The interstitial heat transfer coefficient (IHTC) is a key parameter in the two-energy equation model usually employed to investigate the thermal performance of high porosity open-cell metal foam/paraffin composite phase change material. Due to the existence of weak convection of liquid paraffin through metal foam during phase change process, the IHTC should be carefully determined for a low Reynolds number range (Re = 0–1), which however has been rarely addressed in the literature. In this paper, a direct simulation at foam pore scale is carried out to determine the IHTC between paraffin and metal foam at Re = 0–1. For this purpose, the cell structures reflecting realistic metal foams are first constructed based on the three-dimensional (3D) Weaire–Phelan foam cell to serve as the representative elementary volume (REV) of metal foam for direct simulation. Then, by solving the Navier–Stokes equations and energy equation for the REV, the influences of Reynolds number (Re), Prandtl number (Pr), foam porosity (ε), and pore density (PPI) on the dimensionless IHTC, i.e., the Nusselt number Nuv, are investigated. According to the numerical results, a correlation of Nuv at Re = 0–1 is proposed for metal foam/paraffin composite material, which covers both diffusion-dominated interstitial heat transfer region (Re ≤ 0.1) and convection-dominated interstitial heat transfer region (0.1 < Re ≤ 1). Finally, the applicability of this correlation in the two-energy equation model for solid–liquid phase change of paraffin in metal foam is validated by comparing the model predicted melting front with that of experimental observations made in this study. It is found that the IHTC correlation proposed in this study can be used in the two-energy equation model for well predicting the phase change process of paraffin in metal foam.
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Direct Simulation of Interstitial Heat Transfer Coefficient Between Paraffin and High Porosity Open-Cell Metal Foam
Yuanpeng Yao,
Yuanpeng Yao
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
Shanghai 200240, China
e-mail: yaoyuanpeng@sjtu.edu.cn
Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
Shanghai 200240, China
e-mail: yaoyuanpeng@sjtu.edu.cn
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Huiying Wu,
Huiying Wu
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
Shanghai 200240, China
e-mail: whysrj@sjtu.edu.cn
Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
Shanghai 200240, China
e-mail: whysrj@sjtu.edu.cn
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Zhenyu Liu
Zhenyu Liu
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
Shanghai 200240, China
e-mail: zhenyu.liu@sjtu.edu.cn
Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
Shanghai 200240, China
e-mail: zhenyu.liu@sjtu.edu.cn
Search for other works by this author on:
Yuanpeng Yao
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
Shanghai 200240, China
e-mail: yaoyuanpeng@sjtu.edu.cn
Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
Shanghai 200240, China
e-mail: yaoyuanpeng@sjtu.edu.cn
Huiying Wu
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
Shanghai 200240, China
e-mail: whysrj@sjtu.edu.cn
Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
Shanghai 200240, China
e-mail: whysrj@sjtu.edu.cn
Zhenyu Liu
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
Shanghai 200240, China
e-mail: zhenyu.liu@sjtu.edu.cn
Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
Shanghai 200240, China
e-mail: zhenyu.liu@sjtu.edu.cn
1Corresponding author.
Contributed by the Heat Transfer Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF HEAT TRANSFER. Manuscript received April 13, 2017; final manuscript received July 20, 2017; published online October 17, 2017. Assoc. Editor: Alan McGaughey.
J. Heat Transfer. Mar 2018, 140(3): 032601 (11 pages)
Published Online: October 17, 2017
Article history
Received:
April 13, 2017
Revised:
July 20, 2017
Citation
Yao, Y., Wu, H., and Liu, Z. (October 17, 2017). "Direct Simulation of Interstitial Heat Transfer Coefficient Between Paraffin and High Porosity Open-Cell Metal Foam." ASME. J. Heat Transfer. March 2018; 140(3): 032601. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4038006
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