Numerical investigation of buoyancy driven flow in a fluid saturated non-Darcian porous medium

The natural convective flow and associated heat transfer in a fluid saturated porous medium have been investigated using the generalised porous medium approach. Many new features have been predicted with the convective heat transfer boundary condition. A detailed parametric study reveals that multicellular flow patterns appear at higher Darcy and Rayleigh numbers and lower Biot numbers. Results are presented for a Darcy number range of 10-7-10-2, Rayleigh number range of 102-109 and aspect ratios from 1 to 10.