Methodology for determining volumetric convection coefficients in metallic foam monoliths coated with ceramic catalyst support

An improved steady state method, combining experiment and mathematical modeling, has been developed to characterize the convective heat transfer coefficient of coated and uncoated metallic foam. A developed two-dimensional thermo-fluid model allows for analysis on a wide range of geometrically diverse monolithic foam shapes. The volumetric heat transfer coefficient of 10, 20 and 40 pore-per-inch uncoated aluminium foams was determined to range between 7,000 and 9,000 plusmn 2,000 Wldrm^-3ldrK^-1 at a Reynolds number of 400. The presence of a 76 micron-thick anodized layer on the identical foams effected a small but significant reduction in the volumetric convection coefficient.. Coating also reduced the permeabilities of the monoliths by 4-20%.