SINOPSIS

A porous structure around a heat generating body improves the heat transfer rates and increases the flow resistance in the forced-convection regime. Consequently, investigation into the heat transfer performance and the fluid pressure loss in the flow system employing a porous structure becomes essential. In the present study, the flow subjected to a porous structure around a heat generating body situated in a square cavity is considered. The effects of porosity and of the size of the porous structure on the heat transfer performance and flow resistance are examined. Air is used as a working fluid in the cavity and the heat generation in the solid body is kept the same for all the cases simulated. A numerical scheme is introduced to solve the governing equilibrium equations for the flow and heat transfer. It is found that increasing porosity and size of the porous structure enhance the heat transfer performance parameter and the flow resistance coefficient in the cavity. However, the increase in the heat transfer performance parameter is larger than in the flow resistance coefficient for a large area porous structure at high porosity.