Metal foam has recently been used in many engineering applications, such as solar collectors, heat exchangers, and cooling of electronic devices, which calls for studying different cases of using metal foam in these applications. The current study conducts a numerical analysis of heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics for air in a rectangular channel filled with high-porosity copper foam. The study examined the thermal performance for two cases of gradient pore density, which are arranged as (10-20-40) PPI and (40-20-10) PPI. These cases were compared with two other cases for constant pore density, 10 and 40 PPI, and empty cases. The ANSYS FLUENT 20.0 employed the Darcy-Forchheimer extended Brickman model in the two-dimensional domain with the local thermal non-equilibrium model (LTNE) for the energy equation to obtain the numerical simulation for this study. The working parameters included air with Re from 200 to 2100 and applied heat flux from 450 to 6000 W/m2. The results indicated that employing metal foam with a low pore density led to a decrease in both the Nusselt number and pressure drop. Both gradient cases exhibited Nusselt numbers and friction factors that fell within the range of the constant PPI cases, but one of the gradient cases increased the performance factor by 10%. In general, the PPI configuration of 10-20-40 exhibited a higher heat transfer coefficient in comparison to the 40-20-10 PPI arrangement with the same pressure drop.
Various approaches are employed to enhance the heat transfer coefficient and Nusselt number inside the channels. One of the techniques employed for these enhancements is the utilization of porous media. In the current article, a practical investigation of forced convection heat transfer in a rectangular cross‐section channel (0.05 × 0.1 m2) with 0.25 m length is conducted. A heater with a heat flux range (450–6000 W/m2) is imposed under a copper plate, and the other sides are covered by insulation layers. The air is considered as a working fluid with
Convection heat transfer in a horizontal channel provided with metal foam blocks of two numbers of pores per unit of length (10 and 40 PPI) and partially heated at a constant heat flux is experimentally investigated with air as the working fluid. A series of experiments have been carried out under steady state condition. The experimental investigations cover the Reynolds number range from 638 to 2168, heat fluxes varied from 453 to 4462 W/m2, and Darcy number 1.77x10-5, 3.95x10-6. The measured data were collected and analyzed. Results show that the wall temperatures at each heated section are affected by the imposed heat flux variation, Darcy number, and Reynolds number variation. The var
... Show MoreNumerical study has been conducted to investigate the thermal performance enhancement of flat plate solar water collector by integrating the solar collector with metal foam blocks.The flow is assumed to be steady, incompressible and two dimensional in an inclined channel. The channel is provided with eight foam blocks manufactured form copper. The Brinkman-Forchheimer extended Darcy model is utilized to simulate the flow in the porous medium and the Navier-Stokes equation in the fluid region. The energy equation is used with local thermal equilibrium (LTE) assumption to simulate the thermofield inside the porous medium. The current investigation covers a range of solar radiation intensity at 09:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and 04:00
... Show MoreThe influence of adding metal foam fins on the heat transfer characteristics of an air to water double pipe heat exchanger is numerically investigated. The hot fluid is water which flows in the inner cylinder whereas the cold fluid is air which circulates in the annular gap in parallel flow with water. Ten fins of metal foam (Porosity = 0.93), are added in the gap between the two cylinder, and distributed periodically with the axial distance. Finite volume method is used to solve the governing equations in porous and non-porous regions. The numerical investigations cover three values for Reynolds number (1000 ,1500, 2000), and Darcy number (1 x10-1, 1 x10-2, 1x10-3). The comparison betwee
... Show MoreConjugate heat transfer has significant implications on heat transfer characteristics, particularly in thick wall applications and small diameter pipes. In this study, a three-dimensional numerical investigation was carried out using commercial CFD software “ANSYS FLUENT” to study the influence of conjugate heat transfer of laminar flow in mini channels at constant heat flux wall conditions. Two parameters were studied and analyzed: the wall thickness and thermal conductivity and their effect on heat transfer characteristics such as temperature profile and Nusselt number. Thermal conductivity of (0.25, 10, 202, and 387) W/m2C and wall thickness of (1, 5, and 50) mm were used for a channel of (1*2) mm cross
... Show MoreNumerical simulations have been investigated to study the external free convective heat transfer from a vertically rectangular interrupted fin arrays. The continuity, Naver-Stockes and energy equations have been solved for steady-state, incompressible, two dimensional, laminar with Boussiuesq approximation by Fluent 15 software. The performance of interrupted fins was evaluated to gain the optimum ratio of interrupted length to fin length (
The steady state laminar mixed convection and radiation through inclined rectangular duct with an interior circular tube is investigated numerically for a thermally and hydrodynamicaly fully developed flow. The two heat transfer mechanisms of convection and radiation are treated independently and simultaneously. The governing equations which used are continuity, momentum and energy equations. These equations are normalized and solved using the Vorticity-Stream function and the Body Fitted Coordinates (B.F.C) methods. The finite difference approach with the Line Successive Over-Relaxation (LSOR) method is used to obtain all the computational results. The (B.F.C) method is used to generate the grid of the problem. A computer program (Fortran
... Show MoreThe steady state laminar mixed convection and radiation through inclined rectangular duct with an interior circular tube is investigated numerically for a thermally and hydrodynamicaly fully developed flow. The two heat transfer mechanisms of convection and radiation are treated independently and simultaneously. The governing equations which used are continuity, momentum and energy equations. These equations are normalized and solved using the Vorticity-Stream function and the Body Fitted Coordinates (B.F.C) methods. The finite difference approach with the Line Successive Over-Relaxation (LSOR) method is used to obtain all the computational results. The (B.F.C) method is used to generate the grid of the problem. A computer program (Fortr
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