applsci-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Convective Heat and Mass Transfer in Porous Media

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Science and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 November 2022) | Viewed by 8650

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Industrial Engineering, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Viale Risorgimento 2, 40136 Bologna, Italy
Interests: convection and heat transfer in porous media; thermal instability in dissipative flows; convection heat transfer in non-Newtonian fluids
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Research on heat and mass transfer in porous media is characterised by a broad spectrum of potential applications, involving a number of different human activities from engineering to medicine and geophysics. In the last several decades, many innovative applications have been presented in these fields of study. Among them, metal foams and breathing walls highlight how strong the impact of this topic on our society can be.

This Special Issue is focused on the latest advances in natural and forced convective flows in fluid saturated porous media. We ask for contributions that discuss, theoretically and/or experimentally, the validity and applicability of the different momentum transfer models available in the literature. This includes Darcy’s law and its extensions. Papers that involve variants of Darcy’s law for which there is no formal support will not be featured in this Issue. Particular attention will be devoted to analyses of convective, absolute, and global instabilities in fluid-saturated porous media.

We cordially invite the scientific community to present papers characterised by a pedagogical approach: compact, easy to read, and with well-founded conclusions.

Prof. Dr. Michele Celli
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • porous media
  • metal foams
  • breathing walls
  • numerical simulation
  • convective instability
  • absolute instability
  • global instability
  • bifurcations

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

15 pages, 691 KiB  
Article
The Role of Buoyancy Induced Instability in Transpirational Cooling Applications
by C. Taber Wanstall and Phillip R. Johnson
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(24), 11766; https://doi.org/10.3390/app112411766 - 10 Dec 2021
Viewed by 1866
Abstract
Transpirational cooling is an effective thermal protection method in hypersonic vehicles. In order to properly manage the high heat load, an understanding of the convective flow regimes as well as the thermophysical properties of the working fluid are required. Often, the vehicle’s fuel [...] Read more.
Transpirational cooling is an effective thermal protection method in hypersonic vehicles. In order to properly manage the high heat load, an understanding of the convective flow regimes as well as the thermophysical properties of the working fluid are required. Often, the vehicle’s fuel is re-purposed as the coolant or working fluid that is passed through the porous media. If the geometry is such that the coolant is heated from below, buoyancy-induced instability can ensue resulting in a mixed convection phenomena. Transpirational cooling applications require a unique analysis which combines a Darcy–Forchheimer relationship for the momentum relation, a flowing base state which introduces non-negligible convective terms for the energy equation, and a novel consideration of a cubic density dependence on temperature. This latter feature is justified by fitting thermodynamic data for typical transpirational cooling conditions. A base state solution is provided and the onset of instability is investigated using linear stability analysis. The governing equations are solved utilizing multiple methods, comparing results from a combination of analytical solutions, finite difference, power series, and Chebyshev methods. Results demonstrate excellent consistency in predictions across these methods and indicate that including non-linear density effects promote a stabilizing effect. Finally, the effect of varying the net through-flow in the porous media is investigated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Convective Heat and Mass Transfer in Porous Media)
Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 7404 KiB  
Article
Numerical Analysis of the Effects of the Structure Shape and Orientation of Kelvin Cell Porous Structures during Air Forced Convection
by Michele Calati, Edoardo De Monte and Simone Mancin
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(13), 6189; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11136189 - 3 Jul 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2451
Abstract
In recent years, in order to counteract the growth of environmental pollution and the contemporary scarcity of various energy sources, researchers have proposed innovative and efficient solutions for heat transfer applications. Extended surfaces, which can involve the use of fins, open cell metal [...] Read more.
In recent years, in order to counteract the growth of environmental pollution and the contemporary scarcity of various energy sources, researchers have proposed innovative and efficient solutions for heat transfer applications. Extended surfaces, which can involve the use of fins, open cell metal foams, etc., have been demonstrated to be promising solutions. Open cell metal foams consist of structs intersecting at nodes resulting in stochastic oriented cells. Periodic metal foams have also attracted great interest. These structures are made of a single cell unit periodically replicated. Kelvin cells and Weaire–Phelan ones are two conventional elementary unit cells. In this paper, a numerical model is developed and validated, aiming at analysing the thermal and hydraulic behaviors of modified Kelvin cell-based metal foams during air forced convection. Constant porosity (0.9) and pore density (40 PPI) were adopted. Five different geometrical configurations (one cylindrical and four elliptical) and four orientations (0–15–30–45°) of the struts with respect to the main air flow direction were investigated. The inlet air velocities varied between 0.5 and 4 m s−1. Interesting results were obtained and discussed in terms of pressure drops, heat transfer coefficients, and pumping power per area density. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Convective Heat and Mass Transfer in Porous Media)
Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 3558 KiB  
Article
Melting of Paraffin Waxes Embedded in a Porous Matrix Made by Additive Manufacturing
by Andrea Diani, Lorenzo Moro and Luisa Rossetto
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(12), 5396; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11125396 - 10 Jun 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2724
Abstract
The recent advances in additive manufacturing technology have widened the choice of materials that can be printed, opening new frontiers in the field of heat transfer devices. This paper explores the use of a solid porous matrix in which paraffin waxes, having different [...] Read more.
The recent advances in additive manufacturing technology have widened the choice of materials that can be printed, opening new frontiers in the field of heat transfer devices. This paper explores the use of a solid porous matrix in which paraffin waxes, having different melting temperatures (42, 55, and 64 °C), were embedded. The solid matrix is made by additive manufacturing. The parent cell of the porous matrix occupies the volume of a cube with an edge of 5 mm. The entire 3D printed matrix has a square base with an edge of 100 mm, and it has a height of 20 mm. The solid matrix was printed between two plates, each one with a thickness of 10 mm, where thermocouples were inserted, and it was tested in an upright position, laterally heated applying three different heat fluxes (10, 15, and 20 kW m−2). The experimental results are given in terms of the temperature of the heated side, as well as of the phase change material, during the heating process. The temperature reached by the heated side and the time needed to completely melt the paraffin waxes are compared at the different working conditions. Furthermore, the thermal conductivities and diffusivities of the three paraffins and of the parent material of the porous matrix were experimentally evaluated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Convective Heat and Mass Transfer in Porous Media)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop