Heat transfer analysis of porous medium in a conical cylinder with variable wall temperature

The study of heat and mass transfer in porous media has received special attention from the researchers in recent years, which is witnessed by the large number of publications in this area. The versatility of this field is such that it covers large number of practical aspects of human life such as petrochemical refineries, thermal insulation of buildings, solidification of alloys, drying processes, nuclear waste disposal etc. Even though a number of articles are published on this topic, still many aspects remain unexplored. In the present study, fluid flow behavior in the complex geometry such as conical cylinder filled with saturated porous medium is analyzed. The inner surface of the conical cylinder is assumed to have variable wall temperature. The governing partial differential equations are non-dimensionalised by suitable non dimensional parameters. These equations are then solved by finite element method. The coupled partial differential equations are converted to the matrix equation by Galerkins method. The domain under consideration is meshed by using 3 nodded triangular elements. The variation of Nusselt number corresponding to the various parameters such as cone angle, aspect ratio of the cylinder is presented. It is seen that the effect of cone angle on the heat transfer rate is significant.