Thermal Analysis of Cold Storage: The Role of Porous Metal Foam

We conduct both analytical and numerical investigations on the solidification behavior of fluid saturated in highly porous open-cell metallic foams. Based on the pore-scaled thermal equilibrium assumption, an analytical extension is made to the classical Neumann's solution to solidifying fluid as an interstitial into metallic foams. To underlying the heat transfer mechanisms for phase change process and the role of inserted foam, an idealized tetrakaidecahedron unit cell geometric model was reconstructed and direct numerical simulations were conducted. Showing good agreement with experimental results and direct numerical simulations, the developed model is verified, favoring the assumption of local thermal equilibrium. The numerical simulation results at pore scale qualitatively demonstrate that: i) the solidification interface is globally flat within a pore; ii) the local natural convection does exist and it contributes to the evolution of solidification interface (9% promotion).