Innovative Realizations of High Heat-Flux Boiling and Condensing Flows for Milli-Meter and Micro-Meter Scale Applications

For shear driven mm-scale flows, the traditional boiler and condenser operations pose serious problems of degraded performance (low heat-flux values, high pressure drops, and device-and-system level instabilities). The innovative devices are introduced for functionality and high heat load capabilities needed for shear dominated electronic cooling situations that arise in milli-meter scale operations, certain gravity-insensitive avionics-cooling and zero-gravity applications.

Measurement of Thermal Conductivity of a Flexible Substrate

A number of past papers have described experimental techniques for measurement of thermal conductivity of substrates and thin films of technological interest. Nearly all substrates measured in the past are rigid. There is a lack of papers that report measurements on a flexible substrate such as thin plastic. The paper presents an experimental methodology to deposit a thin film microheater device on a plastic substrate. This device, comprising a microheater line and a temperature sensor line is used to measure the thermal conductivity of the plastic substrate using the transient thermal response of the plastic substrate to a heating current. An analytical model describing this thermal response is presented. Thermal conductivity of the plastic substrate is determined by comparison of experimental data with the analytical model. Results described in this paper may aid in development of an understanding of thermal transport in flexible substrates.

A Computational Model for Performance Prediction of a Hybrid PV/T Module

In this paper we investigate the performance of an integrated solar photovoltaic and thermal (PV/T) liquid (water) collector using a computational simulation program. A detailed time-dependent thermal model was formulated to calculate and correlate the thermal parameters in a standard PV/T collector, including solar cell temperature, back surface temperature, and outlet water temperature. Based on the energy balance of each component of the system, an analytical expression for the temperature of the PV module and the water was derived. In addition, an analytical expression for the instantaneous energy efficiency of the PV/T collector was also derived in terms of thermal, design and climatic parameters. Built on previously published model, a new computer simulation program was developed and validated. The thermal simulation results obtained are more precise than those previously reported in the literature.

Development of Lift-Off Diameter Model of Bubbles Generated on Horizontal Tube

In this study, the theoretical correlation for the lift-off diameter of bubbles generated on a horizontal tube is proposed. A force balance analysis in the direction normal to the heated surface at the moment of the bubble lift-off was performed to develop the model. According to the developed model, the bubble lift-off diameter depends strongly on the azimuthal position of the horizontal tube, the relative velocity between a bubble and surrounding liquid, the properties of the bubble, and the liquid. The developed model can be applicable to define the sub-model of wall heat flux partitioning for natural and forced convective boiling.

Characterization of Fouled Flat Sheet Membranes by Infrared Thermography

An Infrared thermography (IRT) technique for characterization of fouling on membrane surface has been developed. The emitted spectral power from the fouled membrane is a function of emissivity and surface morphology. In this work, a FLIR A320 IR camera was used to measure surface temperature and emissivity. The surface temperature and the corresponding emissivity value of various areas on the fouled membrane surface is measured by the infrared camera and recorded alongside its thermogram. Different fouling experiments were performed using different concentrations of aluminum oxide nanoparticle mixed with deionized water as feed solution (333 ppm, 1833 ppm and 3333 ppm) so as to investigate the effect of feed concentration on the degree of fouling and thus its effect on the emissivity values measured on the membrane surfaces. Surface plots in 3D and Line plots are obtained for the measured emissivity values and thickness of the fouling deposit on the membrane surface respectively. The results indicate that the IRT technique is sensitive to changes that occur on the membrane surface due to deposition of contaminants on the membrane surface and that emissivity is a function of temperature, surface roughness and thickness of the specimen under investigation.

Electrical Resistance and Natural Convection Heat Transfer Modeling of Shape Memory Alloy Wires

Shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators are becoming increasingly popular in recent years due to their properties such as large recovery strain, silent actuation and low weight. Actuation in SMA wires depends strongly on temperature which is difficult to measure directly. Therefore, a reliable model is required to predict wire temperature, in order to control the transformation, and hence the actuation, and to avoid potential degradation due to overheating. The purpose of this investigation is to develop resistance and natural convection heat transfer models to predict temperature of current-carrying SMA wires using indirect temperature measurement methods. Experiments are performed on electrically heated 0.5 mm diameter NiTi SMA wire during phase transformation. Convection heat transfer experiments are performed in an environment of air that allows for control of the ambient pressure and in turn the thermofluid properties, such as density and viscosity. By measuring convective heat loss at a range of pressures, an empirical natural convection heat transfer correlation is determined for inclination angles from horizontal to vertical, in the Rayleigh number range of 2.6 × 10−8 ≤ RaD ≤ 6.0 × 10−1. Later, effect of temperature changes on electrical resistance and other control parameters such as applied external stress, wire inclination angle, wire length and ambient pressure is investigated. Based on experimental results a resistance model is developed for SMA wires that combined with the heat transfer correlation previously derived can be used to predict temperature and natural convection heat transfer coefficient of NiTi SMA wires during phase transformation for different wire lengths and inclination angles under various applied external stresses.

Natural Convection Heat Transfer Phenomena in Packed Bed Systems

Natural convection heat transfer in fluid-saturated porous media has in recent years gained considerable attention especially in High Temperature Reactors (HTR). It is lately proposed that Light Water Reactors (LWT) can be made safer by re-designing the fuel in the fuel assembly. In the proposed design, porous medium containing fuel in the form of loose coated particles in a Helium environment is introduced inside the cladding tubes of the fuel elements. These coated particles are treated as a bed from where heat is transferred to the cladding tube and the gas movement is due to natural convection. This proposal will require an understanding of the heat transfer characteristics from heated particles fuel to the gas atmosphere within the cladding tubes. In this present study, the natural convection heat transfer characteristics in packed beds from fluid-to-particle and bed particles to helium gas (thermal energy storage system) was experimentally investigated. Medium condition in this study was homogenous, isotropic, negligible radiant heat transfer and at local thermal non-equilibrium (LTNE). Theoretical formulation of microscopic thermal energy balance in the medium was employed in the analysis of experimental data. This formulation accounts for the convective heat transfer coefficient, the net rate of heat conduction into a unit volume of the solid and the heat production per unit volume of the particle. Dimensionless parameters like the Nusselt, Grashof, Prandtl, Rayleigh and Biot numbers defining heat transfer effect in the medium were equally determined and results validated with the KTA correlation.

Forced and Mixing Convection Analysis of Discrete Heated Porous Convergent Channel

The paper presents a numerical investigation of forced and mixing convection heat transfer and flow analysis of a passive heat exchanger inside clear (non-porous) and partially porous channels at different outlet area. Four discrete heat sources with uniform heat flux are simulated on the bottom wall of the channel. FORTRAN CFD code was developed and used to solve non-dimensional the governing equations for the fluid and porous media using finite volume method. The flow field and thermal analysis inside the channel are investigated across a wide range of Reynolds number (50 ≤ Re ≤ 300), Darcy number (10−2 ≤ Da ≤ 10−6), Richardson number (0 ≤ Ri ≤ 100) for 0.71 Prandtl number. The results show that the heat exchanger with partially porous convergent channel provides superior heat source cooling which leads to develop the macro and microelectronic devices.

A Comparison Between 3-D Thermal Model and 3-D CFD Model for Vertical DC Casting of Rolling Ingots of Aluminum Alloy 7050

In this study, first a 3-D thermal model is developed for an open top, vertical direct chill (DC) casting process of rolling slabs (ingots) by taking into account the casting speed in the form of slag flow in the thermal connective-diffusion equation. The mushy region solidification characteristics of the process are accounted for through the implementation of the enthalpy porosity technique. The thermal model is later extended to a 3-D CFD model to account for the coupled turbulent heat transfer and solidification aspect of the process. Both models simulate an industrial-sized, hot-top type vertical Direct Chill (DC) slab caster for high strength aluminum alloy AA-7050. A staggered control volume based finite-difference scheme is used to solve the modeled equations and the associated boundary conditions. In the CFD model, the turbulent aspects of flow and solidification heat transfer are modeled using a low Reynolds number version of the k–ε eddy viscosity approach. Computed results for the steady-state phase of the casting process are presented for four casting speeds varying from 60 to 180 mm/min for a fixed inlet melt superheat of 32°C. Simulation results of the velocity and temperature fields and heat fluxes along the caster surface are presented for the CFD model and the shell thickness and sump depth are compared between the CFD and thermal models.

Nucleate Boiling of Dielectric Liquids on Hydrophobic Patterned Surfaces

This study experimentally investigated the effect of hydrophobic patterned surfaces in nucleate boiling heat transfer. A dielectric liquid, HFE-7100, was used as the working fluid in the saturated boiling tests. Dielectric liquids are known to have highly-wetting characteristics. They tend to fill surface cavities that would normally trap vapor/gas, and serve as active nucleation sites during boiling. With the lack of these vapor filled cavities, boiling of a dielectric liquid leads to high incipience superheats and accompanying temperature overshoots. Heater samples in this study were prepared by applying a thin Teflon (AF400, Dupont) coating on 1-cm2 smooth copper surfaces following common photolithography techniques. Matching size thick film resistors, attached onto the copper samples, generated heat and simulated high heat flux electronic devices. Tests investigated the heater samples featuring circular pattern sizes between 40–100 μm, and corresponding pitch sizes between 80–200 μm. Additionally, a plain, smooth copper surface was tested to obtain reference data. Based on data, hydrophobic patterned surfaces effectively eliminated the temperature overshoot at boiling incipience, and considerably improved nucleate boiling performance in terms of heat transfer coefficient and critical heat flux over the reference surface. Hydrophobic patterned surfaces therefore demonstrated a practical surface modification method for heat transfer enhancement in immersion cooling applications.