
-0.4
Permeability k
Fig. 16. Variation of torque for rotlet with permeability when thickness of
Fig. 15. Variation of torque for stokeslet with permeability when a = 4, the porous region (i) a =4, c=5, (a −b)=3, (ii) a =6, c=7, (a −b)=5,
c = 5 (i)  = 0.3, (ii)  = 0.5, (iii)  = 0.9. (iii) a = 11, c = 12, (a − b) = 10.

∞

F2  rn
B0 = − Pn1 ( ) sin . (76)
8 (n + 1)c(n+2) 10 20 30 40 50
n=1
-0.01 (ii) (iii)
Comparing these form of A0 and B0 with Eqs. (18) and (19) (i)
we get
n ,
n and n as follows: -0.02

F2 1 -0.03

n = − , (77)
8 n(n + 1)c(n+1)
Torque -0.04

n = 0, (78)
-0.05
F2 1
n = − . (79) -0.06
8 (n + 1)c(n+2) Permeability k

Similarly, in this case also from the expressions
n ,
n and Fig. 17. Variation of torque for rotlet with permeability when a = 4, c = 5
n we can get the values of
1 ,
1 and 1 and compute 1 (i)  = −0.9, (ii)  = −0.5, (iii)  = −0.3.
and 1 . Hence the drag and torque in this case are as follows:

F 2 L 0.1
D= î, (80)
3c2 De
F2 0.08
T=
2c3
−pr(3 + a ) + f s(3 + a ) − a (qr + gs) ˆ 0.06
× j,
{s(f − g) − r(p + q)}
(81) 0.04
(iii)
Torque
where L , De, p, q, r, s, f and g are given in the Appendix.
(ii) (i)

It is observed that similar to the earlier cases here also 0.02

drag decreases as the permeability increases and this rate of
decrement reduces as the thickness of the permeable region
5 10 15 20
is more. The behavior of drag with variation of permeabil-
Permeability k
ity for different thickness of the porous region as well as
for different values of stress jump coefficient is almost sim- Fig. 18. Variation of torque for rotlet with permeability when a = 4, c = 5
ilar to the case of stokeslet. But, the behavior of torque is (i)  = 0.3, (ii)  = 0.5, (iii)  = 0.9.
slightly different. From Fig. 16, it can be seen that torque in-
creases with permeability and the rate of increment is lower
as thickness of the porous region increases. 18. Here for negative values of  torque first decreases in
Variation of torque for different values of  ranging from magnitude along negative x-axis and then increases in mag-
−0.9 to 0.9 has been observed from figures Figs. 17 and nitude along positive x-axis as  increases from −0.9 to 0.
 A. Bhattacharyya, G.P. Raja Sekhar / Chemical Engineering Science 59 (2004) 4481 – 4492
Then for positive values of  torque first increases and then
decreases in magnitude along positive x-axis as  increases
from 0 to 0.9. Here the value of critical permeability de-
creases as  increases.
6. Discussion and conclusion
In this paper we have discussed an arbitrary viscous flow
past a porous sphere of radius ‘a’ with an impermeable core
of radius ‘b’ by considering Brinkman equation in the porous
region and Stokes equation in the liquid region . At the
porous–liquid interface stress jump boundary condition for
tangential stresses, continuity for normal stresses and con-
tinuity of velocity components have been used. The effect
of the stress jump coefficient on various flow quantities like
volume flow, drag, torque has been observed for different
flows viz. uniform flow, two dimensional irrotational flow,
doublet in a uniform flow, stokeslet and rotlet. In particu-
lar when the basic flow is uniform flow we have analyzed
the flow field with varying permeability as well as varying
thickness of the porous region and studied the effect of the
stress jump coefficient . It is observed that there is a signif-
icant effect of  on the volume-flow. It is noticed that as 
increases the volume flow coming inside the porous region
Q0 is increased compared to Q∞ which is the volume flow
coming inside the same region in absence of the ‘porous
core’. But, when the thickness is small, eventhough Q0 in-
creases as  increases, when compared to the case of large
thickness it is small. As far as the behavior of the drag is con-
cerned, when the basic flow is uniform flow or two dimen-
sional irrotational flow, drag decreases with the increasing
permeability, but as the thickness of the porous region in-
creases the rate of decrease is reduced. When the basic flow
is due to a stokeslet or a rotlet,with the increase of perme-
ability drag first decreases and then increases in magnitude.
If we define the permeability where drag changes its behav-
ior as ‘critical permeability’, it is noticed that the value of the
critical permeability is decreasing as  increasing. In case
of torque, when the basic flow is due to a stokeslet, torque
decreases and then increases in magnitude and as  is in-
creasing the value of critical permeability is decreasing. But
when the basic flow is due to a rotlet torque first increases
and then decreases. Here as  increases the value of critical
permeability decreases. Hence, it is felt that there is a sig-
nificant effect of the stress jump coefficient  on the flow
quantities discussed above like volume flow, drag and torque
when the basic flow is due to some particular flows given in
examples. Therefore while studying viscous flow problems
involving Brinkman equation in porous media and Stokes
equation in clear fluid region, one has to take the stress jump
in the tangential stress components into consideration, which
has a significant impact on the physical problem. Also, this
helps us to estimate the flow quantities more accurately and
to realize the dependency of the physical problem on the
boundary conditions. In particular the findings on the varia-
4491
tion of drag on the porous surface gives useful information
in several chemical engineering processes like chemical ag-
glomerations, gas–solid reaction system(Levenspiel, 1972),
etc. In chemical agglomeration this drag force can initiate
the agglomeration and as the porous particles agglomerate
more, the filtration will be good. In gas–solid reaction for
the case of a cylinder type reactor when gas and porous par-
ticles enter into the tube from the same direction dead zone
is expected inside the tube where gas is unable to reach the
solid surface to initiate the reaction. Then manipulating the
drag force, one can avoid the dead zone and get a well-mixed
condition in the reactor so that reaction is uniform. Also the
above finding may have potential applications in colloid sci-
ence. Hence the present study has useful implications in the
above mentioned chemical engineering processes.
Appendix A
L = − a 2 [3b2 (−3pv + 3f s + bf u + bpt)
− 9ab2 2 (pv − f s + qv + gs) + 3ab3 3
(pt + qt + f u − g u) + 2a 4 {32 (p + q)t
+ 32 f u − 3g 2 u} + 6a 3 2 (pt + f u)],
M= − a 2 [10a 5 2 (2qt − 2gu + f u + pt)
+ 10a 6 3 (pt + f u + qt − gu) + 5a 2 b2 {−6qv
− 6gs + 2bq t + 6st − 2bgu + 6vu
+ (−3pv + 3f s + bpt + bf u)}
+ ab2 {60(qv + gs − st − vu) − 20b(qt − gu)}
+ 2a 4 {10t (3p + q) − 30f (q − u) − 10g(3p + u)}
+ a 3 {5b2 2 (p + q)(bt − 3v) + 60pt
− 5g (12p + 3b2 2 s + b3 3 u) + f (5b2 2 (3s + bu)
+ 60(u − q))}],
De=2[2a 4 2 (gu − qt + f u − pt) + 2a 5 3 (pt + f uqt
− g u) + b2 (3qv + 3gs − bqt
− 3st + bg u − 3vu)
+ ab2 (3qv + 3gs − bqt − 3st + bg u − 3vu
+ (−3pv + 3f s + bpt + bf u)}
+ a 3 {−3f q + 3pt + qt + 3f u − g(3p + u)}
+ a 2 {−3b2 2 pv − 3b2 2 qv + b3 3 pt + 3pt
+ b3 3 qt − g (3p + b2 2 (3s + bu))
+ f (−3(q − u) + b2 2 (3s + bu))}]
and
−pv(3 + a ) + f s(3 + a ) − a (qv + gs)
1 = − a 2 1
{s(f − g) − v(p + q)}
with
f = f1 (a), g = f0 (a), p = g1 (a), q = g0 (a),
v = f1 (b), s = g1 (b), t = f0 (b), and u = g0 (b).
4492 A. Bhattacharyya, G.P. Raja Sekhar / Chemical Engineering Science 59 (2004) 4481 – 4492
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