Heat Transfer Analysis for Fluid Laminar Flow Across an Isothermal Pipe Immersed in Metal Foam

Based on the Brinkman-Forchheimer-extended Darcy momentum model and single-equation heat transfer theory,the governing equations of the fluid forced laminar flow across an isothermal pipe immersed in metal foam are established.The equations are integrated numerically by use of the Runge-Kutta method and shooting technique.The characteristics of fluid flow and heat transfer are researched.The results show that the porosity and the pore density play important roles in overall heat transfer performance,and the existence of metal foam also leads to higher pressure drop than that of plain pipe.In the end,the correlation of Nusselt number is propose from the numerical study.These provide theoretical basis for actual application in chemical equipments such as heat exchangers of metal foam.