Stability analysis of thermosolutal convection in a vertical packed porous enclosure

A linear stability theory is performed to investigate the stability of the quiescent state and fully developed thermosolutal convection within a vertical porous enclosure subject to horizontal opposing gradients of temperature and solute. The fluid motion is modeled using the unsteady form of Darcy's law coupled with energy and species conservation equations. The effect of different thermal and solutal boundary conditions is considered. The linearized governing equations are solved numerically using a finite element method. The thresholds for oscillatory and stationary convection are determined as functions of the governing parameters. It is concluded that the porosity and the acceleration parameter of the porous medium have a strong effect on the onset of overstability for a confined enclosure and on the wave number for an infinite enclosure. The stability analysis of fully developed flows within a slender enclosure reveals that an increase in the porosity and the acceleration parameter of the porous media delays the appearance of oscillatory finite amplitude flows. A nonlinear numerical solution is also computed by solving the full governing equations using a finite element method. Within the overstable regime, nonlinear traveling waves exist within slender enclosures, subject to Dirichlet thermal and solutal boundary conditions.(C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.