Forced convection heat transfer of water and air in sintered porous plate channels was investigated experimentally. The effects of fluid velocity, particle diameter, type of porous media (sintered or non-sintered), and fluid properties on the convection heat transfer and heat transfer enhancement were investigated. The results showed that the convection heat transfer in the sintered porous plate channel was more intense than in the non-sintered porous plate channel due to the reduced thermal contact resistance and the reduced porosity near the wall in the sintered material, especially for convection heat transfer of air. For the tested conditions, the local heat transfer coefficients in the sintered porous plate channels were increased up to 15 times for water and 30 times for air. The heat transfer enhancement due to the sintered porous media with air intensified sharply with increasing flow rate. However, the influence of particle diameter on the convection heat transfer in the sintered porous media was not great. The effective thermal conductivity of the sintered porous media was found to be much higher than for non-sintered porous media due to the improved thermal contact caused by the sintering process. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.