An Experimental Study of the Effect of Thickness and Porosity on the Performance of a Porous Metal Radiation Burner

In this paper, a metal porous radiant burner is studied experimentally. Two porosities are tested both individually and in combination. Surface temperature and radiation efficiency of the burner are considered as assessment criteria. The experiments show that the surface temperature rises with an increasing firing rate. This increase in temperature is fast in low firing rates, and slow in high firing rates. In a uniform porous media (non-combined), with a rise in the thickness of the media, the surface temperature and radiation efficiency both decrease. However, with an increase in porosity, the surface temperature as well as radiation efficiency decreases. In such cases, radiation efficiency initially increases, and then remains almost constant. In a combined (two porosity) medium, the surface temperature is maximum for a specific thickness, and although radiation efficiency initially increases for a rising firing rate, it then decreases again.