Modelling convection heat transfer in a rotating fluid in a thermally-stratified high-porosity medium: numerical finite difference solutions

Abstract

The convective heat transfer flow in a rotating fluid over a vertical plate in a non-Darcian thermally-stratified high-porosity medium is studied. The governing partial differential equations for momentum and energy are solved numerically using Blottner's finite-difference method. The effects of Rossby number and various thermal parameters on velocities, temperature, skin friction and Nusselt number are presented graphically and discussed at length. The flow and temperature fields are strongly influenced by the thermal stratification, porosity, inertia and Rossby number, whereas they demonstrate a weak dependence on the permeability parameter. Beyond a critical value of the Rossby number (Ro≥0.5) flow reversal occurs in the X-component of the velocity. Other flow phenomena including primary and secondary flows are discussed. The problem finds applications in rotating industrial and geophysical systems.