A small plate heat exchanger filled with copper foam which can be applied for small scale electronic cooling is presented. The heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop of water flow inside a plate heat exchanger filled with copper foam (PHECF) are experimentally studied. The effect of copper foam pore density and water velocity on the optimum thermal performance is also presented. The experiment is performed with a Reynolds number ranging from 1200 to 2000 and copper foam pore density ranging from 30 to 50 pores per inch (PPI). The results show that the heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop increased when the water velocity and pore density increased. The heat transfer coefficient is enhanced by 20.23%, 29.37%, and 40.28% for PHECF with a pore density of 30 PPI, 40 PPI, and 50 PPI as compared to a plate heat exchanger. The total pressure drop of water flow inside PHECF is dominated by inertial drag pressure drop. Thermal performance of PHECF with 50 PPI is highest with the average thermal performance factor of 1.21. The Nusselt number and friction factor correlation of water flow inside plate heat exchanger filled with copper foam are also proposed for practical applications.

提出了一种填充泡沫铜的小板式换热器，可用于小规模电子冷却。实验研究了填充泡沫铜（PHECF）的板式换热器内部水流的传热系数和压降。还介绍了泡沫铜的孔密度和水流速对最佳热性能的影响。实验的雷诺数为1200至2000，铜泡沫的孔密度为每英寸30至50个孔。结果表明，随着水流速和孔隙密度的增加，传热系数和压降均增加。与板式换热器相比，孔密度为30 PPI，40 PPI和50 PPI的PHECF的传热系数提高了20.23％，29.37％和40.28％。PHECF内部水流的总压降由惯性阻力压降决定。50 PPI的PHECF的热性能最高，平均热性能系数为1.21。实际应用中还提出了泡沫铜填充板式换热器内水流的努塞尔数与摩擦系数的相关性。