The boundary layer regime in a porous layer with uniform heat flux from the side

This paper reports an analytical solution and a numerical study of natural convection in a rectangular porous layer heated and cooled with uniform heat flux along the vertical side walls. It is shown analytically that in theboundary layer regime the vertical boundary layer thickness isconstant (independent of altitude) and the core region is motionless. The vertical temperature gradient is the same constant everywhere in the porous layer. Numerical results are reported in the range 100 < Ra < 5000, 1 ≤ H/L ≤ 10, where Ra = KgßH2q″/(xvk). The boundary layer analytical solution is shown to agree well with the numerical results.