Thermal Convection in Porous Media at High Rayleigh Numbers

2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Keene ◽  
R. J. Goldstein
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Porous Media ◽  
Thermal Convection ◽  
Thermal Boundary Layer ◽  
Packed Bed ◽  
Horizontal Layer ◽  
Homogeneous Fluid ◽  
Fluid Systems ◽  
Dimensionless Groups ◽  
Rayleigh Numbers

An experimental study of thermal convection in a porous medium investigates the heat transfer across a horizontal layer heated from below at high Rayleigh number. Using a packed bed of polypropylene spheres in a cubic enclosure saturated with compressed argon, the pressure was varied between 5.6 bar and 77 bar to obtain fluid Rayleigh numbers between 1.68 × 109 and 3.86 × 1011, corresponding to Rayleigh–Darcy numbers between 7.47 × 103 and 2.03 × 106. From the present and earlier studies of Rayleigh–Benard convection in both porous media and homogeneous fluid systems, the existence and importance of a thin thermal boundary layer are clearly demonstrated. In addition to identifying the governing role of the thermal boundary layer at high Rayleigh numbers, the successful correlation of data using homogeneous fluid dimensionless groups when the thermal boundary layer thickness becomes smaller than the length scale associated with the pore features is shown.

Thermal Boundary Layer in Turbulent Thermal Convection

1993 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 379-379
Author(s):  
F Chillá ◽  
S Ciliberto ◽  
C Innocenti
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Thermal Convection ◽  
Thermal Boundary Layer

scholarly journals The global characteristics of the three-dimensional thermal convection inside a spherical shell

1997 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Arkani-Hamed
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Nusselt Number ◽  
Rayleigh Number ◽  
Spherical Shell ◽  
Critical Rayleigh Number ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Horizontal Layer ◽  
Boundary Layer Theory ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Rayleigh Numbers

Abstract. The Rayleigh number-Nusselt number, and the Rayleigh number-thermal boundary layer thickness relationships are determined for the three-dimensional convection in a spherical shell of constant physical parameters. Several models are considered with Rayleigh numbers ranging from 1.1 x 102 to 2.1 x 105 times the critical Rayleigh number. At lower Rayleigh numbers the Nusselt number of the three-dimensional convection is greater than that predicted from the boundary layer theory of a horizontal layer but agrees well with the results of an axisymmetric convection in a spherical shell. At high Rayleigh numbers of about 105 times the critical value, which are the characteristics of the mantle convection in terrestrial planets, the Nusselt number of the three-dimensional convection is in good agreement with that of the boundary layer theory. At even higher Rayleigh numbers, the Nusselt number of the three-dimensional convection becomes less than those obtained from the boundary layer theory. The thicknesses of the thermal boundary layers of the spherical shell are not identical, unlike those of the horizontal layer. The inner thermal boundary is thinner than the outer one, by about 30- 40%. Also, the temperature drop across the inner boundary layer is greater than that across the outer boundary layer.

scholarly journals Plume generation in natural thermal convection at high Rayleigh and Prandtl numbers

2001 ◽  
Vol 434 ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. LITHGOW-BERTELLONI ◽  
M. A. RICHARDS ◽  
C. P. CONRAD ◽  
R. W. GRIFFITHS
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Thermal Convection ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Lower Boundary ◽  
Secular Change ◽  
Scaling Analysis ◽  
Temperature Dependent Viscosity ◽  
Earth’S Mantle ◽  
Dependent Viscosity ◽  
Rayleigh Numbers

We study natural thermal convection of a fluid (corn syrup) with a large Prandtl number (103–107) and temperature-dependent viscosity. The experimental tank (1 × 1 × 0.3m) is heated from below with insulating top and side boundaries, so that the fluid experiences secular heating as experiments proceed. This setup allows a focused study of thermal plumes from the bottom boundary layer over a range of Rayleigh numbers relevant to convective plumes in the deep interior of the Earth's mantle. The effective value of Ra, based on the viscosity of the fluid at the interior temperature, varies from 105 at the beginning to almost 108 toward the end of the experiments. Thermals (plumes) from the lower boundary layer are trailed by continuous conduits with long residence times. Plumes dominate flow in the tank, although there is a weaker large-scale circulation induced by material cooling at the imperfectly insulating top and sidewalls. At large Ra convection is extremely time-dependent and exhibits episodic bursts of plumes, separated by periods of quiescence. This bursting behaviour probably results from the inability of the structure of the thermal boundary layer and its instabilities to keep pace with the rate of secular change in the value of Ra. The frequency of plumes increases and their size decreases with increasing Ra, and we characterize these changes via in situ thermocouple measurements, shadowgraph videos, and videos of liquid crystal films recorded during several experiments. A scaling analysis predicts observed changes in plume head and tail radii with increasing Ra. Since inertial effects are largely absent no transition to ‘hard’ thermal turbulence is observed, in contrast to a previous conclusion from numerical calculations at similar Rayleigh numbers. We suggest that bursting behaviour similar to that observed may occur in the Earth's mantle as it undergoes secular cooling on the billion-year time scale.

Experiments on Transient Thermal Convection With Internal Heating—Large Time Results

1983 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Keyhani ◽  
F. A. Kulacki
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Thermal Convection ◽  
Lower Boundary ◽  
Horizontal Layer ◽  
Step Change ◽  
Boundary Layer Theory ◽  
Approximate Theory ◽  
Fourier Number ◽  
Final State ◽  
Volumetric Heating

Experimental data and correlations are presented for the time scales of developing and decaying thermal convection with volumetric heating in a horizontal layer. The layer is bounded by rigid surfaces, with an insulated lower boundary and an isothermal upper boundary. The time for complete flow development/decay, as a result of a step change in volumetric heat generation, is simply parameterized in terms of the Fourier number for the layer, the step change in Rayleigh number, ΔRa, and the initial/final dimensionless maximum core temperature. For developing flows, ΔRa > 0, results are in good agreement with existing experiments and an approximate boundary layer theory. In decaying flows, Fourier numbers are larger than those of previously reported experiments for a motionless final state. Data for turbulent-to-turbulent transitions when ΔRa < 0 suggests that the approximate boundary layer theory underestimates the Fourier number. Experimental uncertainties on measured Fourier numbers are generally well within the limits of uncertainty allowed by the approximate theory.

Numerical simulations of turbulent thermal convection with a free-slip upper boundary

2019 ◽  
Vol 475 (2232) ◽  
pp. 20190601 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. A. Hay ◽  
M. V. Papalexandris
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Rayleigh Number ◽  
Thermal Convection ◽  
Thermal Boundary Layer ◽  
Boussinesq Approximation ◽  
Density Fluctuations ◽  
Lower Wall ◽  
Mean Pressure ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Upper Boundary

In this paper, we report on direct numerical and large-eddy simulations of turbulent thermal convection without invoking the Oberbeck–Boussinesq approximation. The working medium is liquid water and we employ a free-slip upper boundary condition. This flow is a simplified model of thermal convection of water in a cavity heated from below with heat loss at its free surface. Analysis of the flow statistics suggests similarities in spatial structures to classical turbulent Rayleigh–Bénard convection but with turbulent fluctuations near the free-slip boundary. One important observation is the asymmetry in the thermal boundary layer heights at the lower and upper boundaries. Similarly, the budget of the turbulent kinetic energy shows different behaviour at the free-slip and at the lower wall. Interestingly, the work of the mean pressure is dominant due to the hydrostatic component of the mean-pressure gradient but also depends on the density fluctuations which are small but, critically, non-zero. As expected the boundary-layer heights decrease with the Rayleigh number, due to increased turbulence intensity. However, independent of the Rayleigh number, the height of the thermal boundary layer at the upper boundary is always smaller than that on the lower wall.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document