Heat transfer enhancement with discrete heat sources in a metal foam filled vertical channel

This paper reports the results of experimental investigations of convective heat transfer in a vertical channel lined up with three discrete heat sources on one vertical wall of a vertical channel and cooled by air. The channel is filled with a metallic foam. The objective of the study is to investigate the heat transfer enhancement with the presence of metal foam and to identify the ratio of heat sources so as to achieve near isothermality of the heat source surfaces. The results of the study show that with the presence of a metal foam over the discrete heat sources the temperature variation among the heat sources drastically reduces which can be further optimized using a coupled artificial neural network (ANN)–genetic algorithm (GA) hybrid technique for a given velocity and heat input condition. A sensitivity analysis of the optimum thus obtained was also carried out to study the effect of inlet velocity and heat input on the isothermality of the heater surfaces.