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.     

Unstable and stable flow boiling in parallel microchannels and in a single microchannel

A simultaneous visualization and measurement study have been carried out to investigate flow boiling instabilities of water in microchannels at various heat fluxes and mass fluxes. Two separate flow boiling experiments were conducted in eight parallel silicon microchannels (with flow interaction from neighboring channels at headers) and in a single microchannel (without flow interaction), respectively. These microchannels, at a length of 30 mm, had an identical trapezoidal cross-section with a hydraulic diameter of 186 μm. At a given heat flux and inlet water temperature, it was found that stable and unstable flow boiling regimes existed, depending on the mass flux. A flow boiling map, in terms of heat flux vs mass flux, showing stable flow boiling regime and unstable flow boiling regime is presented for parallel microchannels as well as for a single microchannel, respectively, at an inlet water temperature of 35 °C. In the stable flow boiling regime, isolated bubbles were generated and were pushed away by the incoming subcooled liquid. Two unstable flow boiling regimes, with long-period oscillation (more than 1 s) and short-period oscillation (less than 0.1 s) in temperature and pressure, were identified. The former was due to the expansion of vapor bubble from downstream while the latter was owing to the flow pattern transition from annular to mist flow. A comparison of results of flow boiling in parallel microchannels and in a single microchannel shows that flow interaction effects from neighboring channels at the headers are significant.     

Flow boiling of liquid nitrogen in micro-tubes: Part I – The onset of nucleate boiling, two-phase flow instability and two-phase flow pressure drop

This paper is the first portion of a two-part study concerning the flow boiling of liquid nitrogen in the micro-tubes with the diameters of 0.531, 0.834, 1.042 and 1.931 mm. The contents mainly include the onset of nucleate boiling (ONB), two-phase flow instability and two-phase flow pressure drop. At ONB, mass flux drops suddenly while pressure drop increases, and apparent wall temperature hysteresis in the range of 1.0–5.0 K occurs. Modified Thom model can predict the wall superheat and heat flux at ONB. Moreover, stable long-period (50–60 s) and large-amplitude oscillations of mass flux, pressure drop and wall temperatures are observed at ONB for the 1.042 and 1.931 mm micro-tubes. Block phenomenon at ONB is also observed in the cases of high mass flux. The regions for the oscillations, block and stable flow boiling are classified. A physical model of vapor patch coalesced at the outlet is proposed to explain the ONB oscillations and block. Vapor generation caused by the flash evaporation is so large that it should be taken into account to precisely depict the variation of mass quality along the micro-tube. The adiabatic and diabatic two-phase flow pressure drop characteristics in micro-tubes are investigated and compared with four models including homogeneous model and three classical separated flow models. Contrary to the conventional channels, homogeneous model yields better prediction than three separated flow models. It can be explained by the fact that the density ratio of liquid to vapor for nitrogen is comparatively small, and the liquid and vapor phases may mix well in micro-tube at high mass flux due to small viscosity of liquid nitrogen, which leads to a more homogeneous flow. Part II of this study will focus on the heat transfer characteristics and critical heat flux (CHF) of flow boiling of liquid nitrogen in micro-tubes.     

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.     

Subcooled flow boiling heat transfer of R-134a and the associated bubble characteristics in a vertical plate heat exchanger

Subcooled flow boiling heat transfer characteristics of refrigerant R-134a in a vertical plate heat exchanger (PHE) are investigated experimentally in this study. Besides, the associated bubble characteristics are also inspected by visualizing the boiling flow in the vertical PHE. In the experiment two vertical counterflow channels are formed in the exchanger by three plates of commercial geometry with a corrugated sinusoidal shape of a chevron angle of 60°. Upflow boiling of subcooled refrigerant R-134a in one channel receives heat from the downflow of hot water in the other channel. The effects of the boiling heat flux, refrigerant mass flux, system pressure and inlet subcooling of R-134a on the subcooled boiling heat transfer are explored in detail. The results are presented in terms of the boiling curves and heat transfer coefficients. The measured data showed that the slopes of the boiling curves change significantly during the onset of nucleate boiling (ONB) especially at low mass flux and high saturation temperature. Besides, the boiling hysteresis is significant at a low refrigerant mass flux. The subcooled boiling heat transfer coefficient is affected noticeably by the mass flux of the refrigerant. However, increases in the inlet subcooling and saturation temperature only show slight improvement on the boiling heat transfer coefficient.The photos from the flow visualization reveal that at higher imposed heat flux the plate surface is covered with more bubbles and the bubble generation frequency is substantially higher, and the bubbles tend to coalesce to form big bubbles. But these big bubbles are prone to breaking up into small bubbles as they move over the corrugated plate, producing strong agitating flow motion and hence enhancing the boiling heat transfer. We also note that the bubbles nucleated from the plate are suppressed to a larger degree for higher inlet subcooling and mass flux. Finally, empirical correlations are proposed to correlate the present data for the heat transfer coefficient and the bubble departure diameter in terms of boiling, Froude, Reynolds and Jakob numbers.     

Effects of pulse width and mass flux on microscale flow boiling under pulse heating

A Pt microheater (140 × 100 μm²) is fabricated on a glass wafer and enclosed in a silicon microchannel of trapezoidal cross section by MEMS technology. With the aid of a high-speed CCD and data acquisition system, subcooled flow boiling phenomena and temperature response on the surface of the microheater under pulse heating are observed and recorded. Experiments are conducted for six pulse widths (50 μs, 100 μs, 200 μs, 600 μs, 1 ms, and 2 ms) under different mass and heat fluxes. With increasing heat flux at a fixed pulse width and different mass fluxes, four flow regimes including single phase, nucleate boiling, film boiling and dry out are identified. Since flow boiling regimes are relatively independent of mass flux, correlation equations based on experimental data for the transitional heat flux of different flow boiling regimes are obtained in terms of pulse width only. It is also found that pulse width and mass flux have little influence on boiling inception time, and the classical analytical solution for the nucleation inception time in terms of heat flux is verified experimentally.     

Capillary column enhanced CHF microgravity flow boiling

Flow boiling heat transfer under microgravity conditions can be extended and enhanced by means of using porous stacks, or capillary columns, arranged on top of a flat heated surface. Under these conditions, body forces are negligible to remove the generated vapor away from the hot surface, which eventually hinders liquid from reaching it. It is possible to increase the critical heat flux (CHF) by having porous stacks symmetrically arranged on this surface; which draws the liquid phase towards it by means of capillary forces. Various flow regimes in the capillary enhanced surface flow boiling can be identified. These include: the regime where the liquid is supplied between the columns, the regime where the liquid flow is controlled by liquid capturing and the viscous drag-capillarity in the columns, and the critical heat flux. For the theoretical model, the expression for the interfacial lift-off model critical heat flux was interpreted based on customizable parameters instead of those imposed by the physics of the flow. This study indicates a potential improvement in CHF by having an inter-column spacing smaller than the critical wavelength for a plain surface. There is also a potential benefit of having the wetting contact to wavelength ratio to be larger than the constant of 0.2 found in experimental studies. The CHF regime can occur by a limitation of the stacks to have access to the liquid phase, as it happens when they are completely submerged in a vapor phase, or by reaching the maximum capillary pressure drop in the stack (as per the Darcy–Ergun momentum equation), or by reaching an entrainment limit of the vapor flow passed the capillary columns. Therefore the critical heat flux can also be extended as long as the capillary columns protrude over the vapor layer and their viscous capillary and entrainment limits are not reached.     

Microchannel size effects on local flow boiling heat transfer to a dielectric fluid

Heat transfer with liquid–vapor phase change in microchannels can support very high heat fluxes for use in applications such as the thermal management of high-performance electronics. However, the effects of channel cross-sectional dimensions on the two-phase heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop have not been investigated extensively. In the present work, experiments are conducted to investigate the local flow boiling heat transfer of a dielectric fluid, Fluorinert FC-77, in microchannel heat sinks. Experiments are performed for mass fluxes ranging from 250 to 1600 kg/m² s. Seven different test pieces made from silicon and consisting of parallel microchannels with nominal widths ranging from 100 to 5850 μm, all with a nominal depth of 400 μm, are considered. An array of temperature sensors on the substrate allows for resolution of local temperatures and heat transfer coefficients. The results of this study show that for microchannels of width 400 μm and greater, the heat transfer coefficients corresponding to a fixed wall heat flux as well as the boiling curves are independent of channel size. Also, heat transfer coefficients and boiling curves are independent of mass flux in the nucleate boiling region for a fixed channel size, but are affected by mass flux as convective boiling dominates. A strong dependence of pressure drop on both channel size and mass flux is observed. The experimental results are compared to predictions from a number of existing correlations for both pool boiling and flow boiling heat transfer.     

Local heat transfer distribution and effect of instabilities during flow boiling in a silicon microchannel heat sink

Flow boiling of the perfluorinated dielectric fluid FC-77 in a silicon microchannel heat sink is investigated. The heat sink contains 60 parallel microchannels each of 100 μm width and 389 μm depth. Twenty-five evenly distributed temperature sensors in the substrate yield local heat transfer coefficients. The pressure drop across the channels is also measured. Experiments are conducted at five flow rates through the heat sink in the range of 20–80 ml/min with the inlet subcooling held at 26 K in all the tests. At each flow rate, the uniform heat input to the substrate is increased in steps so that the fluid experiences flow regimes from single-phase liquid flow to the occurrence of critical heat flux (CHF). In the upstream region of the channels, the flow develops from single-phase liquid flow at low heat fluxes to pulsating two-phase flow at high heat fluxes during flow instability that commences at a threshold heat flux in the range of 30.5–62.3 W/cm² depending on the flow rate. In the downstream region, progressive flow patterns from bubbly flow, slug flow, elongated bubbles or annular flow, alternating wispy-annular and churn flow, and wall dryout at highest heat fluxes are observed. As a result, the heat transfer coefficients in the downstream region experience substantial variations over the entire heat flux range, based on which five distinct boiling regimes are identified. In contrast, the heat transfer coefficient midway along the channels remains relatively constant over the heat flux range tested. Due to changes in flow patterns during flow instability, the heat transfer is enhanced both in the downstream region (prior to extended wall dryout) and in the upstream region. A previous study by the authors found no effect of instabilities during flow boiling in a heat sink with larger microchannels (each 300 μm wide and 389 μm deep); it appears therefore that the effect of instabilities on heat transfer is amplified in smaller-sized channels. While CHF increases with increasing flow rate, the pressure drop across the channels has only a minimal dependence on flow rate once boiling is initiated in the microchannels, and varies almost linearly with increasing heat flux.     

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.     

Spray cooling in a closed system with different fractions of non-condensibles in the environment

Spraying liquid on a hot surface is an effective method for dissipating high heat fluxes from integrated circuit chips. In this study, HAGO nozzle was used to create the spray and a closed system with water as a test liquid was used. The effect of presence of non-condensibles in the closed system on the heat transfer coefficient in both single phase and boiling modes were investigated. Maintaining an air partial pressure of 3.1 kPa, while varying the vapor partial pressure from 7.3 kPa to 97.9 kPa, the total system pressure was varied from 10.4 kPa to 101 kPa. Experiments were also conducted by keeping the system pressure constant at 101 kPa and varying the air partial pressure inside the chamber from 2.75 kPa to 93.7 kPa. In each case, liquid temperature corresponded to the saturation temperature corresponding to partial pressure of vapor and this was also approximately the ambient temperature of vapor and air mixture in the chamber. It was found that in the single phase regime, overall heat transfer coefficient for lower concentration of non-condensibles in the system is much higher than that for the case with more non-condensibles. In boiling, heat transfer coefficient depends on the total system pressure in the system. For the same system pressure, data for different partial pressures of air overlap. For a water mass flux of 17.5 ml/min/cm² at room temperature, critical heat flux as high as 230 W/cm² was obtained at a surface temperature of 127 °C.     

Mechanisms of film boiling heat transfer of normally impacting spray

The heat transfer mechanisms of horizontally impacting sprays were studied experimentally. An impulse-jet liquid spray system and a solid particle spray system were used. The liquid spray system is capable of producing uniform droplets with the independent variables of droplet size, velocity, liquid flow rate, and air velocity. The horizontally impacting sprays give a lower heat transfer at film boiling than the corresponding vertically impacting spray. The film boiling heat transfer is mainly controlled by the liquid mass flux. At low liquid mass flux and low droplet Weber number, the heat transfer increases with the droplet Weber number. At high droplet Weber number or high liquid mass flux, the heat transfer is not significantly affected by the droplet Weber number.     

Saturated flow boiling heat transfer and pressure drop of refrigerant R-410A in a vertical plate heat exchanger

Saturated flow boiling heat transfer and the associated frictional pressure drop of the ozone friendly refrigerant R-410A (a mixture of 50 wt% R-32 and 50 wt% R-125) flowing in a vertical plate heat exchanger (PHE) are investigated experimentally in the study. In the experiment two vertical counter flow channels are formed in the exchanger by three plates of commercial geometry with a corrugated sinusoidal shape of a chevron angle of 60°. Upflow boiling of saturated refrigerant R-410A in one channel receives heat from the downflow of hot water in the other channel. The experimental parameters in this study include the refrigerant R-410A mass flux ranging from 50 to 125 kg/m² s and imposed heat flux from 5 to 35 kW/m² for the system pressure fixed at 1.08, 1.25 and 1.44 MPa, which respectively correspond to the saturated temperatures of 10, 15 and 20 °C. The measured data showed that both the boiling heat transfer coefficient and frictional pressure drop increase almost linearly with the imposed heat flux. Furthermore, the refrigerant mass flux exhibits significant effect on the saturated flow boiling heat transfer coefficient only at higher imposed heat flux. For a rise of the refrigerant pressure from 1.08 to 1.44 MPa, the frictional pressure drops are found to be lower to a noticeable degree. However, the refrigerant pressure has very slight influences on the saturated flow boiling heat transfer coefficient. Finally, empirical correlations are proposed to correlate the present data for the saturated boiling heat transfer coefficients and friction factor in terms of the Boiling number and equivalent Reynolds number.     

Time periodic flow boiling heat transfer of R-134a and associated bubble characteristics in a narrow annular duct due to flow rate oscillation

An experiment is conducted here to investigate the effects of the imposed time periodic refrigerant flow rate oscillation in the form of nearly a triangular wave on refrigeriant R-134a flow boiling heat transfer and associated bubble characteristics in a horizontal narrow annular duct with the duct gap fixed at 2.0 mm. The results indicate that when the imposed heat flux is close to that for the onset of stable flow boiling, intermittent flow boiling appears in which nucleate boiling on the heated surface does not exist in an entire periodic cycle. At somewhat higher heat flux persistent boiling prevails. Besides, the refrigerant flow rate oscillation only slightly affects the time-average boiling curves and heat transfer coefficients. Moreover, the heated wall temperature, bubble departure diameter and frequency, and active nucleation site density are found to oscillate periodically in time as well and at the same frequency as the imposed mass flux oscillation. Furthermore, in the persistent boiling the resulting heated wall temperature oscillation is stronger for a longer period and a larger amplitude of the mass flux oscillation. And for a larger amplitude of the mass flux oscillation, stronger temporal oscillations in the bubble characteristics are noted. The effects of the mass flux oscillation on the size of the departing bubble and active nucleation site density dominate over the bubble departure frequency, causing the heated wall temperature to decrease and heat transfer coefficient to increase at reducing mass flux in the flow boiling, opposing to that in the single-phase flow. But they are only mildly affected by the period of the mass flux oscillation. However, a short time lag in the wall temperature oscillation is also noted. Finally, a flow regime map is provided to delineate the boundaries separating different boiling regimes for the R-134a flow boiling in the annular duct.     

On the transition from partial to fully developed subcooled flow boiling

The subject of the present study is to relate the boiling heat transfer process with experimentally observed bubble behaviour during subcooled flow boiling of water in a vertical heated annulus. It presents an attempt to explain the transition from partial to fully developed flow boiling with regard to bubble growth rates and to the time that individual bubbles spend attached to the heater surface.Within the partial nucleate boiling region bubbles barely change in size and shape while sliding a long distance on the heater surface. Such behaviour indicates an important contribution of the microlayer evaporation mechanism in the overall heat transfer rate. With increasing heat flux, or reducing flow rate at constant heat flux, bubble growth rates increase significantly. Bubbles grow while sliding, detach from the heater, and subsequently collapse in the bulk fluid within a distance of 1-2 diameters parallel to the heater surface. This confirms that bubble agitation becomes a leading heat transfer mode with increasing heat flux. There is however, a sharp transition between the two observed bubble behaviours that can be taken as the transition from partial to fully developed boiling. Hence, this information is used to develop a new model for the transition from partial to fully developed subcooled flow boiling.     

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.     

Saturated flow boiling heat transfer of refrigerant R-410A in a horizontal annular finned duct

An experiment is conducted here to investigate the saturated flow boiling heat transfer characteristics of ozone friendly refrigerant R-410A in a horizontal annular finned duct. Meanwhile the associated bubble characteristics in the duct are also inspected from the flow visualization. The experimental data are presented in terms of saturated flow boiling curves, boiling heat transfer coefficients and flow photos. In addition, empirical correlation equations for the saturated flow boiling heat transfer coefficient and mean bubble departure diameter are proposed. The saturated flow boiling curves show that boiling hysteresis is insignificant in the flow and the wall superheat needed for the onset of nucleate boiling is slightly affected by the refrigerant mass flux. Besides, the boiling curves are mainly affected by the imposed heat flux and refrigerant mass flux. Moreover, the measured saturated flow boiling heat transfer coefficient increases with the imposed heat flux and refrigerant mass flux. Furthermore, at a higher refrigerant mass flux the departing bubbles are smaller.     

Experiments on pool boiling of a dielectric fluid on extended surfaces

An experimental study on pool boiling heat transfer from finned copper surfaces immersed in a saturated dielectric liquid (Galden HT-55) is presented. Two extended surfaces of different dimensions were tested using vertical and horizontal orientations. The effects of nonboiling waiting period, pressure and spine dimensions on boiling behavior were examined.A marked enhancement of heat transfer performance was observed on passing from plane to extended surfaces. Increasing the pressure improved the heat transfer coefficient and critical heat flux. The nonboiling period, orientation and pressure significantly influenced the boiling incipience and the hysteresis phenomenon that accompanies increasing and decreasing heat fluxes. Experimental data are expressed in terms of enhancement ratios of extended surfaces as a function of base surface superheat and pressure.     

Saturated flow boiling heat transfer and associated bubble characteristics of R-134a in a narrow annular duct

Experiments are conducted here to investigate how the channel size affects the saturated flow boiling heat transfer and associated bubble characteristics of refrigerant R-134a in a horizontal narrow annular duct. The gap of the duct is fixed at 1.0 and 2.0 mm in this study. The measured heat transfer data indicate that the saturated flow boiling heat transfer coefficient increases with a decrease in the gap of the duct. Besides, raising the imposed heat flux can cause a significant increase in the boiling heat transfer coefficients. However, the effects of the refrigerant mass flux and saturated temperature on the boiling heat transfer coefficient are milder. The results from the flow visualization show that the mean diameter of the bubbles departing from the heating surface decreases slightly at increasing R-134a mass flux. Moreover, the bubble departure frequency increases at reducing duct size mainly due to the rising shear stress of the liquid flow, and at a high imposed heat flux many bubbles generated from the cavities in the heating surface tend to merge together to form big bubbles. Correlation for the present saturated flow boiling heat transfer data of R-134a in the narrow annular duct is proposed. Additionally, data for some quantitative bubble characteristics such as the mean bubble departure diameter and frequency and the active nucleation site density are also correlated.     

Numerical Investigation of Saturated Flow Boiling in Microchannels by the Lattice Boltzmann Method

Bubble formation in saturated flow boiling in 2D microchannels, generated from a microheater under constant wall heat flux or constant wall temperature conditions, is studied numerically based on a newly developed lattice Boltzmann model for liquid-vapor phase change. Simulations are carried out to study effects of inlet velocity, contact angle, and heater size on saturated flow boiling of water under constant wall heat flux conditions. Important information, such as effects of static contact angle on nucleation time and nucleation temperature, which was unable to be obtained by other numerical simulation methods, is obtained. Furthermore, effects of inlet velocity, contact angle, and superheat on nucleate boiling heat transfer in steady flow boiling of water under constant wall temperature conditions are also presented. It is found that the nucleate boiling heat transfer at the microheater is higher if the heater surface is more hydrophilic, because the superheated vapor at the hydrophilic wall has a thinner thermal boundary layer and a larger thermal conductivity.