Mathematical Modeling of Capillary Pumping Within Micron Sized Channels

This paper introduces a mathematical model which can be used to simulate the capillary pumping process of a micro heat engine. The micro heat engine has micron sized channels where the capillary pumping occurs. The classic Volume of Fluids (VOF) method is applied to obtain the velocity profiles of the fluids and to track the motions of the liquid-gas interfaces. The numerical results based this model have been compared with the experimental data and the initial retard of the pumping has been found and this phenomenon can be explained by the initial capillary pressure build-ups across the liquid-gas interfaces.

Development of Scaling Model for a MEMS-Based Micro Heat Engine

In this work we investigate issues related to scaling of a MEMS-based resonant heat engine. The engine is an external combustion engine made of a cavity encapsulated between two thin membranes. The cavity is filled with saturated liquid-vapor mixture working fluid. We use both model and experiment to investigate scaling of the MEMS-based resonant heat engine. The results suggest that the performance of the engine is determined by three major factors: geometry of the engine, speed of operation, and thermal physical properties of engine components. Larger engine volumes, working fluids with higher latent heat of evaporation, slower engine speeds, and compliant expander structures are shown to be desirable.

On the Thermodynamic Cycle of a MEMS-Based External Combustion Resonant Engine

In this work we investigate the thermodynamic cycle of a resonant, MEMS-based, micro heat engine. The micro heat engine is made of a cavity encapsulated between two membranes. The cavity is filled with saturated liquid-vapor mixture working fluid. Heat is added/rejected from the engine at a frequency equal to its resonant frequency. Both pressure-volume and temperature-entropy diagrams of the resonant engine are used to investigate the thermodynamic cycle of the resonant micro heat engine. The results show that the thermodynamic cycle of the engine consists of four major processes: heat addition, expansion, heat rejection, and compression. pressure-volume and temperature-entropy diagrams are bounded by two constant temperature processes and two constant volume processes. The temperature-entropy and pressure-volume diagrams show deviations from this ideal description and are rounded due to the presence of irreversible effects. Major sources of irreversibility in the engine are heat transfer over finite temperature differences during heat addition and rejection, heat transfer into and out of engine thermal mass and viscous losses due to liquid working fluid motion. The measured second law efficiency of the micro heat engine is about 16%.

Resonant Versus Sub-Resonant Operation of a MEMS Heat Engine

The operation of a MEMS-based micro heat engine at resonant and sub-resonant conditions is presented. Both model and experiments are used to investigate resonant and sub-resonant operation of the engine. In this work, we look at the pressure-volume diagrams of an engine operated at resonance and sub-resonance. Model predictions of the PV diagram are in favorable agreement with measured data. The results show that resonant operation is beneficial. At resonance, the pressure and volume in the engine cavity are decoupled and more mechanical work is observed. The PV diagram describes an elliptical shape. However, for an off-resonant operation the pressure and volume become more coupled and less mechanical work is observed. The PV diagram is described by a sigmoidal shape.