| The present experimental and numerical work investigates the potential of metallic porous inserts to enhance the rate of heat transfer between a pipe heated from exterior with a constant and uniform heat flux and a stream of air flowing inside. The effects of porosity, porous material diameter and thermal conductivity as well as Reynolds number on the heat transfer rate and pressure drop are investigated. The results are compared with the clear flow case where no porous material was used. Furthermore, the difficulties encountered when carrying out a comparison between the experimental and numerical results are outlined. The encouraging results obtained lead to the conclusion that higher heat transfer rates can be achieved using porous inserts at the expense of a reasonable pressure drop, which depends on the permeability of the porous matrix. Some of the applications where these results could be successfully implemented are as follows: gas heat exchangers, intercoolers for turbo-charged engines, car radiators, air conditioning systems, cooling of electronics, etc. |
