The problem of cross-flow forced convection heat transfer from a horizontal cylinder with multiple, equally spaced, high conductivity permeable fins on its outer surface was investigated numerically. The heat transfer characteristics of a cylinder with permeable versus solid fins were studied for several combinations of number of fins and fin height over the range of Reynolds number (5–200). Permeable fins provided much higher heat transfer rates compared to the more traditional solid fins for a similar cylinder configuration. The ratio between the permeable to solid Nusselt numbers increased with Reynolds number and fin height but tended to decrease with number of fins. This ratio was as high as 4.35 at Reynolds number of 150 and a single fin with a nondimensional height of 3.0. The use of 1–2 permeable fins resulted in much higher Nusselt number values than when using up to 18 solid fins. Such an arrangement has other benefits such as a considerable reduction in weight and cost.
