Modeling of Dry-Out Incipience for Flow Boiling in a Circular Microchannel at a Uniform Heat Flux

2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amen Younes ◽  
Ibrahim Hassan

Dry-out is an essential phenomenon that has been observed experimentally in both slug and annular flow regimes for flow boiling in mini and microchannels. The dry-out leads to a drastic drop in heat transfer coefficient, reversible flow and may cause a serious damage to the microchannel. Consequently, the study and prediction of this phenomenon is an essential objective for flow boiling in microchannels. The aim of this work is to develop an analytical model to predict the critical heat flux (CHF) based on the prediction of liquid film variation in annular flow regime for flow boiling in a horizontal uniformly heated circular microtube. The model is developed by applying one-dimensional (1D) separated flow model for a control volume in annular flow regime for steady, and sable saturated flow boiling. The influence of interfacial shear and inertia force on the liquid film thickness is taken into account. The effects of operating conditions, channel sizes, and working fluids on the CHF have been investigated. The model was compared with 110 CHF data points for flow boiling of various working fluids, (water, LN2, FC-72, and R134a) in single and multiple micro/minichannels with diameter ranges of (0.38≤Dh≤3.04 mm) and heated-length to diameter ratios in the range of (117.7 (117.7≤Lh/D≤470)470). Additionally, three CHF correlations developed for saturated flow boiling in a single microtube have been employed for the model validation. The model showed a good agreement with the experimental CHF data with mean absolute error (MAE) = 19.81%.

2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Junye Li ◽  
Yuhao Lin ◽  
Wei Li ◽  
Kan Zhou

Abstract An experimental study of saturated flow boiling in a high-aspect-ratio one-side-heating rectangular microchannel was conducted with de-ionized water as the working fluid. ZnO microrods with the average diameter of about 1 μm and length of about 7 μm were synthesized on the Ti wafer surface, which was used to fabricate the heated bottom surface of the microchannel. The ZnO microrod surface appeared to be hydrophobic and the capillary wetting effect on the surface was found after being wet. The heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of saturated flow boiling in the microchannel were studied and the flow patterns were photographed with a high-speed camera. Almost all the flow patterns observed in this experiment featured the main annular flow and abrupt flush of bubbly flow. Because of the capillary wetting effect on the ZnO microrod surface, the local dryout and rewetting phenomenon did not appear in this study. However, due to the numerous nucleation sites on ZnO microrod surface, the abrupt bubble flow caused much more disruption to the liquid film of annular flow when compared to the regular silicon surface. The abrupt bubble flow flushed through the annular liquid film and caused the fluctuation and nonuniformity of the liquid film and heat transfer deterioration, which was severer in the high heat flux conditions. Otherwise, the capillary effect on the ZnO microrod surface was able to restrict the nonuniformity of the liquid film under high heat flux and low mass flux conditions; thus, the deterioration of heat transfer performances diminished.


2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 362-384
Author(s):  
Amen Younes ◽  
Ibrahim Hassan ◽  
Lyes Kadem

A semi-analytical model for predicting heat transfer and pressure drop in annular flow regime for saturated flow boiling in a horizontal microtube at a uniform heat flux has been developed based on a one-dimensional separated flow model. More than 600 two-phase heat transfer, 498 two-phase pressure drop, and 153 void fraction experimental data points for annular flow regime were collected from the literature to validate the present model. The collected data were recorded for various working fluids, R134a, R1234ze, R236fa, R410a, R113, and CO2, for round macro- and microsingle horizontal tubes with an inner diameter range of 0.244 mm ≤ Dh ≤ 3.1 mm, a heated length to diameter ratio of 90 ≤ Lh/Dh ≤ 2000, a saturation temperature range of –10 ≤ Tsat ≤ +50 °C, and liquid to vapor density ratios in the range 6.4 ≤ ρf/ρg ≤ 188. The model was tested for laminar and turbulent flow boiling conditions corresponding to an equivalent Reynolds number, 1900 ≤ Reeq ≤ 48 000, and confinement number, 0.27 ≤ Cconf ≤ 3.4. Under the annular flow regime, the present model predicted the collected data of the heat transfer, pressure drop, and void fraction with mean absolute errors (MAE) of 18.14%, 23.02%, and 3.22%, respectively.


Author(s):  
Tao Tong ◽  
Je-Young Chang ◽  
Shankar Devasenathipathy ◽  
John Dirner ◽  
Suzana Prstic ◽  
...  

Pumped-loop liquid-cooled system involving phase-change (two-phase) is a promising technology for removing excess heat from high-density electronics. However, no consensus has been reached so far regarding the hydraulic and heat transfer characteristics of such two-phase (TP) micro flow passages with hydraulic diameters (Dh) on the order of several hundred micrometers or smaller. In a previous paper [Tong et al., ASME IMECE2007-42027], we reported flow boiling experiments for several microchannel (MC) cold plate devices with channel widths ranging from 61 to 340 μm (hydraulic diameters from 100 to 337 μm) and a micro-pin-fin array (μPFA) device. Two working fluids, deionized water and HFE-7100, were tested respectively. In this paper, we focus on the highspeed visualization study of the phase-change phenomena inside the MC cold plates. Features of the major TP flow patterns are discussed for each MC unit with varying sizes and with the two different working fluids. From direct visualization, we report the liquid thin film evaporation rate for the pulsating annular flow regions in MCs. The observed liquid film evaporation rate is much higher than previous predictions/assumptions from a steady-state annular flow picture as assumed by most theoretical investigations so far. The local transient heat flux is thus much higher than the average heat flux provided, especially for water and small hydraulic diameter MCs.


Author(s):  
J. P. Manning ◽  
S. P. Walker ◽  
G. F. Hewitt

The mechanism responsible for Critical Heat Flux (CHF) depends on the flow regime. In the annular flow regime it is normally assumed that CHF occurs when the liquid film dries out. The quality at the onset of annular flow varies, but is generally a few percent, and phenomenological models to predict CHF are routinely applied at qualities above this value. In this paper we will demonstrate that annular flow film dryout cannot occur until a quality significantly greater than this. This finding means that for a large fraction of the annular flow regime the film dryout mechanism cannot be responsible for CHF. This finding provides guidance as to under what circumstances such phenomenological models may properly be used.


Author(s):  
Meisam Matin ◽  
Abdy Fazeli ◽  
Saeed Moghaddam

Transition to annular flow regime in microchannels is arguably one of the most complex phenomena in the flow boiling process. The instability of the vapor-liquid interface in this interstitial regime presents an intricate situation in which the interface pattern rapidly changes with the mass flow rate and surface heat flux. Although a few past studies have reported observing this regime, thermohydraulics of the process and flow and boundary conditions under which this transition occurs have remained largely unknown. The main obstacle in deciphering the physics of this process is lack of measurement tools to characterize hydrodynamics and thermal characteristics of this flow regime at microscales. The present study benefits from implementation of a novel test device that enables measuring the liquid film thickness and its rapid variations with micrometer and microseconds spatial and temporal resolutions. It is determined that each flow regime has a unique surface temperature signature that enables its clear distinction without need for high-speed visualization. Based on the dynamics of the flow, we identified that the transitional region is comprised of two regimes coalescing bubbles (CB) and semi-annular flow conditions. The difference between these two flow regimes emanates from motion of liquid film beneath the bubble.


2016 ◽  
Vol 138 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yangying Zhu ◽  
Dion S. Antao ◽  
Tiejun Zhang ◽  
Evelyn N. Wang

We demonstrated suppressed dry-out on structured surfaces during flow boiling in microchannels. We designed and fabricated microchannels with well-defined silicon micropillar arrays (heights of ~25 µm, diameters of 10 µm and pitches of 40 µm) coated with silicon dioxide on the bottom heated channel wall. We visualized the flow fields inside a smooth and structured surface microchannel during the annular flow boiling regime with a high speed camera at a frame rate of 2000 fps. Time-lapse images revealed two distinct dry-out dynamics for the two types of surfaces. For the smooth surface, the thin liquid film broke-up into smaller liquid drops/islands and the surface stayed in a dry state after the drops evaporated. The microstructured surface, on the other hand, preserved the thin liquid film initially due to capillary wicking. Dry patches eventually formed at the center of the microchannel which indicated wicking in the transverse direction (from the sidewalls inward) in addition to wicking in the flow direction. Overall, the structured surface showed less instances of dry-out both spatially and temporally. These visualizations aid in the understanding of the stability of the thin liquid film in the annular flow boiling regime and provide insight into heat transfer enhancement mechanisms by leveraging surface structure design in microchannels.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 2440
Author(s):  
Youngwoo Kim ◽  
Dae Yeon Kim ◽  
Kyung Chun Kim

A flow visualization study was carried out for flow boiling in a rectangular channel filled with and without metallic random porous media. Four main flow patterns are observed as intermittent slug-churn flow, churn-annular flow, annular-mist flow, and mist flow regimes. These flow patterns are clearly classified based on the high-speed images of the channel flow. The results of the flow pattern map according to the mass flow rate were presented using saturation temperatures and the materials of porous media as variables. As the saturation temperatures increased, the annular-mist flow regime occupied a larger area than the lower saturation temperatures condition. Therefore, the churn flow regime is narrower, and the slug flow more quickly turns to annular flow with the increasing vapor quality. The pattern map is not significantly affected by the materials of porous media.


2005 ◽  
Vol 127 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Bergles ◽  
S. G. Kandlikar

The critical heat flux (CHF) limit is an important consideration in the design of most flow boiling systems. Before the use of microchannels under saturated flow boiling conditions becomes widely accepted in cooling of high-heat-flux devices, such as electronics and laser diodes, it is essential to have a clear understanding of the CHF mechanism. This must be coupled with an extensive database covering a wide range of fluids, channel configurations, and operating conditions. The experiments required to obtain this information pose unique challenges. Among other issues, flow distribution among parallel channels, conjugate effects, and instrumentation need to be considered. An examination of the limited CHF data indicates that CHF in parallel microchannels seems to be the result of either an upstream compressible volume instability or an excursive instability rather than the conventional dryout mechanism. It is expected that the CHF in parallel microchannels would be higher if the flow is stabilized by an orifice at the entrance of each channel. The nature of CHF in microchannels is thus different than anticipated, but recent advances in microelectronic fabrication may make it possible to realize the higher power levels.


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