Viscous dissipation impacts on a developing thermal field in a saturated porous medium: An effective thermal management

In this study, we investigate the impacts of two viscous dissipation models—the form drag (FD) model and the clear fluid compatible (CFC) model—on the thermal behavior of fluid flow within a porous medium in a parallel plate channel. We analyze temperature distributions under constant heat flux conditions by employing the local thermal non-equilibrium model and assuming unidirectional flow governed by the Darcy–Brinkman model. Our results indicate that an increase in the Brinkman number, Biot number, and thermal conductivity ratio enhances the temperature distribution. Notably, the CFC model demonstrates a higher local Nusselt number compared to that in the FD model, highlighting its potential for applications in heat exchanger design where efficient heat transfer is crucial. Our analysis aids in predicting thermal performance and efficiency, emphasizing the importance of selecting appropriate viscous dissipation models to achieve optimal thermal outcomes. The findings have significant applications in thermal management technologies. A comparative analysis with experimental and computational studies further strengthens these insights, making them applicable to a wide range of thermal systems (see Sec. V B). This study can assist engineers in accounting for viscous dissipation when designing systems that involve fluid flow through porous media, such as heat exchanger devices, particularly in the entrance region of ducts, where the thermal field begins to develop.