Low Rayleigh number flow in a heat generating porous media

A numerical analysis has been performed for the steady-state temperature and stream function distributions in a short cylinder, having an isothermal side and top, an insulated bottom, for a uniform heat generating porous medium. The analysis uses the stream function formulation of Darcy's equation in cylindrical coordinates and the Boussinesq approximation. A single energy equation was used for the fluid and solid, since conduction was the expected mode of heat transfer at low heat generation rates for a lead sphere air porous media system. The solution of the non-dimensionalized momentum and energy equations resulted in small Rayleigh numbers (2×10⁻⁶ to 0.2) indicating the heat transfer is by conduction. Solutions for the stream lines and isotherms were obtained using a transient explicit finite-difference approximation using a mean bed thermal conductivity.