Experimental Investigation on the Pressure Drop of Air Flows Through Aluminum and Nickel-Chromium Metallic Foams for HVAC Applications

Stefano Cancellara, Matteo Greppi, Matteo Dongellini, Giampietro Fabbri, Cesare Biserni and Gian Luca Morini
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Stefano Cancellara: CIRI-EC, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Via del Lazzaretto 15, 40136 Bologna, Italy
Matteo Greppi: CIRI-EC, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Via del Lazzaretto 15, 40136 Bologna, Italy
Matteo Dongellini: Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale (DIN), Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Viale Risorgimento 2, 40136 Bologna, Italy
Giampietro Fabbri: Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale (DIN), Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Viale Risorgimento 2, 40136 Bologna, Italy
Cesare Biserni: CIRI-EC, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Via del Lazzaretto 15, 40136 Bologna, Italy
Gian Luca Morini: CIRI-EC, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Via del Lazzaretto 15, 40136 Bologna, Italy

Energies, 2019, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: In this paper, a series of experimental data about the role of the metal foam thickness on the total air flow pressure drop is presented. The tested metallic foams are based on aluminum and nickel-chromium and they are characterized by a considerable value of porosity (>0.92) and by a number of pores per linear inches (PPI) close to 10. The measures were conducted in a range of air velocity values typical for HVAC fan-coils. Under these conditions, the flow regime into the pores is highly turbulent. It was demonstrated that below a threshold value of the ratio between the thickness of the porous medium (H) and the characteristic dimension of the pores (d), the dispersion of the pressure drop values from a sample to another one can be very high. This behavior can limit the industrial use of these materials. In addition, the results presented in this paper confirm that the pressure drop data obtained under highly turbulent conditions can be conveniently used in order to determine the inertia coefficient, C, of the metal foam.

Keywords: metal foams; pressure drops; HVAC fan-coil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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