Performance evaluation of compact channels with surface modifications for heat transfer enhancement: An interferometric study in developing flow regime

Performance evaluation of surface roughened compact channels for heat transfer applications has been investigated using non-intrusive, real time laser-based interferometric technique with water as the coolant medium. The lower wall of the channel has been roughened by creating hemispherical inward dimples. Projection data of the temperature field has been recorded using a Mach Zehnder interferometer. In order to facilitate direct comparison, experiments have also been conducted in smooth channel of similar dimensions. Results have been presented in the form of thermal boundary layer profiles, whole field temperature distributions and local variations of heat transfer coefficients. Direct interferometric measurements clearly reveal the disruption of thermal boundary layer due to the presence of inward dimples. Near wall temperature gradients were seen to be stronger in the case of dimpled channel in comparison with that of the smooth one resulting into a clear enhancement in heat transfer rates. At low Reynolds numbers, variation of heat transfer coefficients along the length of the dimpled channel showed the presence of local maxima. On the other hand, the corresponding profiles for the smooth channels showed a monotonic decrease with respect to the axial direction. The dynamic measurements, that are purely non-intrusive, revealed an improved thermal performance of surface roughened compact channels.     

Heat flux measurement over a cone in a shock tube flow

This paper is the part 2 of our previous thin film heat transfer measurements. In the first report we measured time variations of heat flux over a cylinder placed in a shock tube flow and compared experimental results with CFD results, Saito et al. (Shock Waves 14:327–333, 2004). We report a result of heat transfer measurements over an 86° apex angle cone surface impinged by a Ms = 2.38 shock wave in air with distributed thin film transfer gauges along cone surface and its comparison with results of numerical simulations. We performed double exposure holographic interferometric observation, and also from the heat transfer measurement and numerical simulation, confirmed the presence of delayed transition from regular to Mach reflection over the cone. The numerical estimation of delayed transition distance from the apex agreed very well with experimental one.      

Experimental study of the condensation heat transfer characteristics of CO2 in a horizontal microfin tube with a diameter of 4.95?mm

The condensation heat transfer characteristics for CO₂ flowing in a horizontal microfin tube were investigated by experiment with respect to condensation temperature and mass flux. The test section consists of a 2,400?mm long horizontal copper tube of 4.6?mm inner diameter. The experiments were conducted at refrigerant mass flux of 400–800?kg/m²s, and saturation temperature of 20–30?°C. The main experimental results showed that annular flow was highly dominated the majority of condensation flow in the horizontal microfin tube. The condensation heat transfer coefficient increases with decreasing saturation temperature and increasing mass flux. The experimental data were compared against previous heat transfer correlations. Most correlations failed to predict the experimental data. However, the correlation by Cavallini et al. showed relatively good agreement with experimental data in the microfin tube. Therefore, a new condensation heat transfer correlation is proposed with mean and average deviations of 3.14 and ?7.6?%, respectively.     

Flow and heat transfer for gas flowing in microchannels: a review

 Microchannels are currently being used in many areas and have high potential for applications in many other areas, which are considered realistic by experts. The application areas include medicine, biotechnology, avionics, consumer electronics, telecommunications, metrology, computer technology, office equipment and home appliances, safety technology, process engineering, robotics, automotive engineering and environmental protection. A number of these applications are introduced in this paper, followed by a critical review of the works on the flow and heat transfer for gas flowing in microchannels. The results show that the flow and heat transfer characteristics of a gas flowing in microchannels can not be adequately predicted by the theories and correlations developed for conventional sized channels. The results of theoretical and experimental works are discussed and summarized along with suggestions for future research directions. Received on 26 June 2000 / Published online: 29 November 2001     

Digital interferometry: techniques and trends for fluid measurement

Interferometric based measurement techniques have long played a significant role in enabling insight and understanding into the flow and heat transfer processes in a wide range of fluid flow situations. In recent years, with the advent of digital processing techniques, full field quantitative data can be obtained from interferometric data with relative ease and a high degree of accuracy. However, these developments seem not to have percolated through to experimental fluids practitioners. This paper sets out to review the various processing and acquisition techniques for quantitative and qualitative measurement using interferometry. Full field phase measurement interferometry (PMI) and differential interferometry (DI) are discussed. PMI is demonstrated for diffusing mixing in a mini-channel and DI is demonstrated for heat transfer measurement in a convecting fluid.     

Experimental and numerical study of developing turbulent flow and heat transfer in convergent/divergent square ducts

 The work reported in this paper is a systematic experimental and numerical study of friction and heat transfer characteristics of divergent/convergent square ducts with an inclination angle of 1^∘ in the two direction at cross section. The ratio of duct length to average hydraulic diameter is 10. For the comparison purpose, measurement and simulation are also conducted for a square duct with constant cross section area, which equals to the average cross section area of the convergent/divergent duct. In the numerical simulation the flow is modeled as being three-dimensional and fully elliptic by using the body-fitted finite volume method and the kɛ turbulence model. The uniform heat flux boundary condition is specified to simulate the electrical heating used in the experiments. The heat transfer performance of the divergent/convergent ducts is compared with the duct with uniform cross section under three constraints (identical mass flow rate, pumping power and pressure drop). The agreement of the experimental and numerical results is quite good except at the duct inlet. Results show that for the three ducts studied there is a weak secondary flow at the cross section, and the circumference distribution of the local heat transfer coefficient is not uniform, with an appreciable reduction in the four corner regions. In addition, the acceleration/deceleration caused by the cross section variation has a profound effect on the turbulent heat transfer: compared with the duct of constant cross section area, the divergent duct generally shows enhanced heat transfer behavior, while the convergent duct has an appreciable reduction in heat transfer performance. Received on 18 September 2000 / Published online: 29 November 2001     

Numerical modeling of compact high temperature heat exchanger and chemical decomposer for hydrogen production

The present study addresses fluid flow and heat transfer in a high temperature compact heat exchanger which will be used as a chemical decomposer in a hydrogen production plant. The heat exchanger is manufactured using fused ceramic layers that allow creation of channels with dimensions below 1 mm. The main purpose of this study is to increase the thermal performance of the heat exchanger, which can help to increase the sulfuric acid decomposition rate. Effects of various channel geometries of the heat exchanger on the pressure drop are studied as well. A three-dimensional computational model is developed for the investigation of fluid flow and heat transfer in the heat exchanger. Several different geometries of the heat exchanger channels, such as straight channels, ribbed ground channels, hexagonal channels, and diamond-shaped channels are examined. Based on the results, methods on how to improve the design of the heat exchanger are recommended.     

Macro-to-microchannel transition in two-phase flow: Part 2 - Flow boiling heat transfer and critical heat flux

This part of the paper presents the current experimental flow boiling heat transfer and CHF data acquired for R134a, R236fa and R245fa in single, horizontal channels of 1.03, 2.20 and 3.04 mm diameters over a range of experimental conditions. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of channel confinement, heat flux, flow pattern, saturation temperature, subcooling and working fluid properties on the two-phase heat transfer and CHF. Experimentally, it was observed that the flow boiling heat transfer coefficients are a significant function of the type of two-phase flow pattern. Furthermore, the monotonically increasing heat transfer coefficients at higher vapor qualities, corresponding to annular flow, signifies convective boiling as the dominant heat transfer mechanism in these small scale channels. The decreasing heat transfer trend at low vapor qualities in the slug flow (coalescing bubble dominated regime) was indicative of thin film evaporation with intermittent dry patch formation and rewetting at these conditions. The coalescing bubble flow heat transfer data were well predicted by the three-zone model when setting the dryout thickness to the measured surface roughness, indicating for the first time a roughness effect on the flow boiling heat transfer coefficient in this regime. The CHF data acquired during the experimental campaign indicated the influence of saturation temperature, mass velocity, channel confinement and fluid properties on CHF but no influence of inlet subcooling for the conditions tested. When globally comparing the CHF values for R134a in the 0.51-3.04 mm diameter channels, a peak in CHF peak was observed lying in between the 0.79 (Co ≈ 0.99) and 1.03 (Co ≈ 0.78) mm channels. A new CHF correlation has been proposed involving the confinement number, Co that is able to predict CHF for R134a, R236fa and R245fa in single-circular channels, rectangular multichannels and split flow rectangular multichannels. In summary, the present flow boiling and CHF trends point to a macro-to-microscale transition as indicated by the results presented in Ong and Thome (2011) [1].     

Investigation of temperature statistic characteristics in turbulent water flow with unsteady heat transfer

The results of an experimental study of a temperature field and its statistical characteristics in turbulent water flow upon a sudden change of heat generation in the channel wall are reported. Measurements were performed in 5 mm × 40 mm, 10 mm × 40 mm, and 20 mm × 40 mm channels in the regions of thermal stabilization and stabilized heat transfer at Reynolds numbers of (0.8–6.8) × 10⁴. The measurement results are generalized using a dimensionless time scale. The results of the calculation of heat transfer coefficients at unsteady heat transfer are presented.     

Local convective heat transfer past the junction of channels of rectangular cross-section

An experimental study of the local convective heat transfer through the wall is presented in the case of an air flow past the junction of channels of a rectangular cross section. Tests for various flow-rate ratios through the two branches show that these ratios are not adequate to characterize the distribution of local heat transfer through the wall. The flow-rate through the side branch is a particularly significant parameter. Received: 2 June 1998/Accepted: 20 February 1999     

Transformational-zone method of calculation of complex heat exchange during flow of optically active medium inside tube of diffuse grey surface

The paper presents analytical and experimental investigations of influence of radiative heat transfer on complex heat exchange during flow of optically active gas inside a pipe of diffusegrey properties. It was assumed that the pipe is heated from the outside by a constant heat flux and gas flowing inside is both absorbing and emitting and of small optical density. The influence of length and radiative properties of the pipe surface and of the gas temperature distribution on the wall and in the gas were analysed. The influence of radiative energy transfer on overall heat transfer coefficient was estimated. Mathematical model of radiative convective heat exchange in a system of one-dimensional temperature field, based on zone division method of Hottel and surface transformation, was verified numerically and experimentally. The results of numerical calculations were compared with experimental results obtained during carbone dioxide (CO₂) flow inside electrically heated ceramic tube. The set of nonlinear differential equations was solved by Runge-Kutta method with Hamming modification and with the use of separable-kernel method.     

Experimental study of in-tube cooling heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of R134a at supercritical pressures

The in-tube cooling flow and heat transfer characteristics of R134a at supercritical pressures are measured experimentally for various pressures and mass fluxes in a horizontal tube. The tube is made of stainless steel with an inner diameter of 4.01 mm. Experiments are conducted for mass fluxes from 70 kg/m² s to 405 kg/m² s and pressures from 4.5 MPa to 5.5 MPa. The inlet refrigerant temperature is from 80 °C to 140 °C. The results show that the refrigerant temperature, the mass flux and the pressure all significantly affect the flow and heat transfer characteristics of R134a at supercritical pressures. The experimentally measured frictional pressure drop and heat transfer coefficient are compared with predicted results from several existing correlations. The comparisons show that the predicted frictional pressure drop using Petrov and Popov’s correlation accounting for the density and viscosity variations agree well with the measured data. Gnielinski’s correlation for the heat transfer coefficient agrees best with the measured data with deviations not exceeding 25%, while correlations based on supercritical CO₂ heat transfer data overcorrect for the influence of the thermophysical property variations resulting in larger deviations. A new empirical correlation is developed based on the measured results by modifying Gnielinski’s equation with thermophysical property terms including both the property variations from the inlet to the outlet of the entire test section and from the bulk to the wall. Most of the experimental data is predicted by the new correlation within a range of 15%.     

Convective heat transfer and pressure loss in rectangular ducts with drop-shaped pin fins

It has been experimentally researched that convective heat transfer and pressure loss characteristics in rectangular channels with staggered arrays of drop-shaped pin fins in crossflow of air. The effects of arrangements of pin fins on heat transfer and resistance are discussed and the row-by-row variations of the mean Nusselt numbers are presented. By means of the heat/mass transfer analogy and the naphthalene sublimation technique, the heat transfer coefficients on pin fins and on endwall (base plate) of the channel have been achieved respectively. The total mean heat transfer coefficients of pin fin channels are calculated and the resistance coefficients are also investigated. The experimental results show that heat transfer of a channel with drop-shaped pin fins is higher than that with circular pin fins while the resistance of the former is much lower than that of the latter in the Reynolds number range from 900 to 9000. Received on 20 January 1997     

不同壁面条件下液滴撞击铺展特性的模拟研究

液滴撞击不同润湿性壁面的传热流动问题在自然界和工业生产中广泛存在。研究采用CLSVOF方法,引入描述壁面润湿特性的动态接触角,并考虑液滴物性参数随温度的变化,建立液滴撞壁模型,模拟研究液滴撞击流动行为,通过与实验对比验证,确定模型有效性。在此基础上,对传热作用下考虑壁面润湿性的液滴撞击问题展开研究,探讨壁面传热作用对液滴撞击铺展特性的影响。研究表明,在撞击过程中,液滴先铺展后逐渐收缩,与静态接触角模型相比,采用动态接触角模型所得的液滴流动特性与实验结果更加吻合;随着接触角增大,液滴在撞壁初期不易铺展,随后则易于收缩;虽然固液传热作用会影响液滴铺展直径,但不改变液滴的运动趋势。     

Factors affecting temperature measurement using phase measurement interferometry in small scale devices

This paper presents full-field temperature measurements of buoyancy opposing mixed convection flow within a miniscale fluidic geometry. The technique used is phase measurement interferometry and a Mach–Zehnder layout is employed. The popular two-dimensional microfluidic geometry of three streams merging at a junction is chosen for this analysis. The apparatus set-up is described and measures taken to limit experimental errors discussed. Also presented, are corresponding flow visualization images for comparison with the interferometric results. The results are compared for similar boundary conditions over the range of Richardson numbers of 0.5–1.7. The results of the interferometric study are presented in the form of full-field temperature maps depicting the type of thermal plume structure present through isotherms and are seen to compare well with the results of the flow visualization study. Some factors affecting the measurement technique at this scale are then discussed. These include the effect of using different transparent materials for sealing the fluidic device and temporal vibrations caused by either varying boundary conditions or by slight pulsations in the flow supplied. Also, due to discrepancies that exist in the literature for the temperature coefficient of the refractive index of the working fluid, thermocouples are embedded in the flow field and used to convert the measured phase change to a corresponding temperature change. The corresponding values of refractive index change with temperature are discussed and compared to published values. Overall, PMI is demonstrated to provide excellent full-field temperature plots that can be used to measure local heat transfer rates from this non-intrusive measurement technique.     

Low Reynolds number flow inside straight micro channels with irregular cross sections

This paper presents an analysis of the compound effect of finite temperature differences and fluid friction on the existence of an optimum laminar flow regime in singly connected micro channels with complex free flow area cross sections. A widespread conviction has been established that the two competing irreversibility sources in a channel flow with heat transfer lead to the existence of an optimum flow regime. The results presented in this paper clearly shows the opposite. When an objective function is represented by the entropy generation rate per unit heat capacity rate of the fluid stream, the thermodynamic optimum flow regime represents a rather rare occurrence in the laminar region of irregularly shaped ducts. The presence of an extremum is more probable for very small diameters, the ones of an order of magnitude of O(≤10⁻³ m). The analysis is performed for selected ranges of relevant geometric, flow, and thermal parameters of a set of straight micro channels with irregular free flow area cross-sections. The following geometries of the free flow area cross section were investigated: (i) sine duct, (ii) circular duct, (iii) elliptical duct, (iv) moon-shaped ducts, and (v) four-cuspped duct. The range of Reynolds numbers has been established between O(10²) and O(10⁴). The existence of the objective function minimum is confirmed for ducts with an irregular cross section only for very small hydraulic diameters. These minima are relatively weak, and as a general rule, the sets of optimum parameters are close to the onset of turbulence or possibly even in the transitional or turbulent regions. Received on 10 November 1998     

The critical role of channel cross-sectional area in microchannel flow boiling heat transfer

Experiments are conducted with a perfluorinated dielectric fluid, Fluorinert FC-77, to identify the critical geometric parameters that affect flow boiling heat transfer and flow patterns in microchannels. In recent work by the authors (Harirchian and Garimella, 2009), seven different silicon test pieces containing parallel microchannels of widths ranging from 100 to 5850 μm, all with a depth of 400 μm were tested and it was shown that for a fixed channel depth, the heat transfer coefficient was independent of channel width for microchannels of widths 400 μm and larger, with the flow regimes in these microchannels being similar; nucleate boiling was also found to be dominant over a wide range of heat fluxes. In the present study, experiments are performed with five additional microchannel test pieces with channel depths of 100 and 250 μm and widths ranging from 100 to 1000 μm. Flow visualizations are performed using a high-speed digital video camera to determine the flow regimes, with simultaneous local measurements of the heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop. The aim of the present study is to investigate as independent parameters the channel width and depth as well as the aspect ratio and cross-sectional area on boiling heat transfer in microchannels, based on an expanded database of experimental results. The flow visualizations and heat transfer results show that the channel cross-sectional area is the important governing parameter determining boiling mechanisms and heat transfer in microchannels. For channels with cross-sectional area exceeding a specific value, nucleate boiling is the dominant mechanism and the boiling heat transfer coefficient is independent of channel dimensions; below this threshold value of cross-sectional area, vapor confinement is observed in all channels at all heat fluxes, and the heat transfer rate increases as the microchannel cross-sectional area decreases before premature dryout occurs due to channel confinement.     

Convective heat transfer of aqueous alumina nanosuspensions in a horizontal mini-channel

This work reports an experimental study of convective heat transfer of aqueous alumina nanofluids in a horizontal mini-channel under laminar flow condition 40 < Re < 1,000. The variation of local heat transfer coefficients, in both entrance and developed flow regimes, was obtained as a function of axial distance. The heat transfer coefficient of nanofluids was found to be dependent on not only nanoparticle concentration but also mass flow rate. Different to the behavior in conventional-sized channels, the major heat transfer coefficient enhancement is shown in the fully developed regime in the minichannel where up to 40% increase is observed. Discussions of the results suggest that apart from the need of a careful assessment of different thermo-physical properties of nanofluids, i.e., viscosity, specific heat and thermal conductivity, the heterogeneous nature of nanoparticle flow should be considered especially under high flow rate conditions.     

Heat transfer and two-phase flow characteristics of refrigerants flowing under varied heat flux in a double-pipe evaporator

A mathematical model based on the annular flow pattern is developed to simulate the evaporation of refrigerants flowing under varied heat flux in a double tube evaporator. The finite difference form of governing equations of this present model is derived from the conservation of mass, energy and momentum. The experimental set-up is designed and constructed to provide the experimental data for verifying the simulation results. The test section is a 2.5 m long counterflow double tube heat exchanger with a refrigerant flowing in the inner tube and heating water flowing in the annulus. The inner tube is made from smooth horizontal copper tubing of 9.53 mm outer diameter and 7.1 mm inner diameter. The agreement of the model with the experimental data is satisfactory. The present model can be used to investigate the axial distributions of the temperature, heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop of various refrigerants. Moreover, the evaporation rate or the other relevant parameters that is difficult to measure in the experiment are predicted and presented here. The results from the present mathematical model show that the saturation pressure and temperature of refrigerant decrease along the tube due to the tube wall friction and the flow acceleration of refrigerant. The liquid heat transfer coefficient increases with the axial length due to reducing the thickness of the liquid refrigerant film. Due to increase of the liquid heat transfer coefficient, increasing wall heat flux is obtained.Finally, the evaporation rate of refrigerant increases with increasing wall heat flux.