THERMAL PERFORMANCE AND FLUID FLOW ANALYSIS OF PARTIALLY FILLED HEAT EXCHANGERS USING METAL FOAM

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study was performed to numerically investigate forced convective heat transfer and the hydrodynamic behavior of airflow through a vertical channel. The effects of airflow Reynolds number, metal foam porosity, and thermal conductivity on key parameters—including the overall Nusselt number, pressure drop, maximum temperature, and temperature distribution—were analyzed. The novelty of this study lies in the use of metal foams on both sides of a vertical channel and the quantitative assessment of heat transfer enhancement compared to an empty channel for different foam materials. Results indicate that the heat transfer rate from the heated plate is comparable for aluminum foam (porosity 0.948) and copper foam (porosity 0.877) under identical velocity and heat flux conditions. Additionally, increasing the airflow velocity reduces the maximum temperature, although the reduction is nonlinear. The numerical results were successfully validated against experimental data reported in the literature for rectangular metal foam heat exchangers.