Free convection from a semi-infinite vertical surface bounded by a horizontal wall in a porous medium (Q1093474)

A study of the steady free convection flow along a semi-infinite vertical flat plate which is placed in a saturated porous medium and at an arbitrary distance d above a horizontal wall is performed. The first- and second-order boundary layer equations and outer inviscid flow equations are studied to find the effects of large, but finite, values of the Rayleigh number. Results are obtained for the two cases in which the flat plate is (i) isothermal and (ii) uniform flux. It is found that the first-order boundary layer solutions overestimate the local Nusselt number except for the uniform flux plate for distances along the plate less than about 0.4d.