Heat Transfer and Thermal Energy Storage Enhancement by Foams and Nanoparticles
Assunta Andreozzi, Pietro Asinari, A. Barletta, Vincenzo Bianco, Johan Augusto Bocanegra, Pedro Vayssière Brandão, Bernardo Buonomo, Roberta Cappabianca, Michele Celli, Eliodoro Chiavazzo, Paolo De Angelis, Andrea Diani, Sauro Filippeschi, Marcello Iasiello, Oronzio Manca, Sergio Nardini, C. Nonino, Luisa Rossetto
Abstract
The use of innovative methods for the design of heating, cooling, and heat storage devices has been mainly oriented in the last decade toward the use of nanofluids, metal foams coupled with working fluids, or phase change materials (PCMs). A network of nine Italian universities achieved significant results and innovative ideas on these topics by developing a collaborative project in the last four years, where different approaches and investigation techniques were synergically employed. They evaluated the quantitative extent of the enhancement in the heat transfer and thermal performance of a heat exchanger or thermal energy storage system with the combined use of nanofluids, metal foams, and PCMs. The different facets of this broad research program are surveyed in this article. Special focus is given to the comparison between the mesoscopic to macroscopic modeling of heat transfer in metal foams and nanofluids, as well as to the experimental data collected and processed in the development of the research.