Freezing Heat Transfer within Water-Saturated Porous Media

Abstract

In the present study, analytical and experimental investigations were performed so as to clarify the characteristics of freezing heat transfer in porous media saturated with water in a vertical rectangular cavity. In order to establish the momentum equation, the law of conservation of momentum was applied to the fluid in our control volume, and the equation took into account Forchheimer's extension as the resistance to flow in the porous media. Three different sizes of glass, iron and copper beads were used as the porous media in this study. The temperature of the cold wall was kept at -10°C, while that of the hot wall was varied from 2°C to 22°C. Comparisons between the analytical results and the experimental ones show good agreement with the exception of the copper bead results.