Two-phase flow model for porous media applied to a plate fin heat exchanger

Porous media have been widely used in industrial applications such as car radiator, electronic cooling, geothermal system, and others. Channels with high fins density can be considered as a porous media represented by a porous matrix. It is defined by its specific transport properties. That means that it is not resolved explicitly but represented by a volumetric porous zone where a volume-averaged pressure gradient drag term is applied to the Navier–Stokes momentum equation. In heat exchanger industry porous media is used to gain on computational power, a compromise between classic local CFD, accurate but costly, and empirical correlation, simple but limited. This paper will be testing a porous two-phase code in industrial HX condition and comparing it to recommended empirical correlations from an existing pre-design tool.