Abstract
The thermal dispersion and heat-transfer processes in the thermally-developing region of a sintered porous channel with asymmetric heating are analyzed by a two-equation model. The thermal dispersion conductivity is modeled as the product of an entrance-effect function, the dispersive length and the Peclet number. The empirical coefficients in the entrance-effect function are determined by matching the experimental data. The calculated distributions of wall temperature and local Nusselt number are in good agreement with experimental data. From the calculated results it is found that most of the energy at the heated wall is absorbed by the solid. The heat transfer between the solid and the fluid reaches a maximum and then drops in the transverse direction; in the axial direction it increases due to the enhanced local heat transfer coefficient caused by the flow acceleration.
