9078 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

2005, 44, 9078-9085

MATERIALS AND INTERFACES

Heat Transfer Characterization of Metallic Foams

Leonardo Giani, Gianpiero Groppi, and Enrico Tronconi*
NEMAS, Centro di Eccellenza per l’Ingegneria dei Materiali e delle Superfici Nanostrutturate,
Dipartimento di Chimica, Materiali ed Ingegneria Chimica “G. Natta”, Politecnico di Milano,
Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32-20133 Milano, Italy

Gas-solid heat transfer coefficients were determined in open-celled metal foams as part of a
study aimed at evaluating the application of metal foams as catalyst supports in gas-solid
catalytic processes with short contact times and high reaction rates, typically controlled by
diffusional mass transport. Examples of such processes are found in the field of environmental
catalysis, including, for example, catalytic combustion, selective catalytic reduction of NOx by
NH3 (SCR-DeNOx), automotive exhaust gas after treatment, and also in the catalytic partial
oxidation of hydrocarbons for syngas or H2 generation processes. In this work, foam samples
made of FeCrAlloy and Cu with nominal porosities of 10 and 20 pores per inch (ppi) were
characterized by performing non-steady-state cooling measurements. Convective gas-solid heat
transfer coefficients were determined by applying a one-dimensional, heterogeneous model of
the cooling structure. The correlation Nu ) 1.2Re0.43Pr1/3 well described the dependence of the
dimensionless heat transfer coefficients on Re and Pr numbers for all the tests made in a range
of flow superficial velocities from 1.2 to 5.7 m/s, independently from the foam cell size (20 < Re
< 240). Such a correlation was derived assuming a prismatic idealization of the unit cell and
selecting the equivalent strut diameter as the characteristic size of the foams. This expression
satisfies the Colburn analogy with the correlation for mass transfer coefficients derived in a
previous investigation and resembles semitheoretical literature correlations for heat transfer
in flow across banks of tubes at low Reynolds numbers.

1. Introduction tortuous flow paths through the porous matrix that

In a previous work1 we estimated gas-solid mass
transfer coefficients in open-celled metal foams2,3 by
performing the catalytic oxidation of CO under diffu-
sional control in a microreactor and by measuring the
apparent rate constant. Foams of different pore densi-
ties were activated by deposition of a thin layer of
palladium on alumina.4 On the basis of a simple
geometrical description of the metallic foam as a cubic
framework of connected struts, all mass transfer data
were successfully correlated by the following expression:
Sh ) 1.1Re0.43Sc1/3 (1)
using the diameter of the struts as the characteristic
length in dimensionless numbers.
Equation 1 is useful in view of the application of metal
foams as catalyst supports for fast, diffusion-controlled
reactions. In many practical catalytic applications deal-
ing, for example, with highly exothermic reactions,
however, engineering calculations would call for the
evaluation of interphase heat transfer, too. Besides,
open-celled metal foams can be used also as highly
efficient heat exchangers, taking advantage of the large
exchange surface area per unit volume and of the
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel.:
+39-02-2399 3264. Fax: +39-02-7063 8173. E-mail:
enrico.tronconi@polimi.it.
10.1021/ie050598p CCC: $30.25 © 2005 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 11/01/2005
promotes turbulence and enhances interphase heat
transfer rates. In this way, heat can be removed from
or added to gases or liquids by letting them flow through
the foam and cooling or heating at the same time. An
example of such applications is the use of metal foams
as compact heat sinks for cooling of microelectronic
devices such as computer chips or power electronics.5
Lu et al.6 developed a theoretical model to evaluate
the overall heat transfer coefficient, considering both
conduction through the solid and heat exchange from
the solid surface to the gas. Foams were modeled as
simple cubic unit cells consisting of heated slender
cylinders, making use of the analogy between flow
through the foam and flow across a bank of cylinders.
Heat transfer coefficients were determined experimen-
tally by Younis and Viskanta7 for ceramic foams (alu-
mina and cordierite) with pore diameters in the range
of 0.29-1.52 mm. In their work, the authors estimated
a volumetric heat transfer coefficient because the sur-
face area per unit volume of the foams was unknown.
A different dimensionless correlation with expression
Nu ) CRem was obtained for each sample analyzed, with
the pore diameter chosen as the characteristic length
to calculate the Nusselt (Nu) and Reynolds (Re) num-
bers. The Reynolds exponent m was reported to vary in
the range 0.42-0.96, while the Reynolds coefficient C
took values in the range 0.139-0.638. The importance
of an accurate determination of the geometrical param-
 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 44, No. 24, 2005 9079

Table 1. Geometric Properties of the Metal Foam

Samples Investigated in This Work
cell
pore size  density Sv
samplea material a (m) (%) (ppi) ds (m) (m2/m3)
A Fe-Cr alloy 4.7 × 10-3 92.7 5.4 0.82 × 10-3 352
B Fe-Cr alloy 2.0 × 10-3 93.7 12.8 0.33 × 10-3 767
C copper 4.6 × 10-3 91.1 5.6 0.80 × 10-3 449
a Foams A, B, and C correspond respectively to foams B, D, and

F in ref 1.

Considering this model, the cell volume Vo can be

calculated as

Figure 1. Prismatic cell model for anisotropic foams.

Vo ) a2b (2)

The overall volume of the struts Vs can be expressed as

eters of the foam was emphasized by showing that the a function of the foam void fraction :
difference in the pore size declared by the manufacturer
and the measured value resulted in two different Vs ) (1 - )Vo ) (1 - )a2b (3)
correlations for the same foam.
Schlegel et al.8,9 have also determined heat transfer Alternatively, Vs can also be calculated as the overall
coefficients experimentally in ceramic foams with pore volume of the cylinders included in the unit cell,
diameters from 1.02 to 5.20 mm (nominal porosities of considering that each strut is shared among four cells:
10, 20, 30, and 50 ppi). The identified dimensionless
correlations, which took into account the pore diameter dS2
as the characteristic length, differed depending on the Vs ) π (2a + b) (4)
sample as in the work of Younis and Viskanta.7 Re- 4
ported Reynolds exponents were in the range of 0.42-
By combining eqs 3 and 4, one obtains an expression
0.47 for 10, 20, and 30 ppi samples and 0.27 for a 50
that relates the strut diameter ds to a and :
ppi sample, while C coefficients varied from 0.801 to 1.6.

[ ]
Geometrical data were provided by the producer or
b (1 - ) 1/2
measured by the authors. dS ) 2a (5)
In this work, heat transfer coefficients have been π (2a + b)
investigated by performing non-steady-state cooling
The specific area per unit cell volume is then computed
temperature measurements of hot structures in an air
according to eq 1.
stream. The experimental results have been analyzed
The specific area per unit cell volume Sv can be
by means of a transient mathematical model of the gas-
eventually expressed by consideration of eq 5 as a
solid heat transfer process in order to derive a general
function of the foam porosity  and of the pore diameter
correlation for gas-solid heat transfer coefficients.
a:
Finally, results of both the heat and the mass transfer

[ ]
investigations are herein discussed comparatively in 4(1 - ) 2 (2a + b)(1 - ) 1/2
order to check their consistency with the Colburn Sv ) ) π (6)
analogy in reticulated foam structures. dS a b

2. Experimental Section
2.1. Metal Foams. Samples used in this research
comprised metal foams of two different nominal cell
sizes (10 and 20 ppi) and were provided by Porvair as
panels of 5% nominal relative density. The foams were
characterized by measurements of the pore size, by
image analysis, and by estimation of the open volume
fraction , calculated from the apparent density of the
foam (FFOAM) and the density of the foam struts (FS) as
described in more detail elsewhere.1
Adopting the same approach developed in the previ-
ous mass transfer investigation,1 isotropic foams were
described according to a cubic cell model of the struc-
ture6 from which it is possible to estimate the average
struts diameter ds and the foam specific geometric area
Sv as functions of the pore size a and of the porosity .
However, also anisotropic foams have been herein
investigated. In the case of anisotropic foams, pore sizes
differ when either a transversal section or a longitudinal
section is considered. Accordingly, in this work the foam
characteristic dimensions were derived by modifying the
cubic model into a prismatic one as depicted in Figure
1.
For isotropic foams, b equals a and the above equations
reduce to those presented in ref 1.
Estimates of the foam samples geometrical param-
eters can be found in Table 1.
As reported, samples A and B were made of FeCr alloy
while sample C was made of copper. The unit cell for
sample C is anisotropic: its pore size is a ) 4.6 × 10-3
m in the transverse direction (defined with respect to
flow) and b ) 3.3 × 10-3 m in the longitudinal direction.
2.2. Heat Transfer Runs. The present study was
carried out in the same test rig used by Brautsch et al.10
to determine heat transfer coefficients in metal honey-
comb-type structures at high flow rates. Cylinders of
75.0 mm diameter were cut from the metal foam panels
by electroerosion, producing a precise cut with no
damage for the structure. The depth of the cylinders was
25.3 mm for the Fe-Cr alloy samples A and B and 50.0
mm for the Cu sample. Tests were made over each
single structure and also placing more structures in
series inside the test rig, schematically depicted in
Figure 2.
Air was fed by a blower at a constant flow rate in the
range of 5.5-25.2 L/s (STP). Hydrogen was fed from an
independent line with two valves, one on/off suitable to
9080 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 44, No. 24, 2005
Figure 2. Schematic diagram of the test rig for heat transfer runs.
turn off fast the hydrogen feed and the other one
suitable to regulate the flow rate. A mass flow meter
was placed in the hydrogen line to control the flow and
therefore, the composition of the air-hydrogen mixture
in order to work below the lean explosion limit. Both
gases were mixed in a static mixer (model SMV provided
by Sulzer) before entry into the test module. In this
section the mixture was ignited by a palladium catalyst
supported on a cylindrical metal foam 5 mm in depth,
which acted as a preheater with a fast response to
changes in the hydrogen supply.
The heated air flow passed through a wire screen
consisting of five layers of stainless steel (mesh 100),
which ensured plug flow conditions and minimized
radiation effects that could affect the temperature
reading of the thermocouples placed further down-
stream.
The temperature of the air flow in the inlet section
(Tin) was measured immediately prior to the foam by a
bundle of five Cr-Ni alloy type K thermocouples with
0.5 mm sheath diameter and exposed tips (tip diameter
) 0.1 mm) to ensure quick response time. They were
located along one diameter of the tube section in a
central region of 30 mm where the influence of the tube
wall was negligible, as shown schematically in Figure
2.
The temperature of the gas flow at the outlet section
(Tout) was measured by an identical bundle of five
thermocouples. Neither the inlet bundle of thermo-
couples nor the outlet one were in contact with the
structure and measured the temperature of the gas
stream. Another wire screen was placed further down-
stream.
The foam structure was wrapped with a thin fiber mat
to prevent flow bypass. Such a fiber mat was assumed
to have negligible influence on the heat transfer mea-
surements in the structure due to its low thermal
capacity.
For a given air flow, the hydrogen feed was increased
until the inlet temperature Tin reached about 300 °C.
This temperature ensured limited heat losses to the
surroundings through convection and radiation. After
steady-state conditions were reached, corresponding to
equal inlet and outlet gas stream temperatures, the
hydrogen supply was suddenly turned off, extinguishing
Table 2. Experimental Cases Studied
sample length (m) Re(ds)
A 2.53 ×10-2 48-239
A 2 × (2.53 × 10-2) 48-239
B 2.44 × 10-2 19-95
C 5.00 × 10-2 48-237
the combustion over the palladium catalyst and thus
letting cold air flow through the structure. The temper-
ature readings from the two bundles of thermocouples
were then recorded until the system reached laboratory
temperature.
Brautsch et al.10 reported that gas-solid heat transfer
coefficients in ceramic honeycomb monoliths measured
in the same apparatus during calibration runs deviated
less than 3% from well-established literature correla-
tions.
In this work heat transfer experiments were run on
each foam sample for eight different flow superficial
velocities: 1.2, 1.9, 2.5, 3.2, 3.8, 4.4, 5.0, and 5.7 m/s.
The cases analyzed are reported in Table 2 where the
Reynolds number is referred to the struts diameter ds
as defined in the Nomenclature section and on the
superficial empty tube velocity u.
2.3. Mathematical Model. Heat transfer between
the foam structures and the fluid was described by a
dynamic, heterogeneous two-phase one-dimensional
(1D) model used by Schlegel et al.8,9 and Brautsch et
al.10 On the basis of the experimental setup shown in
Figure 2, the model assumed plug flow conditions, with
the fluid temperature (Tf) and the solid temperature (Ts)
varying only in the flow direction (1D model). In view
of the good insulation of the experimental test rig, which
allowed us to closely approach adiabatic conditions, a
constant radial temperature distribution (Ts) in the
metal foam was assumed. Adiabatic conditions were
experimentally checked at steady state: indeed, tem-
peratures measured along the radial direction and
between the average foam inlet and outlet temperature
of the gas differed by less than 3 °C.
The following energy balances for the fluid (eq 9) and
for the solid (eq 10) described the heat exchange
between solid and fluid phases:
∂Tf ∂Tf Sv
) -v +h (T - Tf) (7)
∂t ∂x Ffcf s
∂Ts Sv λ s f ∂2 Ts
) -h (Ts - Tf) + (8)
∂t (1 - )Fscs Fscs ∂x2
The balance equations account for (a) the thermal mass
of both the gas and the solid phase; (b) convective
transport in the gas phase; (c) gas-solid heat transfer,
with all the resistance assumed to be confined in the
fluid film near the struts surface; (d) axial heat conduc-
tion in the solid phase. This latter term includes a factor
f ) 0.4 in order to take into account the tortuous path
of the conductive heat flux through the reticulated
structure. The estimate of f has been computed accord-
ing to a correlation by Fourie and DuPlessis11 for the
effective thermal conductivity in isotropic metal foams,
omitting the negligible contribution of the coupled fluid
conductivity. Thermal diffusion in the axial direction
in the gas phase was neglected (Pe . 1) and radiation
effects were not considered since the temperature was
kept below 300 °C in all tests.
 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 44, No. 24, 2005 9081

The following initial and boundary conditions were

considered:
At t ) 0, solid and fluid were assumed to be at the
same constant temperature To corresponding to the inlet
and outlet temperature measured before switching off
the H2 feed valve.

Tf ) TS ) T0 [t ) 0, 0 < x e L] (9)

At the inlet cross section of the foam structure, the

fluid temperature corresponded to the experimental
inlet temperature profile f(t), described by cubic spline
interpolation:

Tf ) f(t) [x ) 0, t > 0] (10) Figure 3. Typical experimental temperature evolution of the gas
phase at the inlet and the outlet of the foam.
No flux boundary conditions for the solid were assumed:

∂TS
)0 [x ) 0] (11)
∂x
∂TS
)0 [x ) L] (12)
∂x
The heat transfer coefficient h in eqs 7 and 8 was
obtained from the Nusselt number defined in eq 13 with
the strut diameter as the characteristic length:

hds
Nu ) (13)
λf

Based on the analogy with heat transfer in bundles of
tubes, the following correlation was tried for Nusselt
number calculation:
m 1/3
Nu ) CRe Pr (14)
where the coefficient C and the exponent m are adaptive
parameters depending on the flow type and on the
geometrical characteristics of the tested foams. The
estimates of these two parameters were obtained by
global nonlinear regression on the experimental tem-
perature profiles of the 32 runs covering all the struc-
tures and flow rates studied. For this purpose we used
a robust multimethod nonlinear regression routine
developed by Buzzi-Ferraris.12 At each iteration of the
regression routine, the model PDES, eqs 7-14, were
solved numerically by the method of lines, involving
axial discretization by backward finite differences and
integration in time of the resulting ODE system by
Gear’s method.13
Since the temperature varied almost 300 °C during
each experiment, the physical properties of the fluid
phase (air density, heat capacity, viscosity and thermal
conductivity) were regarded as temperature-dependent,
whereas the properties of the solid phase (either
Fe-Cr alloy or copper) were averaged between room
temperature and 300 °C.
Results
Foam samples A, B, and C were tested in the heat
transfer test rig at different flow rates. As an example,
Figure 3 shows typical cooling curves obtained for type
A foam with a flow superficial velocity of 4.4 m/s.
At the beginning, the same inlet and outlet temper-
ature of around 300 °C was measured by both sets of
thermocouples, confirming that practically adiabatic
Figure 4. Inlet and outlet temperature profiles obtained with one
(b) and two (9) segments of foam type A.
steady-state conditions were reached. Once the hydro-
gen feed was shut down, cold air entered the structure,
which resulted in a sudden drop of the air inlet tem-
perature, as shown in Figure 3. Such a steplike inlet
temperature profile could be obtained because of the low
thermal mass of the catalytic foam and of the wire
screen placed upstream from the first bundle of ther-
mocouples: accordingly, the response time of the rig was
negligible as compared to the dynamics of the heat
transfer in foams. The structure exchanged heat with
the air stream and higher gas temperatures were
obtained at the foam outlet until gas-solid thermal
equilibrium conditions were achieved and the inlet and
outlet temperatures of the gas stream were the same
within experimental error. The relatively high thermal
mass of the investigated foams made the cooling tran-
sient long enough to obtain a well-resolved outlet
temperature profile, quite distinct from the inlet profile.
Accordingly, gas-solid heat transfer coefficients, which
play a key role in the cooling transient, could be
accurately estimated from the experimental data.
Figure 4 compares the temperature profiles obtained
at a given flow rate testing one and two in series
segments of foam type A. While the evolution of the inlet
temperature does not change, as the heat capacity of
the upstream section of the rig is always the same, the
cooling rate markedly decreases upon increasing the
number of foams as an effect of the doubled thermal
mass.
Figure 5 illustrates the effect of the air flow rate on
the temperature evolution for the two different foam
samples A and B. At low flow rate (Figure 5a,d) the foam
cooling transient is quite slow: as a result, the outlet
temperature takes from 15 to 25 s to reach the final
9082 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 44, No. 24, 2005
Figure 5. Inlet and outlet temperature profiles obtained for type A foams (panels a-c) and type B foams (panels d-f) at different inlet
flow velocities and fitting curves.
steady-state conditions at room temperature depending
on the foam geometry. Shorter cooling time intervals
are required upon increasing the flow rate (Figure 5c,f).
In particular, when the flow rate is increased from 1.3
to 5.0 m/s, the cooling time interval decreased by a factor
of about 3. Such an effect is consistent with the larger
heat capacity of the cooling air associated with the
higher flow rate. Besides, a higher gas velocity results
in higher heat transfer coefficients, which further
increase the cooling rate.
Figure 5 also illustrates the effect of the foam
geometry. Foams A and B have similar thermal mass,
as the heat capacity of foam A is just 15% higher than
that of foam B; nevertheless, when the cooling curves
recorded for both foams at the same flow rates are
compared, the cooling rate is clearly faster in the case
of foam B with higher cell density. This is mainly due
to the higher specific surface of foam B (Table 1), which
enhances the gas-solid heat transfer efficiency. Also in
this case, the increment of the heat transfer coefficient
on decreasing the foam strut diameter further enhances
the cooling rate of foam B.
Figures 4 and 5 also show fitting curves obtained by
running a global nonlinear regression on all the 32 runs
herein performed. The following correlation has been
obtained for Nu calculation:
Nu ) 1.2Re0.43Pr1/3 [20 < Re < 240] (15)
The percent mean error of the regression was 6.19% and
the correlation index was 0.9989. The experimental
results were described accurately as apparent from the
good fit obtained independently from foam type and air
velocity. A slightly delayed cooling is predicted for the
two foams in series (Figure 4), possibly due to an
enhanced role of heat dissipation caused by the longer
time interval and by the higher external surface. Indeed,
even stronger deviations were noted in other experi-

Figure 6. Inlet and outlet temperature profiles obtained for type
C, anisotropic copper foam and fitting curve for different flow
velocities: (a) 2.5 m/s; (b) 4.4 m/s; (c) 5.7 m/s.
ments with three foams in series, which were therefore
not considered in the final analysis and are not reported
herein. The same explanation may apply also to the
overestimation of the outlet T-profile apparent in Figure
5 for case d only, which corresponds to the experiment
at the lowest flow velocity over the foam sample B
associated with the highest specific surface. As shown
in Figure 6, where experimental and calculated curves
obtained for foam C are reported, the model herein
developed accurately describes also the behavior of the
anisotropic copper foam, proving that a simple modifica-
tion of the cubic cell model is able to catch the geometric
characteristics of such anisotropic foams.
A simple sensitivity analysis concerning the influence
of axial heat conduction in the foams was conducted by
Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 44, No. 24, 2005 9083
comparing simulations generated either maximizing
(f ) 1) or minimizing (f ) 0) the second term on the
right-hand side of eq 8. Differences with the outlet
T-profiles calculated assuming f ) 0.4 were limited to
about 3 °C at the worst, and generally much less, even
for the run over the copper foam C at the lowest flow
rate, where the role of heat conduction would be
expected to be greatest. Accordingly, we conclude that
axial heat conduction played a negligible role in our
experiments, and the foam cooling transients were
governed essentially by interphase heat transfer.
Discussion
Mathematical model analysis of transient cooling
experiments allowed us to obtain a correlation for the
calculation of heat transfer coefficients that covers a gas
velocity range from 1.2 to 5.7 m/s in metal foams with
measured pore sizes from 2.0 to 4.7 mm and void
fractions from 91.1 to 93.7, corresponding to a 20-240
range of Reynolds numbers defined with the diameter
of the struts ds as the characteristic length and the
superficial velocity at empty tube.
Notably the Nu correlation (eq 15) is quite similar to
the one found for mass transfer in metal foams in a
previous investigation based on CO combustion tests
over Pd/Al2O3 washcoated metallic foams1:
Sh ) 1.1Re0.43Sc1/3 [10 < Re < 100] (1)
The consistency of eqs 15 and 1 with the Colburn
analogy provides further confidence in the results.
Notice that the correlations were obtained indepen-
dently and with totally different methods: mass trans-
fer coefficients were determined in tests where the
catalytic oxidation of CO was performed in a diffusion-
controlled regime on coated foams, while heat transfer
coefficients were determined by performing non-steady-
state cooling measurements over uncoated samples.
The agreement between the results of heat and mass
transfer studies also confirms the good quality of the
washcoating technique developed to produce the cata-
lytically active foams4 used in CO combustion experi-
ments. Moreover, the higher flow rates achieved in the
heat transfer tests allow to extend the validity of the
mass transfer correlation (eq 1) to higher Reynolds
numbers.
On a more general basis, it is worth emphasizing that
eq 15 closely resembles semitheoretical literature cor-
relations for heat transfer in flow across banks of tubes
at low Reynolds numbers:14
Nu ) 0.9Re0.4Pr1/3 [10 < Re < 100] (16)
Note that the literature correlation (eq 16) was derived
on the basis of the interstitial velocity at the restricted
section of the bundles of tubes for Re calculation, while
in this paper, the superficial gas velocity at empty tube
was used. Considering the geometry of the investigated
foams, the maximum interstitial gas velocity through
the reticulated structure is 1.4 times higher than the
empty tube velocity. Accordingly, for fair comparison
with the literature correlations, coefficients in eqs 15
and 1 should be corrected to 1.0 and 0.9, respectively,
which closely resemble the coefficient in eq 16. However,
since the void fractions of all the foams samples
investigated herein and in our previous mass transfer
work1 are very close, our data do not allow us to identify
9084 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 44, No. 24, 2005
Figure 7. View of the foam structure.
the best criteria for the correlation of the experimental
results with respect to flow velocity. The results herein
reported also closely resemble those obtained by
Satterfield and Cortez15 for mass (and heat) transfer in
woven-wire screen catalysts (gauzes). On the basis of
mass transfer experiments results and on critical re-
evaluation of previous literature data, these authors
clearly point out that for high-porosity screens, a model
of parallel wires normal to the direction of flow would
seem more physically realistic than a porous solid or
packed-bed model. Similarly, our results confirm that
the description of foam structures consisting of a con-
nected network of struts (Figure 7) based on the analogy
with bundles of tubes is more physically sound than the
one based on the analogy with packed beds of particles
previously proposed in the literature.16
More complex and, possibly, more accurate geometric
models than the simple cubic cell can be adopted,
namely, for example, the tetrakaidecaedron cell.17-20
However, the increasing complexity of the model seems
contradictory with the relatively poor accuracy in
determining key geometric parameters such as the
diameter of the pores and of the struts in the foam
structure.
Besides, it has been proven in this paper that a simple
geometric model allows us to handle the foam anisotropy
simply by switching from a cubic to a prismatic descrip-
tion of the unit cell.
Conclusions
Gas-solid heat transfer coefficients were measured
in FeCrAlloy and Cu foams of different pore sizes by
performing transient cooling experiments.
The cubic cell model previously used to describe the
foam network of connected struts and to estimate the
strut equivalent diameter in isotropic samples was
extended to characterize anisotropic samples. In this
case the cell is represented as a prism, and expressions
to estimate the surface area and the cylinder diameter
were derived.
By use of the equivalent strut diameter as the
characteristic length, a single correlation was obtained,
unifying all the tests for isotropic and anisotropic foams
and thus confirming the accuracy of the modified cell
model in the estimation of the foam geometrical proper-
ties.
Furthermore, the correlation satisfies the Colburn
analogy with the one for interphase mass transfer
derived in our previous work,1 confirming the good
quality of the coating used in the mass transfer tests to
activate the foam surface. Moreover, the correlation
herein derived extends the validity range of the previous
correlation to higher Reynolds numbers (10 < Re < 240).
The derived correlation also shows a strong similarity
with literature expressions for heat transfer in tube
bundles, which validates the concept of modeling the
foam as a array of cylinders.
The experiments performed in this work do not allow
us to discriminate between the use of either the super-
ficial velocity (u) or the maximum velocity (umax) to
correlate heat transfer data, as all the investigated foam
samples had approximately the same void fraction. To
clarify this point, experiments with foams with signifi-
cantly lower void fractions ( ) 0.80) will be performed
in future investigations.
Acknowledgment
We gratefully acknowledge the help provided by
Timothy Griffin, Dieter Winkler, and Regina Granacher
from Alstom Power Technology Center, Baden-Dättwill,
Switzerland, where the heat transfer measurements
herein reported were performed.
Nomenclature
a ) cubic cell dimension equal to the pore diameter (m)
b ) cubic cell depth for anisotropic foams (m)
cf ) specific heat of gas phase (J‚kg-1‚K-1)
cs ) specific heat of solid phase (J‚kg-1‚K-1)
C ) Reynolds coefficient in heat transfer correlation
D ) diffusivity (m2 s-1)
dS ) equivalent diameter of foam struts in the cubic unit
cell (m)
f ) effective heat transfer conductivity factor in foams
h ) heat transfer coefficient (W‚m-2‚K-1)
kmt ) mass transfer coefficient (m‚s-1)
L ) depth of foam sample (m)
m ) Reynolds exponent in the heat transfer correlation
Nu ) Nusselt number based on struts equivalent diameter
[Nu ) hdS λ-1]
Pe ) Peclet number [Pe ) RePr]
ppi ) foam pore density (pores per inch)
Pr ) Prandtl number [Pr ) cf µ λ-1]
q ) heat flux (W‚m-2)
Re ) Reynolds number based on strut equivalent diameter
[Re ) FdSu µ-1]
STP ) standard temperature (273 K) and pressure (1atm)
Sc ) Schmidt number [Sc ) µ F-1 D-1]
Sh ) Sherwood number [Sh ) kmt ds D-1]
Sv ) external surface area per unit volume of bed (m2
‚m(bed)-3)
t ) time (s)
Tin ) inlet temperature (°C, K)
Tout ) outlet temperature (°C, K)
Ts ) solid temperature (°C, K)
Tf ) fluid temperature (°C, K)
T0 ) initial foam temperature (°C, K)
u ) superficial flow velocity (m‚s-1)
v ) interstitial flow velocity (m‚s-1)
Vo ) foam volume (m3)
Vs ) solid volume (m3)
W ) foam mass (kg)
w/w ) weight percentage
x ) axial coordinate (m)
Greek Symbols
 ) foam porosity
λ ) thermal conductivity (W‚m-1‚K-1)
µ ) gas viscosity (kg‚m-1‚s-1)
Ff ) gas density (kg‚m-3)

FS ) apparent density of the hollow struts [FS ) W/Vs]
(g‚m-3)
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Received for review May 20, 2005
Revised manuscript received September 5, 2005
Accepted September 28, 2005
IE050598P