Subcooled flow boiling of water in a metal-foam tube: An experimental study

The present article experimentally explored heat transfer through a horizontal metal-foam tube with a constant wall heat flux during the subcooled flow boiling of water. The impacts of significant parameters, including subcooled inlet temperature (30–60 °C), mass flux (150–310 kg/m2s), and heat flux (100–230 kW/m2) were investigated on the transfer of boiling heat while measuring pressure loss and heat transfer coefficient. Inserting metal foam into a tube increased the HTC of flow boiling by a maximum of 580%. An increase of 22% was observed in the heat transfer increment divided by pressure loss defined as the thermal performance index.