Free convective stagnation-point flow in a porous medium using a thermal nonequilibrium model

Buoyancy-induced flows in fluid-saturated porous media is a branch of research undergoing rapid growth in the fluid mechanics and heat transfer characteristics of many engineering problems. Such problems, whose performance depend on a better understanding of convective flows in porous media, include geothermal systems, nuclear reactors, thermal insulations, drying processes, food stuffs etc. Here, an analysis is made for the steady free convection boundary-layer flow near the stagnation point of a two-dimensional body which is embedded in a porous medium by adopting a two-temperature model of microscopic heat transfer. It is found that such a model modifies substantially the behavior of the flow characteristics, particularly those of the heat transfer coefficients, and the region over which the thermal fields extend