Transient heat transfer and non-isothermal particle-laden gas flows through porous metal foams of differing structure

Abstract

Multiphase solid-gas flows and particulate fouling in porous media are omnipresent in many environmental and industrial applications. However, the underlying mechanisms and transport behaviour of these complex fluids coupled with heat transfer effects are poorly understood. Moreover, the complexity of multiphase non-isothermal solid-gas transport is further compounded by the fact that thermal solid-gas transport through porous metal foams is not established. This paper numerically investigates non-isothermal solid-gas flows through an idealized metal foam heat exchanger based on a cylindrical ligament and a Weaire-Phelan model. We delve into the dynamics and heat transfer profiles of solid-gas flows immersed in porous metal foams based on various solid foulant properties. The foulant thermal behaviour based on various metal foam ligament wall temperatures is investigated. It is found that the foulant temperature profiles vary with time and the temperature profiles also vary with increasing wall temperature. Moreover, the Weaire-Phelan (WP) model can be used as an alternative to the real metal foam sample. The heat transfer between the foulant, wall, and fluid play a pivotal role in the alteration of the temperature profiles. The developed numerical methodology and the WP geometry may serve as a stepping-stone to address pertinent issues such as indoor environmental studies and optimization of compact heat exchangers.