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Experimental investigation of heat transfer and pressure drop in metal-foam-filled circular and flattened tubes

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Abstract

Heat transfer and pressure drop of laminar flow inside circular and flattened tubes partially and fully filled with copper metal foam were experimentally investigated. The wall heated by a constant and uniform heat flux and water was used as the working fluid with Reynolds number ranging 500–2300. Six different configurations for tubes and porous media supposed and the Nusselt number and pressure drop data are reported and compared. The experimental results revealed that the porous media and flattening the tube have a significant effect on the thermal and hydrodynamic performances of the system due to the heat spreading through the copper matrix, better mixing of the fluid and extending the heat transfer area. Performance evaluation was carried out, and fully filled tubes were reported as having the best performance. The experimental data are also compared to well-known correlations from the literature, and new correlations are proposed to predict the Nusselt number and friction factor.

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Abbreviations

C F :

Inertia parameter

c p :

Specific heat capacity (J kg−1 K−1)

CT:

Circular tube

d p :

Particle diameter (m)

D :

Round tube diameter (m)

D h :

Hydraulic diameter (m)

EB:

Energy balance

f :

Friction factor

FT:

Flat tube

H :

Tube height (m)

H p :

Porous layer thickness (m)

h :

Heat transfer coefficient (W m−2 K−1)

k :

Thermal conductivity (W m−1 K−1)

K :

Permeability (m2)

L :

Length of tube (m)

Nu:

Nusselt number

P :

Pressure (kg m−1 s−2)

Pr:

Prandtl number

Q :

Total heat transfer rate (W m−2 K−1)

\( \dot{Q}_{{\text{e}}} \) :

Electrical heat (W m−2 K−1)

\( \dot{Q}_{{\text{w}}} \) :

Heat transfer rate to the water (W m−2 K−1)

q″:

Heat flux (W m−2)

Re:

Reynolds number

T :

Temperature (K)

t :

Pores thickness (m)

V :

Velocity (m s−1)

W :

Width of the flat tube (m)

Z :

Axial distance from the inlet (m)

\( \alpha \) :

Thermal diffusivity (=k/\( \rho \)Cp) (m2 s−1)

\( \epsilon \) :

Porosity

\( \rho \) :

Density (kg m−3)

\( \rho_{\text{r}} \) :

Relative density

\( \mu \) :

Dynamic viscosity (kg m−1 s−1)

\( \omega \) :

Pore density

0:

Round tube without porous

b:

Bulk

i:

Inlet

loc:

local

mean:

mean

p:

Porous

s:

Solid

t:

Heat enhancement mechanism

w:

Wall

x:

X direction

y:

Y direction

z:

Z direction

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), 424 Hafez Ave, P.O. Box 15875-4413, Tehran, Iran

    Ehsan Rezaei & Abbas Abbassi

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  1. Ehsan Rezaei
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  2. Abbas Abbassi
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Correspondence to Ehsan Rezaei.

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Rezaei, E., Abbassi, A. Experimental investigation of heat transfer and pressure drop in metal-foam-filled circular and flattened tubes. J Therm Anal Calorim 146, 469–482 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-020-09909-z

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