Experimental Studies to Evaluate the Use of Metal Foams in Highly Compact Air-Cooling Heat Exchangers
Year: 2010
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: open-cell aluminum foam is considered as a highly compact replacement for conventional fins in brazed aluminum heat exchangers.The experimental data needed to for evaluation are obtained through wind-tunnel experiments.Using a closed-loop wind tunnel, heat transfer and pressure drop measurements are undertaken, and the results are characterized as Colburn j-factor and friction factor for geometric configurations of foam and flat tubes that mimic current multi-louver, microchannel geometries.The data obtained in the wind-tunnel are used to evaluate the potential for using metal foam (of varying porosity) as a replacement to conventional fins for a range of configurations and operating conditions typical for air-cooling applications.Finally, we comment on some of the challenges that must be met for the adoption of this technology in air-cooling systems.
Institution: Purdue University West Lafayette
Language: English
Subfield: Mechanical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W107924062