Metal foams for enhanced boiling heat transfer: a comprehensive review

Metallic foams have become a cutting-edge solution for many thermal management problems. These are of interest by thermal research community because of the cellular structure and have gas-filled pores inside a metal matrix. Due to the uniqueness in their structure, they exhibit good performance in boiling heat transfer because of the properties such as higher specific surface area, large number of nucleation sites, wettability characteristics, and capillary action. The boiling heat transfer over metal foam is a complex phenomenon, greatly affected by the thickness, porosity, and pores per inch (PPI) of metal foam along with the thermo-physical properties of the foam and boiling liquid. By thoroughly examining recent research investigations, the paper explains the impact of open-cell metal foams on pool boiling of different liquids such as water, refrigerants, organic liquids, and dielectric liquids. This paper reviews the complexity and various influencing factors involved in flow boiling through metal foam in tubes. It also highlights findings that show metal foam significantly enhances jet impingement boiling heat transfer. Moreover, the discussion on gradient metal foams, offering insights into their potential to enhance boiling heat transfer. The comprehensive review also encompasses numerical modeling studies, such as the lattice Boltzmann method, contributing to a deeper understanding of the intricate flow and heat transfer characteristics within channels filled with metal foam.