Pore-Scale Modelling of Metal Foam Heat Exchanger

Heat exchangers have been essential in thermal energy systems. Increasing the heat transfer performance of heat exchangers has been the focus in thermal engineering field. This study aims to investigate transport processes in metal foam heat exchangers by adopting 3D pore-scale model which is expected to provide better accuracy and details on the transport processes in metal foam heat exchanger. The numerical study done has been initiated with the model development, followed by numerical implementation and finally numerical investigation. The numerical investigation reaffirms past studies that the presence of metal foam does bring enhancement to the heat transfer. However, it comes with the sacrifice on the huge change of pressure of the fluid. The adoption of pore-scale model revealed details of transport processes inside metal foam heat exchangers.