Control of Instabilities in Two-Phase Microchannel Flow Using Artificial Nucleation Sites

Author(s):  
Rory J. Jones ◽  
Daniel T. Pate ◽  
Sushil H. Bhavnani

Microchannel heat sinks offer the promise of an effective and compact technique for heat dissipation from high-powered microelectronics. When combined with phase-change mechanisms, it is possible to extend heat removal capabilities over several future technology nodes on electronics roadmaps. Many studies have documented instabilities in phase-change flows associated with uncontrolled transition from bubbly flows to slug flows at fairly low void fraction. The phase-change thermal transport reported here was carried out on microchannel heat sinks etched in silicon and cooled by the dielectric fluid FC72. Microchannels with a hydraulic diameter of 253 microns were studied. The base of each microchannel is augmented with 20-micron cavities to trigger controlled nucleation activity and help control large-scale instabilities reported in the literature. The cavities significantly impact the flow regime by promoting stable nucleate boiling. Temperature and pressure measurements show stable flow regimes under all combinations leading to saturated channel exit conditions and even for subcooled exit conditions at low-to-moderate heat fluxes. These measurements are confirmed by high-speed photography. Instabilities observed were confined to a sub-set of the subcooled exit flow regime. Within this region, an analysis of the data shows that the frequency of the flow instability is between 8–14 Hz. Instability maps demarcating regions of stable and unstable flow are presented as functions of mass flux (535–2140 kg/m2–s), and inlet subcooling (5–25°C).

Author(s):  
B. R. Alexander ◽  
E. N. Wang

Two-phase microchannels promise an efficient method to dissipate heat from high performance electronic systems by utilizing the latent heat of vaporization during the phase-change process. However, phase-change in microchannel heat sinks leads to challenges that are not present in macroscale systems due to the increasing importance of surface tension and viscous forces. In particular, flow instabilities often occur during the boiling process, which lead to liquid dry-out in the microchannels and severely limits the heat removal capabilities of the system. We propose a microscale breather device consisting of an array of hydrophobic breather ports which allow vapor bubbles to escape from the microchannels to improve flow stability. In this study, we use the combination of microfabricated structures and surface chemistry to separate vapor from the liquid flow. We designed test devices that allow for cross-sectional optical visualization to better understand the governing parameters of a breather design with high vapor removal efficiencies and minimal liquid leakage. We examined breather devices with average liquid velocities ranging from 0.5 cm/s to 4 cm/s and breather vacuum levels between 1 kPa and 9 kPa on the maximum gas removal rate through the breather. We demonstrated successful breather performance. In addition, a model was developed that offers design guidelines for future integrated breathers in microchannel heat sinks. The breathers also have significant promise for other microscale systems, such as micro-fuel cells, where liquid-vapor separation can significantly enhance system performance.


Author(s):  
Tannaz Harirchian ◽  
Suresh V. Garimella

Two-phase heat transfer in microchannels can support very high heat fluxes for use in high-performance electronics-cooling applications. However, the effects of microchannel cross-sectional dimensions on the 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 in microchannel heat sinks. The effect of channel size on the heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop is studied for mass fluxes ranging from 250 to 1600 kg/m2s. The test sections consist of parallel microchannels with nominal widths of 100, 250, 400, 700, and 1000 μm, all with a depth of 400 μm, cut into 12.7 mm × 12.7 mm silicon substrates. Twenty-five microheaters embedded in the substrate allow local control of the imposed heat flux, while twenty-five temperature microsensors integrated into the back of the substrates enable local measurements of temperature. The dielectric fluid Fluorinert FC-77 is used as the working fluid. The results of this study serve to quantify the effectiveness of microchannel heat transport while simultaneously assessing the pressure drop trade-offs.


Author(s):  
Dylan Farnam ◽  
Bahgat Sammakia ◽  
Kanad Ghose

Increasing power dissipation in microprocessors and other devices is leading to the consideration of more capable thermal solutions than the traditional air-cooled fin heat sinks. Microchannel heat sinks (MHSs) are promising candidates for long-term thermal solution given their simplicity, performance, and the development of MHS-compatible 3D device architecture. As the traditional methods of cooling generally have uniform heat removal on the contact area with the device, thermal consequences of design have traditionally been considered only after the layout of components on a device is finalized in accordance with connection and other criteria. Unlike traditional cooling solutions, however, microchannel heat sinks provide highly nonuniform heat removal on the contact area with the device. This feature is of utmost importance and can actually be used quite advantageously, if considered during the design phase of a device. In this study, simple thermal design criteria governing the general placement of components on devices to be cooled by microchannel heat sink are developed and presented. These thermal criteria are not meant to supersede connection and other important design criteria but are intended as a necessary and valuable supplement. Full-scale numerical simulations of a device with a realistic power map cooled by microchannel heat sink prove the effectiveness of the criteria, showing large reduction in maximum operating temperature and harmful temperature gradients. The simulations further show that the device and microchannel heat sink can dissipate a comparatively high amount of power, with little thermal danger, when design considers the criteria developed herein.


Author(s):  
Jingru Zhang ◽  
Tiantian Zhang ◽  
Yogesh Jaluria

Cooling of electronic chips has become a critical aspect in the development of electronic devices. Overheating may cause the malfunction or damage of electronics and the time needed for heat removal is important. In this paper, an experimental setup and numerical model was developed to test the effects of different parameters and their influence on the transient electronic chip cooling by liquid flow in microchannel heat sinks. The temperature change with time of the system for different heat fluxes at different flow was determined, from which the response time can be obtained. Three different configurations of multi-microchannel heat sinks were tested during the experiment. Numerical models were then developed to simulate the transient cooling for two of the configurations. A good agreement between the experimental data and numerical results showed that single-channel models are capable of simulating the thermal behavior of the entire heat sink by applying appropriate assumptions and boundary conditions.


Author(s):  
Suresh V. Garimella ◽  
Vishal Singhal

Microchannel heat sinks are widely regarded as being amongst the most effective heat removal techniques from space-constrained electronic devices. However, the fluid flow and heat transfer in microchannels is not fully understood. The pumping requirements for flow through microchannels are also very high and none of the micropumps in the literature are truly suitable for this application. A wide-ranging research program on microchannel heat sinks and micropumps is underway in the Electronics Cooling Laboratory at Purdue University. This article provides an overview of the research being conducted to understand fluid flow and heat transfer in microchannels and to identify pumping requirements and suitable mechanisms for pumping in microchannels.


2019 ◽  
Vol 875 ◽  
pp. 1035-1057 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Zargartalebi ◽  
Jalel Azaiez

In this study, the flow dynamics and heat transfer in partially filled pin-based microchannel heat sinks (MCHS) are examined. The lattice Boltzmann method is used to analyse the physics of these systems and examine the effects of the flow, pin configuration, size and porous medium height. The results of the study reveal that, unlike the fully filled pin-based MCHS, there is no unique behaviour for the pin configuration effects and the performance of partially filled pin-based MCHS depends on the porous medium size and structure as well as the inertial forces in the flow. In particular, it is found that there are hydrodynamic and thermal-based critical porous medium heights at which the best performance in terms of heat removal switches from the inline to the staggered configuration. The dependence of these critical heights on the Reynolds number and the porous medium properties are analysed and the effects of the flow dynamics are further unravelled through a particle tracing technique. Furthermore, a simple flow model is developed, and is shown to capture well the main trends obtained from the simulations and to bring to light more of the system physics that help explain the interplay between the different parameters.


2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 373-395
Author(s):  
Sainaba Jesseela ◽  
Choondal B. Sobhan ◽  
G. P. Peterson

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