Effect of porous fin in a plate-fin heat exchanger

Abstract

The present experimental study investigates the impact of porous fin on the pressure drop and heat transfer in a state-of-the-art plate-porous fin heat exchanger. Systematic experiments have been carried out in a simplified model of plate-porous fin heat exchanger at the controlled test environment. The porous fins are made of aluminum-alloy foam materials with several permeabilities and a high porosity. The experimental results show that the porous fins can enhance the performance of plate-fin heat exchangers. The pressure drop and the heat transfer coefficients are significantly affected by the permeability of porous fin. The simple correlations of friction factor and Colburn j-factor are also given for future design purpose.