Second law analysis of laminar flow in a channel filled with saturated porous media (Q925729)

Summary: The entropy generation rate in a laminar flow through a channel filled with saturated porous media is investigated. The upper surface of the channel is adiabatic and the lower wall is assumed to have a constant heat flux. The Brinkman model is employed. Velocity and temperature profiles are obtained for large Darcy number \(D_a\) and used to obtain the entropy generation number and the irreversibility ratio. Generally, our result shows that heat transfer irreversibility dominates over fluid friction irreversibility (i.e. \(0 \leq \varphi < 1\)), and viscous dissipation has no effect on the entropy generation rate at the centerline of the channel.