Optimization of short micro pin fins in minichannels

Finned minichannels are modeled in order to optimize microstructure geometry and maximize heat transfer dissipation through convection from a heated surface. Six pin fin shapes – circle, square, triangle, ellipse, diamond and hexagon – are used in a staggered array and attached to the bottom heated surface of a rectangular minichannel and analyzed. Also, using square pin fins, different channel clearance over fins are investigated to optimize the fin height of the fins with respect to that of the channel. Fin width and spacing are investigated using a ratio of fin width area to the channel width. Fin material is then varied to investigate the heat dissipation effects. Triangular fins with larger fin height, smaller fin width, and spacing double the fin width maximizes the number of fins in each row and yields better performance. Correlations describing the Nusselt number and the Darcy friction factor are obtained and compared to previous ones from recent studies. These correlations only apply to short fins in the laminar regime. Completely understanding the effects of micro pin fins in a minichannel is essential to maximizing the performance in small scale cooling apparatuses to keep up with future electronic advancements.     

Thermal performance of various cross-sectioned rectangular minichannels with water-based phase change nano-suspensions

A numerical study is performed to investigate the influence of geometrical factors on the performance characteristics of a laminar thermally developing flow of phase change nano-suspensions in a rectangular minichannel considering axial wall conduction effects. The phase change material dispersed in the pure water is considered N-eicosane with the onset point of melting of 34.7°C, latent heat of fusion of 243 J/g, and particle size of 200 nm. The volume fractions of the phase change nano-suspensions are 2% and 10%, and the Reynolds number is in the range of 200 to 1500. To evaluate the influences of geometrical parameters on the cooling performance of the minichannel heat sinks, five minichannels are investigated, with aspect ratios (ration between channel height and width) AR_ch of 1, 1.25, and 1.5 and bottom wall thicknesses H_bw of 0.5, 1, and 1.5. The results reveal that the axial wall conduction significantly affects the heat transfer process of a flow in a minichannel at a low Reynolds number, and this effect is more remarkable with a shallower channel and a thicker bottom wall. Five performance indicators are used to systematically evaluate the heat transfer characteristics of the minichannels, including dimensionless heat flux at the bottom wall, temperature suppression, heat transfer effective ratio, heat dissipation of the extended wall, and figure of merit.     

Calculations of Flow Boiling Heat Transfer in a Minichannel Based on Liquid Crystal and Infrared Thermography Data

ABSTRACT

This paper analyzes results concerning flow boiling heat transfer in two parallel, asymmetrically heated vertical minichannels. The heating element for FC-72 Fluorinert flowing in the minichannels was a thin foil with an enhanced surface on the side in contact with the fluid. In one minichannel, changes in the temperature on the smooth side of the foil were monitored using liquid crystal thermography. Changes in the temperature on the outer surface of the glass in one minichannel and on the foil in the other minichannel were observed using infrared thermography. The heat transfer coefficient at the foil–fluid interface was calculated on the basis of one- and two-dimensional heat transfer models. In the two-dimensional method, the distribution of temperature on the enhanced side of the foil was determined by solving the inverse heat conduction problem. The governing equations were solved using the finite-element method combined with the Trefftz functions used as shape functions. The temperature measurement points were located at the boundary nodes of elements. Local values of the heat transfer coefficient calculated with the one- and two-dimensional models were analyzed in the function of the distance from the minichannel inlet. The values obtained with the two models were similar.     

Thermal analysis on a groove‐enhanced minichannel application

A grooved surface feature is considered as a thermal enhancement for electronics cooling with single‐phase flow in minichannels. The influence of the groove structure and groove depth‐to‐width ratio on the flow and heat transfer in the minichannels has been numerically investigated. A two‐dimensional turbulent flow model was employed to optimize the groove structure in the minichannel. The effect of the groove geometric shape on the heat transfer performance in the minichannel was analyzed by evaluating the fluid thermophysical parameter and Nusselt number. It is found that the average Nusselt number ratio ($Nu_{avg}^{*}$ ) changes with an increase in groove depth‐to‐width ratios from d/W = 0.1 to d/W = 0.5. The groove heat transfer unit number (NTU) integrating heat transfer area (A) and heat transfer coefficient (h) were defined. The change of the NTU^* for the minichannel with a triangular groove is different from that of the minichannel with a cylindrical groove while the groove depth‐to‐width ratio varies from d/W = 0.1 to d/W = 0.5. In addition, the flow pressure loss across the groove and the effects of the Reynolds number in the minichannels were also investigated. All the results should be taken into account for a better design of a minichannel with groove. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20413     

Heat Transfer Correlations for Elongated Bubbly Flow in Flow Boiling Micro/Minichannels

An improved conventional-to-micro/minichannel criterion was proposed by using the Bond number and the liquid Reynolds number. In micro/minichannels, bubbles tend to be confined and elongated in the channel and the conventional two-phase flow theory loses its applicability. As significant disagreement in experimental trends and heat transfer mechanisms was reported for flow boiling in micro/minichannels in the literature, it is not possible to explain the discrepancy and predict all data points by a single correlation without considering the different flow patterns. In this study, heat transfer correlations for elongated bubbly flow in flow boiling micro/minichannels were developed based on a collected micro/minichannel heat transfer database. The newly developed correlations not only can present a decent overall accuracy, but also estimate the parametric trends correctly. More than 97% of the data points can be predicted by the proposed correlations within a ±50% error band for elongated bubbly flow. Also, a flow-pattern-based model can be developed by combining the developed elongated bubbly flow correlations with previous annular flow correlations for predicting flow boiling heat transfer in micro/minichannels.     

Influence of the Surface Enhancement on the Flow Boiling Heat Transfer in a Minichannel

This paper presents results concerning flow boiling heat transfer in three parallel vertically oriented and asymmetrically heated rectangular minichannels. Each minichannel was 1.7 mm deep, 16 mm wide, and 180 mm long. The heated element for Fluorinert FC-72 flowing in the minichannels was a thin foil. Infrared thermography was used to determine changes in the temperature on the outer smooth side of the foil. Two-phase flow patterns were observed through a glass pane. The heated surfaces in contact with the fluid in the minichannels differed in roughness. In one minichannel the surface was smooth. In the other two, the surface was enhanced. Two types of surface enhancement were analyzed: a surface with unevenly distributed minicavities and a surface coated with metallic powder applied by soldering. This paper analyzes the effects of the microstructured heated surface on the heat transfer coefficient. The results are presented as: relationships between the heat transfer coefficient and the vapor quality, boiling curves and two-phase flow images. The experimental data obtained for the two types of enhanced surfaces was compared with the results recorded for the smooth surface. The highest local values of the heat transfer coefficient were reported for the enhanced foil with minicavities.     

Bio-inspired leaf-vein type fins for performance enhancement of metal hydride reactors

Hydrogenation of metals is an exothermic and reversible process. Thus, metal hydride reactors/devices become essentially heat-driven. Excellent heat control in the MH reactor is required to develop metal hydride devices such as H2 storage systems successfully. Few attempts at nature-inspired designs have proven to have good heat transfer capabilities. Based on this idea, the present study investigates novel bio-inspired leaf-vein type fins for the metal hydride reactor. Two reactor designs are proposed for heat transfer fluid flow, namely (i) central straight tube and (ii) narrow trapezoidal channels with 10 kg of LaNi₅ as a sample alloy. Compared to longitudinal finned single tube reactors (LFSTR), these designs provided better heat transmission and temperature uniformity. For LFSTR, Case-1, and Case-2, 90% storage capacity was reached in 210, 145, and 80 s. Different fin configurations, such as parallel, inclined fins, and fins of different thicknesses, are investigated further in the design with narrow trapezoidal channels. The inclined fin configuration shows better performance, and it is further optimized by varying the inclination angle from 3 to 9° and the fin number from 2 to 4. The optimized design with a 7° inclination angle and four fins required 57 s to attain 90% storage capacity and reduced absorption time by 73% compared to LFSTR. The influence of operating parameters such as hydrogen supply pressure, inlet temperature, and velocity of the heat transfer fluid on the performance is evaluated for the optimized design.     

An experimental study on thermal performance of Al2O3/water nanofluid in a minichannel heat sink

In the present work, experimental efforts have been undertaken to explore the forced convective heat transfer performance of using Al₂O₃/water nanofluid to replace the pure water as the coolant in a copper minichannel heat sink. The minichannel heat sink fabricated consists of 10 parallel rectangular minichannels of length 50 mm with a cross-sectional area of 1 mm in width by 1.5 mm in height for each minichannel. Hydraulic and thermal performances of the nanofluid cooled minichannel heat sink have been assessed from the results obtained for the pumping power, the averaged heat transfer coefficients based on the inlet and bulk temperature difference, respectively, with the Reynolds number ranging from 133 to 1515. Compared with the results for the pure water, it was found that the nanofluid cooled heat sink has significantly higher average heat transfer coefficients and hence outperforms the water cooled heat sink. Meanwhile, the heat transfer efficacy of using the nanofluid in the heat sink was further evaluated against the accompanied pumping power penalty.     

Dimensional analysis on the evaporation and condensation of refrigerant R-134a in minichannel plate heat exchangers

Two-phase flow analysis for the evaporation and condensation of refrigerants within the minichannel plate heat exchangers is an area of ongoing research, as reported in the literatures reviewed in this article. The previous studies mostly correlated the two-phase heat transfer and pressure drop in these minichannel heat exchangers using theories and empirical correlations that had previously been established for two-phase flows in conventional macrochannels. However, the two-phase flow characteristics within micro/minichannels may be more sophisticated than conventional macrochannels, and the empirical correlations for one scale may not work for the other one. The objective of this study is to investigate the parameters that affect the two-phase heat transfer within the minichannel plate heat exchangers, and to utilize the dimensional analysis technique to develop appropriate correlations. For this purpose, thermo-hydrodynamic performance of three minichannel brazed-type plate heat exchangers was analyzed experimentally in this study. These heat exchangers were used as the evaporator and condenser of an automotive refrigeration system where the refrigerant R-134a flowed on one side and a 50% glycol–water mixture on the other side in a counter-flow configuration. The heat transfer coefficient for the single-phase flow of the glycol–water mixture was first obtained using a modified Wilson plot technique. The results from the single-phase flow analysis were then used in the two-phase flow analysis, and correlations for the refrigerant evaporation and condensation heat transfer were developed. Correlations for the single-phase and two-phase Fanning friction factors were also obtained based on a homogenous model. The results of this study showed that the two-phase theories and correlations that were established for conventional macrochannel heat exchangers may not hold for the minichannel heat exchangers used in this study.     

Feasibility of using multiport minichannel as thermosyphon for cooling of miniaturized electronic devices

The feasibility of using multiport minichannel (MPMC) as thermosyphon for cooling miniaturized electronic products is experimentally investigated with acetone as the working fluid. A detailed analysis on thermal performance and entropy generation due to heat transfer and pressure drop with the effects of heat load (10-50 W), filling ratio (FR; 40%, 50%, and 60%), and inclination angle (45°, 60°, and 90°) has been carried out. The results showed a reduction of 22.2% and 9.31% in thermal resistance and evaporator wall temperature at optimum filling ratio (OFR) of 50%. Reduction in entropy generation due to heat transfer and pressure drop of 16.6% and 12.3%, respectively, was observed at OFR. Internal fins in MPMC increase the surface area and evaporation rate by enhancing heat transfer leading to a decrease in the rate of entropy generation. Multiport increases surface tension of condensate at right angles to the flow direction along with the effects of gravity and enhancing rate of condensation. A new correlation is developed to predict evaporator wall temperature as a function of heat load and FR. The proposed correlation agrees well with a deviation of ±20% with present experimental results and also with the published literature. Thus, the obtained results will be useful in cooling miniaturized electronic devices.     

Battery module thermal management based on liquid cold plate with heat transfer enhanced fin

Battery, as the main energy storage element, directly affects the performance of electric vehicle. Battery thermal management research is required as the battery performance influenced by temperature obviously. This article selects liquid cold plate with different heat transfer enhanced fins as the research object. The angle and length of fins are chosen as the variables. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods and experiments are used in this research. The fin angle of 15°, 30°, and 45° and fin length of 8, 10, 12 mm are selected to compose enhanced fins. The results indicate that heat transfer fins inside liquid cold plate can significantly decrease the highest temperature of battery module and temperature difference among cells. Otherwise, different fin angle and fin length can achieve different heat dissipation performance, which is not positive correlation. Then the design reference of heat transfer enhanced fin in liquid cold plate is offered.     

The effects of micro-structured surfaces on multi-nozzle spray cooling

Experiments were conducted to investigate heat transfer characteristics of spray cooling with eight nozzles for micro-structured surfaces included cubic pin fins and straight pin fins of different sizes. Liquid volume flow rate ranged from 2.46 × 10⁻² m³/s/m² to 3.91 × 10⁻² m³/s/m² and the corresponded inlet pressures changed from 0.28 MPa to 0.6 MPa by keeping the inlet water temperature between 20.4 °C and 24.31 °C. And the input power of heat block varied from 180 W to 1080 W. The results show that the heat transfer performances of straight fins2 and straight fins3 are the best in single phase zone, but the cubic pin fins is better in two phase zone. Notably, the critical point between single phase zone and two phase zone shifts to left with the increasing of liquid volume flow rate. Moreover, with the liquid volume flow rate increasing, the heat transfer coefficient increases as well, but straight fins1 and polished surface are not sensitive to this change. For a deeper analysis of the heat transfer enhancement, a dimensionless number (DM) is created to characterize heat transfer performance of different microstructures in single phase heat transfer. We verified the dimensionless number using experimental results in this study and previous literature. Furthermore, the micro-structured surfaces have negligible effects on temperature distribution except for cubic pin fins.     

Effect of geometric configuration on the laminar flow and heat transfer in microchannel heat sinks with cavities and fins

A numerical simulation is performed to investigate the characteristics of flow and heat transfer in microchannels with cavities and fins. Nine microchannels with various shaped cavities and fins are presented and compared to the smooth microchannel. The effect of cavity and fin shapes on the flow field and temperature field is analyzed. Results show that the presence of cavity and fin can increase the heat transfer area, intensify mainstream disturbance, and induce chaotic advection, which result in obvious heat transfer enhancement. The shape of cavity or fin has a great influence on the hydrodynamic and thermal performance for such micro heat sinks. Based on the performance evaluation criterion (PEC), the overall performance of the microchannel is evaluated. The combination of cavities and fins leads to lower bottom temperature, lower net temperature gradient of fluid, and better heat transfer performance, which has the potential to meet the increased heat removal requirement.     

Experimental study on condensation heat transfer inside a single circular minichannel

The measurement of the condensation heat transfer coefficient inside micro- and minichannels is still somewhat elusive due to the difficult task of getting accurate values of the heat transfer coefficients during the condensation process, particularly when studied within single minichannels. The present paper reports local heat transfer coefficients obtained from the measurement of the local heat flux and the direct measurement of the saturation and wall temperatures during condensation of R134a and R32 within a single circular 0.96 mm diameter minichannel. Except for the lowest mass velocity, the test results do not show significant discrepancy from the trends expected for macroscale tubes.     

Condensation Heat Transfer and Pressure Losses of High- and Low-Pressure Refrigerants Flowing in a Single Circular Minichannel

A 0.96 mm circular minichannel is used to measure both heat transfer coefficients during condensation and two-phase pressure losses of the refrigerants R32 and R245fa. Test runs have been performed at around 40°C saturation temperature, corresponding to 24.8 bar saturation pressure for R32 and 2.5 bar saturation pressure for R245fa. The pressure drop tests have been performed in adiabatic flow conditions, to measure only the pressure losses due to friction. The heat transfer experimental data are compared against predicting models to provide a guideline for the design of minichannel condensers.     

Parametric study on the performance of a heat exchanger with corrugated louvered fins

The Taguchi method is a well-known parametric study tool in engineering quality and experimental design. This study analyzes five experimental factors (flow depth, ratio of fin pitch and fin thickness, tube pitch, number of louvers and angle of louver) affecting the heat transfer and pressure drop of a heat exchanger with corrugated louvered fins using the Taguchi method. Fifteen samples are selected from experimental database and the heat transfer and flow friction characteristics are analyzed. The results show that flow depth, ratio of fin pitch and fin thickness and the number of the louvers are the main factors that influence significantly the thermal hydraulic performance of the heat exchanger with corrugated louvered fins. Therefore, these three factors are considered as the main factors for an optimum design of a heat exchanger.     

Experimental investigation and COMSOL modeling for different geometrical configurations of extended surfaces

The current work presents and analyzes an experimental and three-dimensional COMSOL simulation to address and quantify the influence of different geometric cross-sectional shapes and types of materials (ie, brass and stainless steel) on the thermal performance of extended surfaces. Three cross-sectional shapes (ie, circular, square, and hexagonal) were examined under various base temperatures (ie, 40°C, 50°C, 60°C, and 70°C). Additionally, two types of fin materials, brass and stainless steel, were investigated to address the impact of thermal conductivity on the temperature distribution, local heat transfer coefficient, heat dissipation rate, efficiency, and effectiveness of extended surfaces. The experimental results showed a significant increase in the heat transfer coefficient and heat dissipation rates for hexagonal brass fins over other shapes and stainless steel fins. The simulation results were validated with the experimental temperature distributions for different geometries and materials under differing operating conditions (ie, different base temperatures, with and without an insulated fin tip). The validation and evaluation of the current COMSOL simulation indicated that the simulated results had high accuracy, with less than a 6% deviation, compared with the experimental data. The current validated COMSOL model can serve as a useful tool to facilitate the design and optimization of fins under various design and operating parameters.     

Development of Colburn j Factor and Fanning Friction Factor Correlations for Compact Surfaces of the Triangular Perforated Fins Using CFD

The necessity of increased heat transfer surface area has resulted in the development of compact heat exchangers, which are widely used in the aerospace and automobile industries. Hence perforations are made on triangular plain fins to study the effects on the heat transfer coefficient. A numerical model has been developed for the perforated fin of a triangular plate fin heat exchanger. Perforated fin performance has been analyzed with the help of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) by changing the various parameters of the fin. The Colburn j factor and the Fanning friction factor are calculated for different Reynolds numbers. The values of the Colburn j factor and the Fanning friction factor are validated for known geometric fins with available data in the literature and extended to triangular perforated fins. The correlations have been developed between Reynolds number, Colburn j factor, and Fanning friction factor by taking into account fin height, fin thickness, and fin spacing. The present numerical analysis is carried out for air media.     

Flow boiling in constructal tree-shaped minichannel network

Flow boiling in constructal tree-shaped minichannel network with an inlet diameter of 4 mm is numerically investigated using a one-dimensional model, taking into consideration the minor losses at junctions. The pumping power requirement, pressure drop, temperature uniformity and coefficient of performance of the constructal tree-shaped minichannel network are all evaluated and compared with those of the corresponding traditional serpentine channel, and the fluid stream undergoes a phase change from saturated liquid to saturated vapor. The effects of the length dimension and top view area (i.e. the path length) on saturated gas–liquid two-phase flow boiling heat transfer in tree-shaped minichannel networks are all analyzed and discussed. The results indicated that, the tree-shaped network configured with length dimension of two is able to maximum flow access; the path length plays a significant role in the determination of flow boiling in tree-shaped minichannel networks. In particular, compared to the traditional serpentine channel, flow boiling in constructal tree-shaped minichannnel network possesses less pressure drop, lower pumping power requirement, better temperature uniformity and higher coefficient of performance (COP).     

Experimental study of thermal performance improvement in a cross-flow heat exchanger by using copper foam

In this study, copper foam was used as a porous medium in place of traditional aluminum fins. A comparison between the two heat exchangers—one with fins and the other with copper foam—was conducted under various conditions. The air inlet velocity ranged from 0.9 to 9.3 m/s, and the water inlet temperature ranged from 10°C to 18°C. Different water flow rates were tested. A comparison was made between the performance of copper foam and aluminum fins by calculating several parameters, including thermal resistance, heat exchanger effectiveness, Colburn factor, Nusselt number, friction factor, and area goodness factor (AG). The experimental results showed that at low air velocities, the heat transfer coefficient for both types of heat exchangers was almost equal. However, at high air velocities, the copper foam exhibited a higher heat transfer coefficient. The Colburn factor was higher for the heat exchanger with copper foam than in the conventional fins, where it was equal to 0.1959 for the copper foam and 0.1186 for the fins. On the other hand, the AG was higher in the case of fins than in the heat exchanger with copper foam.