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The purpose of this study is to analyze heat transfer for solid–liquid phase change in two inclined cavities assisted with open cell and closed cell porous structures for enhancement of heat transfer and compare them.

The heat transfer analysis is done numerically. The set of conservation equations for mass, momentum and energy for phase change material (PCM) and conduction heat transfer equation for metal frame are solved. Furthermore, temperature and solid–liquid fraction distributions for a cavity filled only with PCM are also obtained for comparison. The porosity is 0.9 for both porous structures. Rayleigh number and inclination angle change from 1 to 10⁸, and from −90° to 90°, respectively.

The present study reveals that the use of closed cell structures not only can make phase change faster than open cell structure (except for Ra = 10⁸ and = 90°) but also provide more stable process. The use of a closed cell porous structure in a cavity with PCM can reduce melting period up to 55% more than a cavity with an open cell porous structure. The rate of this additional enhancement depends on Rayleigh number and inclination angle.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that the comparison between closed cell and open cell porous structures for heat transfer enhancement in a solid/liquid phase change process is reported. Authors believe that the present study will lead more attentions on the use of closed cell porous structures.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the applicability of volume average which is extensively used for analyzing the heat and fluid flow (both for single-phase and solid/liquid-phase change) in a closed cell porous medium numerically.

Heat conduction equations for the solid frame and fluid (or phase change material) are solved for pore scale and volume average approaches. The study mainly focuses on the effect of porosity and the number of porous media unit cell on the agreement between the results of the pore scale and volume average approaches.

It is observed for the lowest porosity values such as 0.3 and the number of porous media unit cell as 4 in heat transfer direction, the results between two approaches may be questionable for the single-phase fluid. By increasing the number of porous media unit cell in heat transfer direction, the agreement between two approaches becomes better. In general, for high porosity values (such as 0.9) the agreement between the results of two approaches is in the acceptable range both for single-phase and solid/liquid-phase change. Two charts on the applicability of volume average method for single-phase and solid/liquid-phase change are presented.

The authors’ literature survey shows that it is the first time the applicability of volume average which is extensively used for analyzing the heat and fluid flow in a closed cell porous medium is investigated numerically.

The purpose of this study is to determine interfacial convective heat transfer coefficient numerically, for a porous media consisting of square blocks in inline arrangement under mixed convection heat transfer.

The continuity, momentum and energy equations are solved in dimensionless form for a representative elementary volume of porous media, numerically. The velocity and temperature fields for different values of porosity, Ri and Re numbers are obtained. The study is performed for the range of Ri number from 0.01 to 10, Re number from 100 to 500 and porosity value from 0.51 to 0.96. Based on the obtained results, the value of the interfacial convective heat transfer coefficient is calculated by using volume average method.

It was found that at low porosities (such as 0.51), the interfacial Nusselt number does not considerably change with Ri and Re numbers. However, for porous media with high Ri number and porosity (such as 10 and 0.51, respectively), secondary flows occur in the middle of the channel between rods improving heat transfer between solid and fluid, considerably. It is shown that the available correlations of interfacial heat transfer coefficient suggested for forced convection can be used for mixed convection for the porous media with low porosity (such as 0.51) or for the flow with low Ri number (such as 0.01).

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no study on determination of interfacial convective heat transfer coefficient for mixed convection in porous media in literature. The present study might be the first study providing an accurate idea on the range of this important parameter, which will be useful particularly for researchers who study on mixed convection heat transfer in porous media, macroscopically.

The purpose of this study is to validate whether the local thermal equilibrium for unsteady state is an appropriate assumption for the porous media with closed pores. It also compares the transient temperatures between the pore scale and volume averaged approaches to prove that the volume averaged method is an appropriate technique for the heat transfer in closed-cell porous media. The interfacial heat transfer coefficient for the closed-cell porous media is also discussed in details.

The governing equations for the pore scale and continuum domains are given. They are solved numerically for the pore scale and volume-averaged domains. The results are compared and discussion was done. The performed discussions and explanations are supported with figure and graphics.

A local thermal non-equilibrium exits for the closed-cell porous media in which voids are filled with water during the unsteady heat transfer process. Local thermal non-equilibrium condition exists in the cells under high temperature gradient and it disappears when the heat transfer process becomes steady-state. Although a local thermal equilibrium exists in the porous media in which the voids are filled with air, a finite value for heat transfer coefficient is found. The thermal diffusivity of air and solid phase are close to each other and hence a local thermal equilibrium exists.

The study is done only for the closed-cell porous media and for Rayleigh number till 10⁵. Two common working fluids as water and air are considered.

There are many applications of porous media with closed pores particularly in the industry, such as the closed-cell metal foam or the closed cells in porous materials such as foods and plastic-based insulation material. The obtained results are important for transient heat transfer in closed-cell porous materials.

The obtained results are important from the transient application of heat transfer in the closed-cell material existing in nature and industry.

The authors’ literature survey shows that it is the first time the closed-cell porous media is discussed from local thermal non-equilibrium point of view and it is proved that the local thermal non-equilibrium can exist in the closed-cell porous media. Hence, two equations as solid and fluid equations should be used for unsteady heat transfer in a closed-cell porous medium.

Fluid flow and heat transfer in a dual scale porous media is investigated to determine the interfacial convective heat transfer coefficient, numerically. The studied porous media is a periodic dual scale porous media. It consists of the square rods which are permeable in an aligned arrangement. It is aimed to observe the enhancement of heat transfer through the porous media, which is important for thermal designers, by inserting intra-pores into the square rods. A special attention is given to the roles of size and number of intra-pores on the heat transfer enhancement through the dual scale porous media. The role of intra-pores on the pressure drop of air flow through porous media is also investigated by calculation and comparison of the friction coefficient.

To calculate the interfacial convective heat transfer coefficient, the governing equations which are continuity, momentum and energy equations are solved to determine velocity, pressure and temperature fields. As the dual scale porous structure is periodic, a representative elementary volume is generated, and the governing equations are numerically solved for the selected representative volume. By using the obtained velocity, pressure and temperature fields and using volume average definition, the volume average of aforementioned parameters is calculated and upscaled. Then, the interfacial convective heat transfer coefficient and the friction coefficient is numerically determined. The interparticle porosity is changed between 0.4 and 0.75, while the intraparticle varies between 0.2 and 0.75 to explore the effect of intra-pore on heat transfer enhancement.

The obtained Nusselt number values are compared with corresponding mono-scale porous media, and it is found that heat transfer through a porous medium can be enhanced threefold (without the increase of pressure drop) by inserting intraparticle pores in flow direction. For the porous media with low values of interparticle porosity (i.e. = 0.4), an optimum intraparticle porosity exists for which the highest heat transfer enhancement can be achieved. This value was found around 0.3 when the interparticle porosity was 0.4.

The results of the study are interesting, especially from heat transfer enhancement point of view. However, further studies are required. For instance, studies should be performed to analyze the rate of the heat transfer enhancement for different shapes and arrangements of particles and a wider range of porosity. The other important parameter influencing heat transfer enhancement is the direction of pores. In the present study, the intraparticle pores are in flow direction; hence, the enhancement rate of heat transfer for different directions of pores must also be investigated.

The application of dual scale porous media is widely faced in daily life, nature and industry. The flowing of a fluid through a fiber mat, woven fiber bundles, multifilament textile fibers, oil filters and fractured porous media are some examples for the application of the heat and fluid flow through a dual scale porous media. Heat transfer enhancement.

The enhancement of heat transfer is a significant topic that gained the attention of researchers in recent years. The importance of topic increases day-by-day because of further demands for downsizing of thermal equipment and heat recovery devices. The aim of thermal designers is to enhance heat transfer rate in thermal devices and to reduce their volume (and/or weight in some applications) by using lower mechanical power for cooling.

The present study might be the first study on determination of thermal transport properties of dual scale porous media yielded interesting results such as considerable enhancement of heat transfer by using proper intraparticle channels in a porous medium.