Phase change phenomena in silicon microchannels

Understanding the boiling process and two-phase flow behavior in microchannels is the key to developing microchannel heat sinks for high-power microprocessors. We conducted experiments in micromachined silicon channels with a range of 27-171 μm hydraulic diameters and varying surface roughnesses. Bubble nucleation, flow patterns, wall temperature, as well as transient pressure fluctuations were recorded and analyzed. We observed both typical nucleate boiling and eruption boiling with large amounts of wall superheat in these channels, and recorded up to 138 kPa transient pressure fluctuations due to bubble nucleation. We found the boiling mechanism is strongly dependent on the wall surface roughness, and we explained the boiling mechanism in sub-150 μm diameter channels with Hsu’s model.     

Non-linear analyses of flow boiling in microchannels

Recently, four unstable boiling cases with different fluctuating amplitudes were observed in parallel silicon microchannels having a hydraulic diameter of 186 μm. These were: the liquid/two-phase alternating flow (LTAF) at two different heat fluxes, the continuous two-phase flow (CTF) at medium heat flux and medium mass flux, and the liquid/two-phase/vapor alternating flow (LTVAF) at high heat flux and low mass flux. In this paper, data of these unstable boiling cases are analyzed using the following methods: correlation coefficient, attractor reconstruction, correlation dimension and largest Lyapunov exponent. The processes responsible for appearance of chaotic oscillations in microchannels, such as nucleation, stability of bubbly flow, vapour core stability and vapour-phase flow stability, are discussed. It is shown that under certain conditions, the microchannels system works as a thermal oscillator. It was found that heat supplied to the microchannels increases the heating surface temperature while the appearance of the two-phase flow inside the channels decreases the heating surface temperature. The mechanism involving an increase in heating surface temperature is supported by phenomena of blocking the liquid flow in microchannels by the two-phase flow.     

Visualization and measurements of periodic boiling in silicon microchannels

A simultaneous visualization and measurement investigation has been carried out on flow boiling of water in parallel silicon microchannels of trapezoidal cross-section. Two sets of parallel microchannels, having hydraulic diameters of 158.8 and 82.8 μm, respectively, were used. The visualization study shows that once boiling heat transfer is established, two-phase flow and single-phase liquid flow appear alternatively with time in the microchannels. Large-amplitude/long-period fluctuations with time in wall temperatures, fluid temperatures, fluid pressures, and fluid mass flux, are measured for the first time during flow boiling in the microchannels. The fluctuation periods are found to be dependent on channel size, heat flux, and mass flux. The mechanism of the periodic boiling fluctuations in this experiment as well as their comparisons with other boiling fluctuations phenomena reported previously, are also discussed. The experimental results confirm that large-amplitude/long-period boiling fluctuations can be sustained when the fluctuations of pressure drop and mass flux have phase differences.With the aid of a microscope and high-speed video recording system, bubbly flow, slug flow, churn flow, and other peculiar flow patterns, are observed during two-phase flow periods in the microchannels.     

Pressure Drop,Boiling Heat Transfer and Flow Patterns during Flow Boiling in a Single Microchannel

The boiling heat transfer and two-phase pressure drop of water in a microscale channel were experimentally investigated. The tested horizontal rectangular microchannel had a hydraulic diameter of 100 μ m and length of 40 mm. A series of microheaters provided heat energy to the working fluid, which made it possible to control and measure the local thermal conditions in the direction of the flow. Both the microchannel and microheaters were fabricated using a micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technique. Flow patterns were obtained from real-time flow visualizations made during the flow boiling experiments. Tests were performed for mass fluxes of 90, 169, and 267 kg/m²s and heat fluxes from 200 to 500 kW/m². The effects of the mass flux and vapor quality on the local flow boiling heat transfer coefficient and two-phase frictional pressure gradient were studied. The evaluated experimental data were compared with existing correlations. The experimental heat transfer coefficients were nearly independent of the mass flux and vapor quality. Most of the existing correlations did not provide reliable heat transfer coefficient predictions for different vapor quality values, nor could they predict the two-phase frictional pressure gradient except under some limited conditions.     

Flow pattern transition instability during flow boiling in a single microchannel

We studied the unique characteristics of flow boiling in a single microchannel, including the periodic pressure drop, mass flow rate, and temperature fluctuations, in terms of a long time period. Experiments were conducted using a single horizontal microchannel and deionized water to study boiling instabilities at very small mass and heat flow rate conditions. A Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) rectangular single microchannel had a hydraulic diameter of 103.5 μm and a length of 40 mm. A series of piecewise serpentine platinum microheaters were fabricated on the inner bottom wall of the rectangular microchannel to supply thermal energy to the test fluid. Real-time flow visualizations of the flow pattern inside the microchannel were performed simultaneously with measurements of the experimental parameters. Tests were performed for mass fluxes of 170 and 360 kg/m² s and heat fluxes of 200–530 kW/m². The test results showed that the heated wall temperature, pressure drop, and mass flux all fluctuated with a long period and large amplitude. These periodic fluctuations exactly matched the transition of two alternating flow patterns inside the microchannel: a bubbly/slug flow and an elongated slug/semi-annular flow. Therefore, the flow pattern transition instability in the single microchannel caused a cyclic behavior of the wall temperature, pressure drop, and mass flux, and this behavior had a very long period (100–200 s) and large amplitude.     

Interaction of transfer processes during unsteady evaporation of water droplets

The change of water droplets state is modelled numerically under various heat and mass transfer conditions during their unsteady evaporation. The modelling is performed using the method of combined analytic–numeric research of heat and mass transfer in a two-phase “droplets–gas” flow. The algorithm of an iterative research is constructed for the analytically obtained system of integral equations. Regularities of heat transfer process interaction are examined. The dependence of the droplet state change on its heating manner is determined. Unsteadiness and interaction of transfer processes, as well as selectivity of radiant absorption in water droplets are evaluated. It is indicated that cognition of the droplet state change regularities in the case of conductive heating is very important in determination of two-phase flow and in construction of an engineering research method.     

Two-phase pressure drop response during load transients in a PEMFC

Transient behavior of PEM fuel cells can be categorized into electrochemical, thermal and two-phase flows. Overshoot/undershoot behavior has been observed in electrochemical cell voltage during transients, and are attributed to the transition time required for saturation conditions to reestablish. Similar behavior has been reported in two-phase flow pressure drop overshoot/undershoot in a previous work by the authors. In this work, three different temperatures, five ramp rates and four amplitudes of load change were used to investigate the transient two-phase pressure drop behavior. The overshoot/undershoot behavior is observed predominantly at the lower temperature of 40 °C, and is found to decrease at higher cell temperatures. There is a linear increase in the overshoot/undershoot behavior with increase in amplitude of load change. The overshoot/undershoot behavior was found to be independent of the ramp rates used to change the load current. The magnitude of overshoot in pressure drop was always larger than the magnitude of undershoot. The pressure drop required a longer time to return to steady state after an undershoot compared to the time required to return from an overshoot incident.     

System instability of evaporative micro-channels

In parallel evaporative micro-channels, system instability may occur in terms of cyclical fluctuations at a long period. This is due to the co-existence of the liquid phase flow at high mass flux and the two-phase flow at a lower mass flux among different parallel channels under the same total pressure drop. For a system at constant flow rate pumping, with a pressure regulating tank and a constant heating pre-heater, alternations between these two states of boiling and non-boiling could happen with a period of minutes. This cyclical system instability has been modeled, where the liquid phase flow occurs at conditions of high inlet subcooling and low surface heat flux that the boiling inception is hard to initiate. The system instability criteria are established in terms of a system binary states parameter, S, and a non-dimensional surface heat flux. This model has been validated experimentally.     

Unsteady correlation between pressure and temperature field on impinging plate for dual underexpanded jets

In this paper, dual underexpanded impinging jets are experimentally studied by measuring unsteady wall static pressure and temperature fields using high response semiconductor pressure sensors and infrared imaging camera(100 captures per sec) with dual converging sonic nozzles. The flow field is also visualized by means of high speed schlieren system (up to 70000 frame per second) to clarify the unsteady behavior of the jet structures such as barrel shock wave, and Mach disk. Experiments were performed with a blow down tunnel changing the parameters such as the nozzle to plate distance, the distance between the two nozzles, and wind tunnel pressure ratio. The nozzle to plate distance L and the distance between the two nozzles H are non-dimensionalized by the nozzle diameter D covering H/D=1.5, 2.0, and 3, L/D= 2, 3, and 4, and po/pb=1.0 − 5.0, where po and pb are stagnation pressure and back pressure respectively. Although the response of the infrared camera is quite different from that of the high speed camera, the unsteady correlation between the pressure and temperature fields is confirmed under some conditions. Also the high speed schlieren pictures and the wall static pressure fluctuations suggest that the generation of the Mach disk promote the unsteady behavior of the jets. After the confirmation of the correlation, a simple way to find the severe fluctuating region can be provided according to the two dimensional unsteady temperature images without a lot of unsteady pressure measurements.     

Unsteady performance and thermodynamic analysis of aero-engine compressor at different water ingestion conditions

Aero-engine compressor is seriously threatened by the ingestion of liquid water. This article aims to deeply study the influences of different water contents and droplet diameters on the unsteady performance and thermodynamic parameters of compressor through frequency spectrum analysis. The accuracy of numerical calculation for compressor performance is verified by experimental data. Results show that the compression performance will be reduced and the unsteady fluctuations inside compressor will be aggravated after water ingestion. For some important parameters, such as mass flow rate, total pressure and temperature ratio, as well as efficiency, their main frequencies are changed from the original blade passing frequency to the rotor passing frequency (RPF), and their amplitudes are also significantly amplified. The working point of compressor will experience the nonoptimal state with large amplitude and period for a long time, which is not conducive to the stable operation of the compressor. Moreover, within the range of 2% to 8% water contents and 50 to 150 μm droplet diameters, the fluctuation amplitude is correspondingly exacerbated with the increase of water content or droplet size, but its main frequency is maintained at RPF. Particularly, the tip clearance is the most sensitive region affected by water ingestion where the fluctuations of static pressure and temperature are the largest. The point that water content has a greater influence on the performance fluctuation of compressor is also confirmed in this article.     

Unsteady Natural Convective Boiling in a Narrow Vertical Channel

The purpose of this work is to describe the two-phase flow structure and heat transfer of unsteady natural convective boiling in a narrow vertical channel. The experiments are performed with saturated n-pentane at a pressure of 1 bar. An unheated plate is placed parallel to the heating surface and lateral sides are closed. The distance between the heated surface and the confinement plate is 800 μm. Void fraction measurements are performed using capacitive sensors. The void fraction increases with heat flux and reaches a maximum of 0.80 in the mid-height of the channel when the heat flux is equal to 90% of the critical heat flux. Flow observations using a high-speed video camera show an unsteady thermo-hydraulic behavior. The frequency of the cycles increases with the wall temperature during nucleate and transient boiling. Local velocities of the bubble meniscus developing within the confined space are determined during the boiling cycles. The time-averaged liquid flow rate increases significantly with heat flux and reaches a maximum for heat flux close to the critical heat flux.     

Pressure effects on flow boiling instabilities in parallel microchannels

The effects of pressure on flow boiling instabilities in microchannels were experimentally studied. Experiments were conducted using water in 223 μm hydraulic diameter microchannels with mass fluxes ranging from 86 to 520 kg/m² s and pressures ranging from 50 to 205 kPa. Onset of flow oscillation, critical heat flux (CHF) conditions, local transient temperature measurements along with flow boiling visualization were obtained and studied. System pressure was found to significantly affect flow instabilities. For high pressure, it was observed that boiling instabilities were significantly delayed and CHF was extended to high mass qualities. Local temperature measurements also revealed lower magnitudes and higher frequencies of oscillations at high system pressures.     

Experimental investigations of flow boiling heat transfer and pressure drop in straight and expanding microchannels – A comparative study

Flow boiling experiments were conducted in straight and expanding microchannels with similar dimensions and operating conditions. Deionized water was used as the coolant. The test vehicles were made from copper with a footprint area of 25 mm × 25 mm. Microchannels having nominal width of 300 μm and a nominal aspect ratio of 4 were formed by wire cut Electro Discharge Machining process. The measured surface roughness (Ra) was about 2.0 μm. To facilitate easier comparison with the straight microchannels and also to simplify the method of fabrication, the expanding channels were formed with the removal of fins at selected location from the straight microchannel design, instead of using a diverging channel. Tests were performed on both the microchannels over a range of mass fluxes, heat fluxes and an inlet temperature of 90 °C. It was observed that the two-phase pressure drop across the expanding microchannel heat sink was significantly lower as compared to its straight counterpart. The pressure drop and wall temperature fluctuations were seen reduced in the expanding microchannel heat sink. It was also noted that the expanding microchannel heat sink had a better heat transfer performance than the straight microchannel heat sink, under similar operating conditions. This phenomenon in expanding microchannel heat sink, which was observed in spite of it having a lower convective heat transfer area, is explained based on its improved flow boiling stability that reduces the pressure drop oscillations, temperature oscillations and hence partial dry out.     

Two-Phase Frictional Pressure Drop and Flow Boiling Heat Transfer for R245fa in a 2.32-mm Tube

Experimental two-phase frictional pressure drop and flow boiling heat transfer results are presented for a horizontal 2.32-mm ID stainless-steel tube using R245fa as working fluid. The frictional pressure drop data was obtained under adiabatic and diabatic conditions. Experiments were performed for mass velocities ranging from 100 to 700 kg m^?2 s^?1, heat flux from 0 to 55 kW m^?2, exit saturation temperatures of 31 and 41°C, and vapor qualities from 0.10 to 0.99. Pressures drop gradients and heat transfer coefficients ranging from 1 to 70 kPa m^?1 and from 1 to 7 kW m^?2 K^?1 were measured. It was found that the heat transfer coefficient is a strong function of the heat flux, mass velocity, and vapor quality. Five frictional pressure drop predictive methods were compared against the experimental database. The Cioncolini et al. (2009) method was found to work the best. Six flow boiling heat transfer predictive methods were also compared against the present database. Liu and Winterton (1991), Zhang et al. (2004), and Saitoh et al. (2007) were ranked as the best methods. They predicted the experimental flow boiling heat transfer data with an average error around 19%.     

Enhancement of Interphase Transport in Mini-/Microscale Applications Using Passive Mixing

Structured mini-/microscale reactors continue to receive attention from both industry and academia due to their low pressure drop, high heat and mass transfer rates, and ease of scale-up relative to conventional reactor technology. Commonly considered for reactions such as hydrogenations, hydrodesulfurization, oxidations, and Fischer–Tropsch synthesis, the performance of these systems is highly dependent on mixing and the interfacial area between phases. While existing literature describes the initial flow patterns generated by a broad range of two-phase contactors, few studies explore the dynamic impacts of downstream passive mixing elements. Experimental and computational methodologies for characterizing two-phase flow pattern transitions, pressure drop, and heat and mass transfer are discussed, with relevant examples for serpentine and Venturi-based passive mixing designs. The efficacies of these two configurations are explored in the context of pressure drop, conditions leading to significant interface renewal, and design considerations for optimizing mass transfer. Challenges associate with the characterization of multiphase flow through these systems are highlighted, and strategies suggested for both experimental and computational analysis of dynamic flow patterns and fluid–fluid interactions.     

Effect of a Polymer Additive on Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop Behaviors of Upward Air–Water Flow in an Inclined Smooth Circular Tube

This article presents an experimental study of the effect of polyacrylamide (PAM) on heat transfer and frictional pressure drop behaviors of upward air–water two-phase flow in an inclined smooth circular tube with an upward inclination angle of 8 degrees from the horizontal direction. The test tube has an inside diameter of 40 mm and an outside diameter of 48 mm. A PAM water solution with a concentration of 300 ppm was used in the experiments. The liquid phase superficial velocities are 0.52, 1.02, and 1.46 m/s and the gas-phase superficial velocities are from 1.79 to 6.54 m/s. Heat transfer tests were performed by cooling the air–water flow inside the test tube through its wall using the cooling water with a heat transfer length of 3 m, and two-phase pressure drops were measured over a length of 3.1 m. Results show that the air–water two-phase frictional pressure drops can be reduced from 26.2% to 42.7%, while the two-phase heat transfer coefficients can be reduced from 39.7% to 80.8% with addition of PAM. Furthermore, new proposed physical mechanisms of the two-phase frictional pressure drop and heat transfer reductions are used to explain the experimental results.     

Flow Boiling Heat Transfer Characteristics in Minitubes With and Without Hydrophobicity Coating

Abstract

Wettability plays an important role during flow boiling inside micro and mini channels. The present work focuses on the flow boiling heat transfer characteristics inside copper minitube (inner diameter of 3?mm) coated internally to render the inside surface nearly hydrophobic. Electroless Galvanic Deposition technique is employed for hydrophobic coating inside the copper tube. Both single phase heat transfer and two-phase flow boiling heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics were investigated in regular and internally coated hydrophobic copper minitubes. The experiments were performed with deionized water as a working fluid and the mass flux was varied from 100 to 650?kg/m²s. The two-phase heat transfer characteristics was observed to be both functions of mass flux as well as heat flux. The two phase heat transfer has been observed to be augmented due to the wettability within the tubes. The two-phase pressure drop has also been observed to increase when compared to the regular, uncoated tube; however, the proportional increment is lower than the augmentation achieved in two-phase heat transfer. The enhanced heat transfer effects observed have been explained on the basis of wetting physics.     

Flame dynamics and unsteady heat release rate of self-excited azimuthal modes in an annular combustor

This paper presents an experimental study into the structure and dynamics of the phase-averaged heat release rate during self-excited spinning and standing azimuthal modes in an annular combustion chamber. The flame response was characterised using two methods: high-speed OH^∗ chemiluminescence imaged above the annulus to investigate the structure of the phase-averaged fluctuations in heat release rate, and high-speed OH-PLIF measured across the centreline of two adjacent flames to investigate phase-averaged flame dynamics. Two-microphone measurements were obtained at three circumferential locations to determine the modes and the amplitude of the velocity fluctuations. It was found that the flame responds differently to spinning and standing wave modes. During standing wave modes, the amplitude of the unsteady heat release rate of each flame (sector) varied according to its location in the mode shape with maximum fluctuations occurring at the pressure anti-nodes and minimum fluctuations occurring at the pressure nodes. At the pressure anti-nodes, peak fluctuations result from the production of flame surface area by axisymmetric flame motions caused by the modulation of flow at the burner inlet by the pressure fluctuations. However, at the pressure nodes, an anti-symmetric, transverse flapping motion of the flame occurred producing negligible unsteady heat release rate over the oscillations cycle via the mechanism of cancellation. During spinning modes, the structure of the heat release rate was found to be asymmetric and characterised by the preferential suppression of shear layer disturbances depending on the spin direction.     

Transient flow patterns and bubble slug lengths in parallel microchannels with oxygen gas bubbles produced by catalytic chemical reactions

Transient flow patterns and bubble slug lengths were investigated with oxygen gas (O₂) bubbles produced by catalytic chemical reactions using a high speed camera bonded with a microscope. The microreactor consists of an inlet liquid plenum, nine parallel rectangular microchannels followed by a micronozzle, using the MEMS fabrication technique. The etched surface was deposited by the thin platinum film, which is acted as the catalyst. Experiments were performed with the inlet mass concentration of the hydrogen peroxide from 50% to 90% and the pressure drop across the silicon chip from 2.5 to 20.0 kPa. The silicon chip is directly exposed in the environment thus the heat released via the catalytic chemical reactions is dissipated into the environment and the experiment was performed at the room temperature level. It is found that the two-phase flow with the catalytic chemical reactions display the cyclic behavior. A full cycle consists of a short fresh liquid refilling stage, a liquid decomposition stage followed by the bubble slug flow stage. At the beginning of the bubble slug flow stage, the liquid slug number reaches maximum, while at the end of the bubble slug flow stage the liquid slugs are quickly flushed out of the microchannels. Two or three large bubbles are observed in the inlet liquid plenum, affecting the two-phase distributions in microchannels. The bubble slug lengths, cycle periods as well as the mass flow rates are analyzed with different mass concentrations of hydrogen peroxide and pressure drops. The bubble slug length is helpful for the selection of the future microreactor length ensuring the complete hydrogen peroxide decomposition. Future studies on the temperature effect on the transient two-phase flow with chemical reactions are recommended.     

An Experimental Investigation into the Effect of Surfactants on Air-Water Two-Phase Flow in Minichannels

The complex interfacial phenomena involved in two-phase gas-liquid flow have defied mathematical simplification and modeling. However, these systems are used in heat exchangers, condensers, chemical processing plants, nuclear reactor systems, and fuel cells. The present work considers a 1 mm-square minichannel and adiabatic flows corresponding to practical PEM fuel cell conditions. Pressure drop data is collected over mass fluxes of 4.0–12.0 kg/m²s for air and 0.5–21.6 kg/m²s for water, corresponding to superficial gas and liquid velocities of 3.19–10.06 m/s and 0.0005–0.022 m/s, respectively. The experiments are repeated with water-surfactant mixtures of different concentrations in order to quantify the surface tension effects, as it is recognized that surface tension is an important parameter for two-phase flow in minichannels. The accuracy of various two-phase pressure drop models is evaluated, and a new model for laminar-laminar two-phase flow pressure drop is developed.