Abstract Curtailing the ever-increasing global energy demand remains an arduous challenge. The U.S. Energy Information Administration emphasized that the deployment of new heat exchanger technologies could revolutionize how industry uses energy. In this review, we highlight the significance of metal foam heat exchangers as an attractive alternative to traditional heat exchanger technologies. Research on metal foam heat exchangers is steadily gaining momentum. However, metal foam heat exchangers are highly susceptible to fouling which results in a myriad of issues such as low heat exchanger performance and high energy consumption. These issues are further compounded by the fact that the fundamental mechanisms governing particulate fouling in metal foam heat exchangers are poorly understood. As such, the overarching goal of reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions could be met by deploying energy-efficient heat exchanger technologies and also by gaining a solid comprehension of multiphase flows, heat transfer, and heat exchanger fouling mechanisms. The development of advanced numerical methods to unravel heat exchanger fouling mechanisms could pave the way for an optimized heat exchanger design with minimum energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. This paper provides researchers a review of the performance of metal foam heat exchangers for various industrial applications and the implications of particulate fouling on the thermal performance of metal foam heat exchangers.

中文翻译：

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多孔金属泡沫换热器的应用及颗粒污染对能源密集型行业的影响

摘要 遏制日益增长的全球能源需求仍然是一项艰巨的挑战。美国能源信息署强调，新热交换器技术的部署可以彻底改变工业使用能源的方式。在这篇评论中，我们强调了泡沫金属换热器作为传统换热器技术有吸引力的替代方案的重要性。泡沫金属换热器的研究正在稳步发展。然而，泡沫金属换热器极易结垢，从而导致换热器性能低、能耗高等诸多问题。由于人们对泡沫金属热交换器中控制微粒结垢的基本机制知之甚少，这些问题进一步复杂化。因此，减少能源消耗和温室气体排放的总体目标可以通过部署节能换热器技术以及深入了解多相流、传热和换热器结垢机制来实现。开发用于解析换热器结垢机制的先进数值方法可以为优化换热器设计铺平道路，同时将能耗和温室气体排放降至最低。本文为研究人员提供了对各种工业应用中泡沫金属换热器性能的综述，以及颗粒污垢对金属泡沫换热器热性能的影响。