Boiling heat transfer in vertical minichannels. Liquid crystal experiments and numerical investigations

The paper presents the results of experimental and numerical studies of boiling heat transfer in the flow of refrigerants R123 and R11 through vertical, rectangular minichannels, with one wall heated. An application of liquid crystal thermography has helped detect two-dimensional temperature distribution on the heating surface, allowing determination of boiling heat fluxes and experimental boiling curves. The main objectives of the paper included the development of two-dimensional approach to solve the inverse heat conduction boundary problem for determining local values of internal heating surface temperature, boiling heat flux and heat transfer coefficient, and the improvement of the applied numerical method making use of the equalizing calculus and heating surface temperature measurement errors. A detailed discussion of temperature, heat flux and heat transfer coefficient errors is also provided.     

Thermal investigation of the conjugate heat transfer problem in multi-row circular minichannels

A numerical three-dimensional flow and conjugate heat transfer in circular minichannel-based multi-row heat sink is presented in this article. Effects of geometrical parameters including channel dimensions, channel arrangements (inline or staggered), and the number of channel rows with a single-pass flow on the thermal performance of the heat sink are presented. The determination of the bottom surface temperature, average heat transfer coefficient, thermal resistance as well as the pressure drop was reported. The number of rows and the diameter of the circular channel for a constant Reynolds number were found to have a remarkable cooling effect on the heat sink. It was found out that in the case of using four channel rows with the channel diameter of 1?mm, the cooling capacity is 88.5?W/cm² compared to 28?W/cm² for a single row 1?mm diameter.     

A parametric study of laminar convective heat transfer in fractal minichannels with hexagonal fins

The excess heat generated by the modern electronic components and devices leads to a sustained growth in demand for thermal management technologies. Inspired by the features of fractal structures in terms of the periodical interruption of boundary layer and the strong flow mixing, a parametric study is carried out to study the flow and heat transfer performance in the fractal minichannels configured with hexagonal fins. A dimensionless performance factor involving average Nusselt number and average friction factor is defined to evaluate the overall performance with considering heat transfer enhancement and additional friction loss. The parametric effects of branching angle θ (60°-120°) and relative hexagonal side length α (1.00-2.00) on laminar hydrodynamics and thermal characteristics in the proposed minichannels are numerically investigated for Reynolds number ranged from 50 to 550. The results emphasize a lower temperature and more uniform temperature distribution on the bottom surface and an advantage of overall performance for the fractal minichannel with hexagonal fins over the conventional straight minichannel. It is noted from the results that the variation of branching angle possesses little effect on the maximum temperature and temperature uniformity of the bottom surface. On the basis of the evolution of the performance factors, the best performance is obtained by the branching angle of 60° and the relative hexagonal side length of 1.50 among the tested configurations, and the maximum temperature and temperature uniformity of the bottom surface are reduced by 16.4 K and 84%, respectively, when comparing with the straight channel as the reference object. This study verified the theoretical conjecture that the application of hexagonal fins in minichannel plays an important role in effectively improving heat transfer in the case of controllable pressure loss.     

Hydrodynamics and heat transfer in bubbly flow in the turbulent boundary layer

In the work presented is a new approach to modelling the bubbly flow in the boundary layer. The approach is based on summation of dissipation energy coming from the shearing turbulent flow in the absence of bubbles and the dissipation contribution from the presence of bubbles. As a result we obtain the dissipation of equivalent single phase turbulent flow. The model has been solved using the method of asymptotic correction to provide an explicit differential equation describing the velocity profile. That can be solved with the assumption of constant void fraction distribution to yield the analytical velocity profile. Alternatively, author has developed his own model of lateral void migration, which is distinct from other models by virtue of presence of another rotational velocity. Velocity distributions calculated using the new model have been compared against the experimental data of turbulent bubble flows with small void fraction. A good consistency between calculations performed using a new model and available experimental data has been obtained. Additionally, a solution of the temperature field is also given. In the case of a constant void fraction distribution analytical distribution of the Nusselt number is given or the set of differential equations needs to be solved.     

Hydrodynamics and heat transfer during flow boiling instabilities in a single microchannel

Boiling in microchannels is widely considered as one of the front runners in process intensification heat removal. Flow boiling heat transfer in microchannel geometry and the associated flow instabilities are not well understood, further research is necessary into the flow instabilities adverse effect on heat transfer.Boiling is induced in microchannel geometry (hydraulic diameter 727 μm) to investigate several flow instabilities. A transparent, metallic, conductive deposit has been developed on the exterior of rectangular microchannels, allowing simultaneous heating and visualisation.Presented in this paper is data for a particular case with a uniform heat flux of 4.26 kW/m² applied to the microchannel and inlet liquid mass flowrate, held constant at 1.13 × 10^?5 kg/s. In conjunction with obtaining high-speed images, a sensitive infrared camera is used to record the temperature profiles on the exterior wall of the microchannel, and a data acquisition system is used to record the pressure fluctuations over time. Various phenomena are apparent during the flow instabilities; these can be characterised into timescales occurring at 100’s seconds, 10’s seconds, several seconds and finally milliseconds. Correlation of pressure oscillations with temperature fluctuations as a function of the heat flux applied to the microchannel is possible.From analysis of our results, images and video sequences with the corresponding physical data obtained, it is possible to follow simultaneously particular flow, pressure and temperature conditions leading to nucleate boiling, flow instabilities and transition regimes during flow boiling in a microchannel. The investigation allowed us to quantify and characterise the timescales of various observed instabilities during flow boiling in a microchannel. High speed imaging revealed some of the controlling physical mechanisms responsible for the observed instabilities.     

Combustion and heat transfer in model two-dimensional porous burners

A two-dimensional model of two simple porous burner geometries is developed to analyze the influence of multidimensionality on flames within pore scale structures. The first geometry simulates a honeycomb burner, in which a ceramic is penetrated by many small, straight, nonconnecting passages. The second geometry consists of many small parallel plates aligned with the flow direction. The Monte Carlo method is employed to calculate the viewfactors for radiation heat exchange in the second geometry. This model compares well with experiments on burning rates, operating ranges, and radiation output. Heat losses from the burner are found to reduce the burning rate. The flame is shown to be highly two-dimensional, and limitations of one-dimensional models are discussed. The effects of the material properties on the peak burning rate in these model porous media are examined. Variations in the flame on length scales smaller than the pore size are also present and are discussed and quantified.     

Mixed convection heat transfer in two-dimensional open-ended enclosures

Mixed convection heat transfer in open-ended enclosures has been studied numerically for three different flow angles of attack. Discretization of the governing equations is achieved using a finite element scheme based on the Galerkin method of weighted residuals. Comparisons with previously published work on special cases of the problem are performed and the results show excellent agreement. A wide range of pertinent parameters such as Grashof number, Reynolds number, and the aspect ratio are considered in the present study. The obtained results show that thermal insulation of the cavity can be achieved through the use of high horizontal velocity flow. Various results for the streamlines, isotherms and the heat transfer rates in terms of the average Nusselt number are presented and discussed for different parametric values.     

Hydrodynamics and heat transfer prior to onset of nucleate boiling in a rectangular microchannel heat sink

The conjugate heat transfer of flow boiling in a rectangular microchannel heat sink (MCHS) was modelled numerically to investigate the hydrodynamics and thermal responses of flow prior to the onset of nucleate boiling (ONB). Local hydrodynamics and thermal conditions leading to ONB are analysed numerically for different heat flux. The flow patterns of different modes of microconvection and mixed convective flows including the circulating flow, wavy flow and seeping flow were demonstrated and discussed. The numerical study proposes the mechanism leading to the first bubble nucleation which cover the initiation of fluid instability until the ONB. This work provides better understanding of the superheat induced flow instability and the progressive fluid convection under transient heating.     

Hydrodynamics and heat transfer in swirl flow under conditions of one-side heating. Part 2: Boiling heat transfer. Critical heat fluxes

The paper gives the basic results of experimental investigation of boiling heat transfer in heat-absorbing devices of the ITER thermonuclear reactor, which are subjected to one-side heating. The experimental data on heat transfer at nucleate and film boiling and on critical heat fluxes are obtained in the following range of parameters of water flow: pressure p = 0.7–2.0 MPa, mass flux G = 340–25 000 kg/(m² s), and water temperature at the inlet T_in = 20–60 °C. A twisted tape is inserted in the circular channel in order to form swirling flow of water. The investigations are performed for tapes with different values of flow swirl coefficient, as well for test sections without a tape. Appropriate calculation formulas are derived, which reliably generalize the experimental data.     

Hydrodynamics and heat transfer of turbulent gas suspension flows in tubes—2. Heat transfer

By the method of averaging over the ensemble of turbulent flow realizations, averaged heat transfer equations for a solid phase and a flow as a whole are derived. Closed expressions for the second single-point moments of the solid and carrier phase velocity and temperature fluctuations in terms of the second moments of the carrier phase velocity and temperature fluctuations in a non-uniform turbulent flow are found. Based on these expressions, a set of equations is written for the second single-point moments of the liquid phase velocity and temperature fluctuations in the presence of particles. Heat transfer calculations are carried out for turbulent flow of gas suspension in circular tubes. The effect of the relationship between the thermal and physical properties of the particle material and gas on the thermal characteristics of a two-phase flow is investigated. The predicted Nusselt numbers for a dusty flow agree satisfactorily with the experimental data.     

Hydrodynamics and heat transfer in swirl flow under conditions of one-side heating. Part 1: Pressure drop and single-phase heat transfer

The paper gives the basic results of experimental investigation of hydrodynamics and heat transfer in heat-absorbing devices of the ITER thermonuclear reactor, which are subjected to one-side heating. The entire array of experimental data is obtained in the following range of parameters of water flow: pressure p = 0.7–2.0 MPa, mass flux G = 340–25,000 kg/(m² s), inlet water temperature T_in = 15–60 °C. The experiments are performed with turbulent swirl flows of water for twisted tapes with the flow swirl coefficient k = 0.90, 0.66, 0.49, 0.39, 0.25, 0.19, and 0, as well for test sections without a tape. Given in the first part of the paper are the data on pressure drop and single-phase convective heat transfer. Appropriate calculation formulas are derived, which reliably generalize the experimental data.     

Buoyancy-driven heat transfer enhancement in a two-dimensional enclosure utilizing nanofluids

Heat transfer enhancement in a two-dimensional enclosure utilizing nanofluids is investigated for various pertinent parameters. A model is developed to analyze heat transfer performance of nanofluids inside an enclosure taking into account the solid particle dispersion. The transport equations are solved numerically using the finite-volume approach along with the alternating direct implicit procedure. Comparisons with previously published work on the basis of special cases are performed and found to be in excellent agreement. The effect of suspended ultrafine metallic nanoparticles on the fluid flow and heat transfer processes within the enclosure is analyzed and effective thermal conductivity enhancement maps are developed for various controlling parameters. In addition, an analysis of variants based on the thermophysical properties of nanofluid is developed and presented. It is shown that the variances within different models have substantial effects on the results. Finally, a heat transfer correlation of the average Nusselt number for various Grashof numbers and volume fractions is presented.     

Hydrodynamics and heat exchange in water suntraps

Heat exchange in water suntraps (WS) is discussed. It is shown that the heat exchange and the hydrodynamic characteristics of the flow in the initial sections of the heat removal channels of the WS can be calculated with the help of the laminar boundary layer model, using the assumptions adopted in boundary layer theory.     

Analysis of two-dimensional radiative heat transfer in a gray medium with internal heat generation

Radiative heat transfer in a two-dimensional rectangular enclosure with gray medium and internal heat generation is considered. Solutions are generated by a point allocation technique in which unknown temperature profiles are expressed as polynomials. Based on a recently developed generalized exponential integral function, the present solution technique is demonstrated to be computationally more efficient than most of the conventional solution methods. For the case with constant internal heat generation, numerical solutions for temperature and heat flux distributions for enclosures of different optical thicknesses and aspect ratios are obtained. Analytical solutions are developed in the optically thin limit. Both the optical thickness and the enclosure geometry are demonstrated to have strong effects on the temperature distribution within the medium. The average heat transfer to the different boundaries, on the other hand, appears to depend mainly on the enclosure geometry.     

Analysis of heat transfer for compressible flow in two-dimensional porous media

Gas from a reservoir at constant pressure and temperature is forced through a two-dimensional porous region. The surface through which the gas exits is at a specified uniform temperature and pressure. The local gas and solid matrix temperatures are assumed equal. General solutions for the local temperature and pressure in the porous medium are found as a function of a potential. This potential can be determined by solving Laplace's equation in the porous region for a simple set of boundary conditions, and the temperature and pressure will then be known functions of position. Because of the nature of the boundary conditions it is particularly convenient to solve Laplace's equation by conformai mapping. By using this technique some illustrative heat and mass flow results were calculated for a porous wall with a step in thickness, a wall supplied with gas through periodic slots, and an eccentric annular region.     

On predicting two-dimensional heat transfer in a cylindrical porous media combustor

Convective heat transfer within a cylindrical inert porous media combustor is studied. A two-dimensional, two temperature mathematical model, based on fluid mechanics, energy and chemical species governing equations is used for combustion simulation. The finite volume method is used to solve the discrete model for methane combustion with air. Results are presented for unsteady velocity and temperature distributions, as well as for the displacement of the combustion zone, to assess the effects of inlet reactants velocities in the range 0.3–0.6 m/s; excess air ratios between 3 and 6 and porosities of 0.3 up to 0.6 in the convection heat transfer and combustion processes.     

Transient conjugated heat transfer in pipes involving two-dimensional wall and axial fluid conduction

This paper presents an analysis for an unsteady conjugated heat transfer problem in thermally developing laminar pipe flow, involving two-dimensional wall and fluid axial conduction. The problem is solved numerically by a finite-difference method for a thick-walled, infinitely long, two-regional pipe which is initially isothermal with a step change in the constant outside temperature of the heated downstream section. A parametric study is done to analyze the effects of four defining parameters, namely the Peclet number, wall-to-fluid thermal conductivity ratio, wall-to-fluid thermal diffusivity ratio and wall thickness to inner radius ratio. The predicted results indicate that, although the parameters affect the heat transfer characteristics at the early and intermediate periods, the time to reach the steady state does not change considerably. With the boundary conditions of the present problem, the thermal inertia of the system is mainly dependent on the flow conditions rather than on the wall characteristics.