Abstract: Solid oxide electrolysis cell is a key technology for green hydrogen production, but its feedstock electric heater has the problems of low convective heat transfer efficiency and large volume, which restricts its commercial application. In order to improve the compactness and efficiency of the heater, this study proposes to fill the opening foam metal in the flow channel to enhance heat transfer. The effects of foam hole parameters and foam fin combination on flow, heat transfer and pressure drop are analyzed through numerical simulation. The results show that increasing the inlet flow rate leads to a quadratic increase in pressure drop and a logarithmic increase in convective heat transfer coefficient; The foam structure with high porosity and high pore density has better heat transfer effect. Because of its large specific surface area and complex flow channel, it can destroy the thermal boundary layer and significantly enhance convection, but its thermal conductivity is still inferior to that of fins. The foam fin composite structure makes comprehensive use of the high thermal conductivity of the fins and the strong convection disturbance of the foam, significantly improving the wall heat conduction and the overall heating temperature of the fluid, and effectively enhancing the performance of the electric heater.

Key words: enhanced heat transfer, foam metal, electric heating, numerical simulation