Study on performance of compact finned heat exchanger using open-cell copper foam

Baskaran, Mohan Raj (2022) Study on performance of compact finned heat exchanger using open-cell copper foam. Project Report. Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Melaka, Malaysia. (Submitted)

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Abstract

Heat exchangers are widely applied in different fields that can range from heavy industries to small electronic devices. The need for an increase in the effectiveness is of great concern for heat exchanger manufactures to produce better heat exchanger devices. The use of open-cell metal foam in manufacturing heat exchangers is one of the many methods being studied at the moment due to its unique structural and thermal properties. The aim of this thesis is to carry out experimental analysis of the performance of the compact heat exchanger based on open-cell copper foam. To facilitate in this process of performance analysis, an in-house small scale wind tunnel using air as coolant is developed as the test rig. The experiments were conducted on copper foam with porosity, ɛ of 0.93 and 60 PPI (pores per inch). Different configurations of the compact finned copper foam heat exchanger were tested at varying Reynolds number. The performance of the completed heat exchanger test rig was judged by studying the flow uniformity in the test section area and was found to be satisfactory. The thermal performance of configuration 1 was 2.5 to 5 times better for fixed flow condition and 1.2 to 2.5 times better for fixed pumping power condition as it has twice the heat exchange area than configuration 2. But the pressure drop for configuration 2 was 5 times lower due to the reduced flow resistance courtesy of the air gap in between the finned copper foam. It is recommended that further variation in the configuration is studied in order to further increase the effectiveness of the compact finned metal foam heat exchanger.

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