A critique on “A cell model of effective thermal conductivity for saturated porous media”

Abstract In August 2019, this journal published the paper “A cell model of effective thermal conductivity for saturated porous media” (Zhu, 2019), which develops and validates a new analytical prediction model for the thermal conductivities of saturated porous materials. This critique reveals that the model is conceptually and practically flawed, by on the one hand showing that it may result in thermal conductivities outside of the series and parallel limits and by on the other hand exposing its poor performance for dry porous media contrary to Zhu's positive outcomes. Given that these flaws, if known to the author and/or reviewers, would (probably) have led them to a “not fit for publication” evaluation, the discusser suggests an official retraction of (Zhu, 2019).