Convective heat transfer in partially porous channel flow

While convective heat transfer in channels completely filled with metal foams has been studied extensively, turbulent heat transfer in channels that are partially filled with porous foams is less well understood. Previous direct numerical simulations for partially-porous channel flow indicate that large vortex structures enhance turbulent heat transfer at the porous medium-unobstructed flow interface. This project aims to experimentally investigate this interfacial thermal transport. Commercially available Aluminum foams with porosity > 90% are attached to a heater and placed into a forced convection arrangement adjacent to an obstructed channel of equal height. With water as the fluid, pressure drop measurements have been made across the porous section to quantify friction factors for bulk Reynolds numbers ranging from 890-4580. A two-component Laser Doppler Velocimeter (LDV) is being used to generate velocity profiles at different sections across the flow and point temperature measurements are being made along the channel to estimate the Nusselt number. Ultimately, this information will be used to evaluate heat transfer efficiency with respect to pumping power requirements.