Metal foam for heat exchangers with high performances
Nadia UCCIARDELLO
(Università degli Studi di "Tor Vergata")
Metal foams are a relatively new class of porous materials characterized by physical and mechanical properties that may represent a turning point for many applications. Aluminum open cells metal foams are particularly suited to be used as heat exchangers, thanks to their highly randomic interconnected porous structure. Thanks to their particular shape, these materials are able to achieve very high convective heat transfer coefficient that, combined to their high specific surface area, make them reach efficiencies far superior to those shown by heat exchangers of conventional type. The aluminum supporting structure of these materials allows the use of electro-deposition of different metals on their surface, as regards the improvement of their mechanical, thermal and chemical properties. In particular, electro-depositions of nickel have been made to improve both their mechanical and corrosion resistance properties, while a combining of electro-depositions of copper and graphene has been realized to improve their thermal conductivity.
