Pore-scale numerical simulation of convection heat transfer in high porosity open-cell metal foam under rotating conditions

Abstract

High porosity open-cell metal foam can be used in rotating machinery to improve its performances. The interstitial heat transfer coefficient is a key parameter to describe heat transfer in porous media under local thermal non-equilibrium conditions. A pore-scale numerical simulation is performed to obtain the interstitial heat transfer coefficient between air and high porosity open-cell metal foam under rotating conditions in this study. To this end, the convective heat transfer in a radially rotating channel filled with Weaire-Phelan foam cell is investigated numerically. The interstitial heat transfer coefficients are calculated at different Reynolds numbers, Rotation numbers, foam porosities and locations. And the correlation for porous-fluid interstitial heat transfer Nusselt number is established. The results show that the increasing of Reynolds and Rotation number will gradually increase the interstitial heat transfer Nusselt number. The location also has a positive effect on the interstitial heat transfer coefficient. However, the interstitial heat transfer Nusselt number gradually decreases with the increase of porosity. The established correlation can predict the interstitial heat transfer Nusselt number with a deviation within 10% at the studied ranges of the corresponding parameters. It can also be applied to the cases for larger location, larger channel size and larger Rotation number.