Experimental Investigation on Natural Convection Heat Transfer of Porous Media Metal Foam

Abstract

Natural convection heat transfer is experimentally investigated for a porous medium, water-saturated copper foam, in a square cavity. The effects of porosity, pore density (PPI) and angle of inclination on natural convection heat transfer are discussed. The experimental results show that natural convection heat transfer rate increases with the decrease of porosity. For a given porosity, the heat transfer rate is found to be lower at higher pore densities. The Nusselt number decreases with the angle of inclination. According to the theory of similarity, the dimensionless heat transfer correlation, including porosity, pore density (PPI) and angle of inclination, is developed, and deviation is within ±7.5%.

Keywords

• natural convection heat transfer
• porous media metal foam
• porosity
• pore density