Investigation of refrigeration efficiency for fully wet circular porous fins with variable sections by combined heat and mass transfer analysis

•LSM is an accurate technique for simulating heat transfer in circular porous fins.•Fully wet condition is considered.•Temperature-dependent for convective heat and mass transfer coefficients is assumed.•Effects of porosity, Darcy, Rayleigh and Lewis numbers on fin efficiency are examined.

Temperature distribution equation and refrigeration efficiency for fully wet circular porous fins with variable sections are introduced in this study by a new modified wet fin parameter presented by Sharqawy and Zubair. This parameter can be calculated without knowing the fin tip condition by considering the temperature and humidity ratio differences for the driving forces of heat and mass transfer, respectively. It's assumed that heat and mass convective coefficients vary with fin temperature and heat transfer through porous media is simulated using passage velocity from the Darcy's model. After presenting the governing equation, Least Square Method (LSM) and fourth order Runge-Kutta method (NUM) are applied for predicting the temperature distribution in the sample aluminum porous fins. After that, effects of porosity, Darcy number, Rayleigh number, Lewis number and etc. on fin efficiency are examined. As a main outcome, for reaching to high values of fin efficiency, rectangular fin should be used instead of convex and triangular sections.

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