This page provides details about some of my porous medium research projects. The work revolves mainly around hydrodynamics and convection (both forced and natural) in porous media that have generated, among other things, peer reviewed research publications.

Hydrodynamics in Porous Media

• [2001 - 2004] Modeling Temperature-dependent Viscosity Effects in Flow through Non-isothermal Porous Media

Hazen-Dupuit-Darcy model is the hydraulic model relating the porous medium channel pressure drop and the average flow speed. This model is valid for steady isothermal incompressible flow through low permeability porous media. Under non-isothermal conditions, since the fluid is heated or cooled along the porous medium channel, the viscosity of the fluid varies. This results in local flow acceleration or deceleration, leading to alteration in the pressure drop. In a project, we have investigated this phenomenon in detail, proposing a modified HDD model for such strongly temperature dependent viscosity porous medium channel flows.

Read the summary of this project for further details.

• [2006] Experimental Determination of Permeability and Form Coefficient of Porous inserts under Non-slug Flow with Non-Darcy Model

Experimental evidence from our project, presented in [1] and [2], delineates the effect of inlet velocity profiles on the permeability (K) and form coefficient (C) measured experimentally across a porous medium duct of square cross section. While the variation in permeability (K) for different inlet velocity profiles is minimal (which is expected), we find the form coefficient (C) to change as much as 11% when going from a fully developed velocity profile to a slug flow profile at the inlet to the porous medium.

Read the summary of this project for further details.

• [2006 - 2008] Experimental Determination of Interface Stress-jump Coefficient in a Partially Filled Porous Medium Channel

Convection in Porous Media

• [2008 - 2010] Convection in Bi-Disperse Porous Media

What is a Bidisperse Porous Medium?

[More on project coming up]

• [2006 – 2009] Experiments and Modeling of Two-phase Natural Convection Flows in Heat Generating Porous Media using Local Non-thermal Equilibrium Model
• [2004 - 2006] Porous Medium Approach to Near Compact Heat Exchanger Models: Experimental Determination of Heat Transfer and Hydraulic Parameters
• [2005 - 2007] Heat Transfer Enhancement in Near Compact Heat Exchanger using Tube-to-tube Porous Interconnections
• [2006] Natural Convection in Near-Porous Medium Enclosures