Numerical Evaluation of Porous Media Influence on Heat Transfer Performance in Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchangers

This study investigates the impact of porous media on the thermal and hydraulic performance of a shell-and-tube heat exchanger using computational fluid dynamics and advanced statistical optimization. The effects of varying porosity on Nusselt number, pressure drop, and heat transferred were systematically evaluated through a Central Composite Design approach, analyzed using Response Surface Methodology, and optimized via multi-objective genetic algorithms. Results demonstrate a nonlinear relationship between porosity and both heat transfer and pressure loss: while intermediate porosity levels (approximately 0.6–0.7) maximize the Nusselt number and heat exchanged, high porosity leads to diminishing returns. Pressure drop monotonically decreases with increasing porosity, with a significant trade-off observed between thermal enhancement and hydraulic cost. Contour analyses reveal that incorporating porous media leads to notably more uniform velocity and temperature fields, enhancing thermal homogenization but raising maximum system pressure by over 30%. The average shell-side temperature was reduced by 6°C in porous-enhanced cases. These findings underscore the necessity of multi-objective optimization to achieve an optimal balance between thermal performance and pressure loss in the design of next-generation heat exchangers. The study provides comprehensive insights for engineers aiming to leverage porous media for efficient thermal system design.