Flow Behavior and Pressure Drop in Porous Disks With Bifurcating Flow Passages

Abstract

The performance of a porous disk with hierarchical bifurcating flow passages has been examined. The hierarchical bifurcating flow passages in the heat exchanger mimic those seen in the vascular systems of plants and animals. The effect of bifurcation angle, porosity, and pore size on the pressure drop across a porous disk was examined computationally. The pressure drop across the porous disk was found to increase as the pore size decreased. As the bifurcation angle increased the pressure drop also increased. At high porosities the bifurcation angles did not have an impact on the pressure drop across the porous disk due to flow behavior. Similarly, the effect of bifurcation angle on pressure drop decreased as the pore size increased.