Vertical Free Convective Boundary-Layer Flow in a Bidisperse Porous Medium

Abstract

In this article, we study the effect of adopting a two-temperature and two-velocity model, appropriate to a bidisperse porous medium (BDPM), on the classical Cheng–Minkowycz study of vertical free convection boundary-layer flow in a porous medium. It is shown that the boundary-layer equations can be expressed in terms of three parameters: a modified volume fraction, a modified thermal conductivity ratio, and a third parameter incorporating both thermal and BDPM properties. A numerical simulation of the developing boundary layer is guided by a near-leading-edge analysis and supplemented by a far-field analysis. The study is completed by a presentation of numerical simulations of the elliptic equations in order to determine how the adoption of the BDPM model affects the thermal fields in the close vicinity of the origin.