Using de-ionized water as working fluid，experiments were conducted to study the forced convective flow and heat transfer characteristics in ultra-light porous copper foam embedded in a copper channel.Through the analysis of experimental parameters，the effects of heat flux，pore density of the metal foam and mass flux on pressure drop，wall temperature and heat transfer coefficient were obtained during the laminar flow range.It was found that the metal foam could enhance the heat transfer and lower the wall temperature dramatically.The heat transfer capability increased with the increase of the Reynolds number.Compared with the common copper channel without the embedment of metal foam，the maximum Nusselt number during convective flow through the copper channel embedded with the metal foam was thirteen times larger，but the pressure drop was obviously increased.The increase of the Reynolds number and the pore density of metal foam also led to lager pressure drop.