Forced convection of nanofluids in metal foam: An essential review

The combination of the high conductivity of nanofluids with the huge accessible surface area of open-cell metal foam would indeed be a superb heat exchange technology. While individual ingredients of this technology have been separately investigated, the combination of the two has received only scant attention. Actually, there are only few studies that are focused on nanofluids flow and heat transfer in metal foam. This paper is intended to serve as an orientation for researchers who are interested in both nanofluids heat transfer and metal foam. The paper thus includes discussion of various aspects of nanofluids and their heat-transfer applications, as well as fundamentals of flow and heat transfer of ordinary fluids in metal foam. A section on recent heat transfer studies in metal foam is included, and another section on pore-scale modeling of transport in metal foam is provided. Nanofluids are presented in terms of their definition, brief history, preparation methods, theoretical models, properties, and engineering applications related to heat transfer. The paper then moves to describe metal foam and its morphology, as well as current understanding and theoretical treatment of flow and heat transfer in this class of highly-porous media. Key heat transfer and flow properties of the foam are outlined. The paper also presents the case for nanofluids forced convection heat transfer in open channels to serve as a background for the more complex case that involves heat transfer in porous media in general. The case of forced convection of nanofluids in metal foam in particular is presented next. Studies including complex effects, e.g. magnetism, are briefly described. Based on the above information, some key findings, conclusions and recommendations are made for interested researches.