Heat transfer enhancement through porous fins: A comprehensive review of recent developments and innovations

Abstract

The high-end devices, sophisticated gadgets, smart home appliances, superfast vehicles and aero engines of twenty-first century demand better heat removal for efficient functioning. Thus, with an aim to facilitate higher heat transfer from mechanical and electronic equipment, extensive research throughout the world has been going at a steady pace. One such achievement in the field of heat transfer is the introduction of the porous fins. This paper aims to discuss the various important aspects of porous fins along with the noteworthy research and developments in this field over the last decade. The review starts with a brief idea of heat transfer mechanism through porous media followed by some discussion on the thermal analysis of porous fins. Usually, the complicated nonlinear energy equations of porous fins require analytical techniques along with numerical analysis to solve the same. A good number of relevant research works have been cited to understand the optimum shaping and derivation of governing differential equations. Finally, a strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats analysis has been done to analyze the various aspects of using a porous fin.