PRESSURE DROP AND FORCED CONVECTIVE HEAT TRANSFER IN HETEROGENEOUS POROUS MEDIA

Enhanced heat transfer in thermo-fluid systems can be achieved by extending the heat transfer surface area. Metal foam and wire screens both offer a high surface area and have potential as heat transfer media. However, a consequence of the large surface is that the pressure drop increases as fluid is passed through the media. In this research heterogeneous samples of metal foams and wire mesh screens were tested with the aim of producing enhanced performance. The hydraulic and the thermal performance depends on the pore shape, pore size, thermal conductivity and heat capacity of the matrix. Whilst many studies aimed to investigate the heat and the mass transfer of homogenous porous media structure, Little effort has been made to investigate the performance of heterogeneous structures. Experiments have been performed on the heat transfer effectiveness and the flow kinetic energy losses in heterogeneous porous matrixes, made of a combination of metal foam slices and mesh wire screens Hydraulic and the thermal performance parameters such as; the permeability, friction factors, and heat transfer parameters were found