EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE FLUID FLOW AND HEAT TRANSFER IN 10 PPI COPPER METAL FOAM WITH Al2O3-WATER NANOFLUID

An experimental study of heat transfer through 10 PPI (pores per inch) copper metal foam using Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>-distilled water nanofluid to serve as a circulating medium is reported. The experimental work in this domain is quite rare. This paper deals with the thermal processes along with fluid flow of open-cell porous foam. The study examines the behavior of Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>-distilled water nanofluids by employing five different volumetric concentrations in the range from 0.1 to 0.5%, while six values of the Reynolds number are considered between 290 to 1800.The nanofluid is passed through a cavity encompassing copper metal lattice porous structure with porosity 95%. It is found that Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>-distilled water nanofluid is much more effective for heat transfer than distilled water. The transfer of heat is critically dependent on the concentration of the nanofluid. Heat-transfer characteristics appear to improve as concentration and Reynolds number increase. The study will be useful in development of a heat sink that employs metal foam along with nanofluid as medium for better heat dissipation in various applications, especially in the compact electronic devices.