Abstract: The aim of this work is to make a comparative experimental study on forced convection between two cases: empty channel and channel filled with unconsolidated porous media (metal chips). This study is based on two parts: a thermal part that deals with the intensification of the heat transfer coefficient h, and a hydrodynamic part that deals with the pressure losses, in the two cases.
The experiences are made using a test section built in-situ. During the experimentation, the mass flux of water varying from 1.4 l/min to 4.2 l/min and the heating power is equal to 140 W. The using metal chips are made from hard steel.
The results show that the insertion of metal chips made from hard steel in the channel intensified the mean heat transfer coefficient with a factor equal to 1.9. While the pressure drop is 4 times more important in the channel filled with chips compared to the empty one. To facilitate the prediction of Nusselt number and friction factor, two correlations were developed for each one of them.