Publications
Metal foam heat exchanger for dry cooling
1st November 2013
Topic(s): Energy efficiency
Metal foams fall at final hurdle. The use of metal foams to enhance heat exchange and dry cooling for power generation application did not deliver to its performance expectations. Although foams showed a 75% improvement in heat transfer over conventional systems used for air cooling, this comes at a cost of very much increased pressure drop. It was found that even at quite low air flows, the pressure drop is several times higher. Since parasitic power consumption (to provide the cooling air flow) is a significant consideration for air large cooled heat exchangers, this trade-off is so unfavourable to metal foam systems that they become unsuitable for these applications. As a result of this project was terminated at the appropriate stage-gate.
Disclaimer
The content within the Global CCS Institute Publications, Reports and Research Library is provided for information purposes only. We make every effort and take reasonable care to keep the content of this section up-to-date and error-free. However, we make no claim as to its accuracy, currency or reliability.
Content and material featured within this section of our website includes reports and research published by third parties. The content and material may include opinions and recommendations of third parties that do not reflect those held by the Global CCS Institute.
