Periodic flow boiling in a non-uniformly heated microchannel heat sink

Hydrodynamic and thermal characteristics of flow boiling in a non-uniformly heated microchannel were studied. Experiments were performed with a single microchannel and a series of microheaters to study the microscale boiling of water under axially non-uniform heat input conditions. A simultaneous real time visualization of the flow pattern was performed with the measurement of experimental parameters. Tests were performed over a mass flux of 309.8 kg/m² s, and heat flux of 200–600 kW/m². Test results showed different fluctuations of heated wall temperature, pressure drop, and mass flux with variations of the heat input along the flow direction. The unique periodic flow boiling in a single microchannel was observed at all heat flux conditions except for the increasing heat input distribution case which is the nearly uniform effective heat input distribution condition. The instability is correlated with flow pattern transition. For the nearly uniform effective heating condition, no fluctuation of the wall temperature, pressure drop, or mass flux was observed. We can relieve the instability by increasing total heat input along the flow direction and predict the instability using the transition criteria and flow pattern map.     

Saturated critical heat flux in a multi-microchannel heat sink fed by a split flow system

An extensive experimental campaign has been carried out for the measurement of saturated critical heat flux in a multi-microchannel copper heat sink. The heat sink was formed by 29 parallel channels that were 199 μm wide and 756 μm deep. In order to increase the critical heat flux and reduce the two-phase pressure drop, a split flow system was implemented with one central inlet at the middle of the channels and two outlets at either end. The base critical heat flux was measured using three HFC Refrigerants (R134a, R236fa and R245fa) for mass fluxes ranging from 250 to 1500 kg/m² s, inlet subcoolings from ?25 to ?5 K and saturation temperatures from 20 to 50 °C. The parametric effects of mass velocity, saturation temperature and inlet subcooling were investigated. The analysis showed that significantly higher CHF was obtainable with the split flow system (one inlet–two outlets) compared to the single inlet–single outlet system, providing also a much lower pressure drop. Notably several existing predictive methods matched the experimental data quite well and quantitatively predicted the benefit of higher CHF of the split flow.     

Flow boiling heat transfer of R134a,R236fa and R245fa in a horizontal 1.030 mm circular channel

This research focuses on acquiring accurate flow boiling heat transfer data and flow pattern visualization for three refrigerants, R134a, R236fa and R245fa in a 1.030 mm channel. We investigate trends in the data, and their possible mechanisms, for mass fluxes from 200 to 1600 kg/m²s, heat fluxes from 2.3 kW/m² to 250 kW/m² at T_sat = 31 °C and ΔT_sub from 2 to 9 K. The local saturated flow boiling heat transfer coefficients display a heat flux and a mass flux dependency but no residual subcooling influence. The changes in heat transfer trends correspond well with flow regime transitions. These were segregated into the isolated bubble (IB) regime, the coalescing bubble (CB) regime, and the annular (A) regime for the three fluids. The importance of nucleate boiling and forced convection in these small channels is still relatively unclear and requires further research.     

R410A condensation inside a commercial brazed plate heat exchanger

This paper presents the heat transfer coefficients and the pressure drop measured during HFC-410A condensation inside a commercial brazed plate heat exchanger: the effects of saturation temperature, refrigerant mass flux and vapour super-heating are investigated. The heat transfer coefficients show weak sensitivity to saturation temperature and great sensitivity to refrigerant mass flux and vapour super-heating. At low refrigerant mass flux (<20 kg/m² s) the saturated vapour condensation heat transfer coefficients are not dependent on mass flux and are well predicted by Nusselt [W. Nusselt, Die oberflachenkondensation des wasserdampfes, Energy 60 (1916) 541–546, 569–575] analysis for vertical surface: the condensation process is gravity controlled. For higher refrigerant mass flux (>20 kg/m²s) the saturated vapour condensation heat transfer coefficients depend on mass flux and are well predicted by Akers et al. [W.W. Akers, H.A. Deans, O.K. Crosser, Condensing heat transfer within horizontal tubes, Chem. Eng. Prog. Symp. Series 55 (1959) 171–176] equation: forced convection condensation occurs. In the forced convection condensation region the heat transfer coefficients show a 30% increase for a doubling of the refrigerant mass flux. The condensation heat transfer coefficients of super-heated vapour are 8–10% higher than those of saturated vapour and are well predicted by Webb [R.L. Webb, Convective condensation of superheated vapor, ASME J. Heat Transfer 120 (1998) 418–421] model. A simple linear equation based on the kinetic energy per unit volume of the refrigerant flow is proposed for the computation of the frictional pressure drop.     

Wavelet decomposition method decoupled boiling/evaporation oscillation mechanisms over two to three timescales: A study for a microchannel with pin fin structure

Boiling/evaporation heat transfer in a microchannel with pin fin structure was performed with water as the working fluid. Simultaneous measurements of various parameters were performed. The chip wall temperatures were measured by a high spatial-time resolution IR image system, having a sensitivity of 0.02 °C. The flow pattern variations synchronously changed wall temperatures due to ultra-small Bi number. The wavelet decomposition method successfully identified the noise signal and decoupled various temperature oscillations with different amplitudes and frequencies. Three types of temperature oscillations were identified according to heat flux q and mass flux G. The first type of oscillation occurred at q/G < 0.62 kJ/kg. The approximation coefficient of wavelet decomposition decided the dominant cycle period which was ∼3 times of the fluid residence time in the microchannel, behaving the density wave oscillation characteristic. The detail coefficients of wavelet decomposition decided the dominant cycle period, which matched the flow pattern transition determined value well, representing the flow pattern transition induced oscillation. For the second type of oscillation, the wavelet decomposition decoupled the three oscillation mechanisms. The pressure drop oscillation caused the temperature oscillation amplitudes of 5–10 °C and cycle periods of 10–15 s. The density wave oscillation and flow pattern transition induced oscillation are embedded with both the pressure rise and decrease stages of the pressure drop oscillation. The third type of oscillation happened at q/G > 1.13 kJ/kg, having the density wave oscillation coupled with the varied liquid film evaporation induced oscillation. The liquid island, retention bubble induced nucleation sites and cone-shape two-phase developing region are unique features of microchannel boiling with pin fin structure. This study illustrated that pressure drop oscillation and density wave oscillation, usually happened in large size channels, also take place in microchannels. The flow pattern transition and varied liquid film evaporation induced oscillations are specific to microchannel boiling/evaporation flow.     

Experimental investigation of micro-scale temperature transients in sub-cooled flow boiling on a horizontal heater

Surface temperature fluctuations that occur locally underneath departing bubbles in pool boiling are shown to result in local heat transfer coefficients ranging from 1 to 10 kW/cm². These estimates were reported in the literature involved both numerical and experimental approaches. Significantly higher heat fluxes are associated with flow boiling than pool boiling under similar conditions of wall superheat and liquid subcooling (e.g. at boiling inception and at critical heat flux). These enhancements are primarily caused by the convective transport, acceleration/distortion of the bubble departure process as well as the resultant potential enhancement of the local surface temperature fluctuations.In this study we measure the surface temperature fluctuations using temperature micro/nano-sensors fabricated on a silicon wafer during flow boiling on the silicon wafer which is heated from below. The silicon wafer is clamped on a constant heat flux type calorimeter consisting of a vertical copper cylinder with embedded cartridge heaters and K-type thermocouples. Micro/nano-thermocouples (thin film thermocouples or “TFT”) are fabricated on the surface of the silicon wafer. High speed data acquisition apparatus is used to record temperature data from the TFT at 1 kHz. A fluorinert was used as the test fluid (PF-5060, manufacturer: 3M Co.). The calorimeter and surface temperature measurement apparatus is housed in a test section with glass walls for visual observation. The liquid is pumped from a constant temperature bath to maintain a fixed subcooling during the experiments under steady state conditions. The transient temperature data from the FFT array during flow boiling on the silicon wafer is analyzed using fast Fourier transform (FFT). The FFT data is analyzed as a function of the wall heat flux and wall superheat. The number of temperature peaks in the FFT data is observed to increase with increase in wall heat flux and the peaks are found to cover a wider spectrum with peaks at higher frequencies with enhancement of heat flux. The surface temperature fluctuations, especially at small length and time scales, are perturbed potentially by the coupled hydrodynamic and thermal transport processes, resulting in enhanced local and global heat flux values. Boiling incipience condition and the flow boiling data are compared with correlations reported in the literature.     

Low-GWP refrigerants flow boiling heat transfer in a 5 PPI copper foam

This paper reports an experimental investigation of the heat transfer performance of the new low-GWP refrigerants, R1234yf and R1234ze(E), during flow boiling heat transfer inside a horizontal high porosity copper foam with 5 Pores Per Inch (PPI). Metal foams are a class of cellular structured materials consisting of a stochastic distribution of interconnected pores; these materials have been proposed as effective solutions for heat transfer enhancement during both single and two-phase heat transfer. R1234yf and R1234ze(E) refrigerants are appealing alternatives of the more traditional R134a by virtue of their negligible values of GWP and normal boiling temperatures close to that of R134a, which make them suitable solution in several different applications, such as: refrigeration and air conditioning and electronic thermal management. This work compares the two-phase heat transfer behaviour of these new HFO refrigerants, studying the boiling process inside a porous medium and permitting to understand their effective heat transfer capabilities. The experimental measurements were carried out by imposing three different heat fluxes: 50, 75, and 100 kW m⁻², at a constant saturation temperature of 30 °C; the refrigerant mass velocity was varied between 50 and 200 kg m⁻² s⁻¹, whilst the mean vapour quality varied from 0.2 to 0.95. The two-phase heat transfer and pressure drop performance of the two new HFO refrigerants is compared against that of the more traditional R134a.     

A self-consistent,physics-based boiling heat transfer modeling framework for use in computational fluid dynamics

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) offers the opportunity to investigate physically and geometrically complex systems with high fidelity. Its applicability to multiphase flow, and particularly boiling heat transfer, is currently limited by the lack of appropriate closure models to describe all relevant phenomena. In this paper, we present an original subcooled flow boiling modeling framework for CFD, which aims at consistently and accurately characterizing the key physics that affect heat transfer at the boiling surface. The new framework introduces a fully mechanistic representation of heterogeneous boiling that improves numerical robustness and reduces sensitivity to closure coefficients. The proposed formulation is inspired by new experimental insight, and significantly extends the existing boiling models by capturing the effects of (i) the microlayer on surface evaporation, (ii) the boiling surface, and (iii) bubbles sliding along the boiling surface. A new statistical treatment of the location and mutual interactions of bubbles on the surface allows for mechanistic prediction of the dry surface area, an important quantity that affects the boiling heat transfer coefficient. This approach lends itself naturally to extension to very high heat fluxes, potentially up to the critical heat flux. An assessment and sensitivity study of the model is presented for a range of mass fluxes (500–1250 kg/m²/s), heat fluxes (100–1600 kW/m²), inlet subcoolings (5, 10, 15 K), and pressures (1, 1.5, 2 bars), demonstrating improved robustness and predictive accuracy at all tested conditions in comparison to traditional heat partitioning approaches, including high heat fluxes, where classic models often fail to converge. Lastly, the framework proposed here should not be viewed as another heat partitioning model, but rather as a general platform that allows incorporation of advanced models for each physical phenomenon considered, leveraging the growing insight generated by modern experimental diagnostics for boiling heat transfer.     

An investigation of a model of the flow pattern transition mechanism in relation to the identification of annular flow of R134a in a vertical tube using various void fraction models and flow regime maps

In the present study, new experimental data are presented for literature on the prediction of film thickness and identification of flow regime during the co-current downward condensation in a vertical smooth copper tube having an inner diameter of 8.1 mm and a length of 500 mm. R134a and water are used as working fluids in the tube side and annular side of a double tube heat exchanger, respectively. Condensation experiments are done at mass fluxes of 300 and 515 kg m^?2 s^?1. The condensing temperatures are between 40 and 50 °C; heat fluxes are between 12.65 and 66.61 kW m^?2. The average experimental heat transfer coefficient of the refrigerant HFC-134a is calculated by applying an energy balance based on the energy transferred from the test section. A mathematical model by Barnea et al. based on the momentum balance of liquid and vapor phases is used to determine the condensation film thickness of R134a. The comparative film thickness values are determined indirectly using relevant measured data together with various void fraction models and correlations reported in the open literature. The effects of heat flux, mass flux, and condensation temperature on the film thickness and condensation heat transfer coefficient are also discussed for the laminar and turbulent flow conditions. There is a good agreement between the film thickness results obtained from the theoretical model and those obtained from six of 35 void fraction models in the high mass flux region of R134a. In spite of their different valid conditions, six well-known flow regime maps from the literature are found to be predictive for the annular flow conditions in the test tube in spite of their different operating conditions.     

Two-phase pressure drop and flow visualization of FC-72 in a silicon microchannel heat sink

The rapid development of two-phase microfluidic devices has triggered the demand for a detailed understanding of the flow characteristics inside microchannel heat sinks to advance the cooling process of micro-electronics. The present study focuses on the experimental investigation of pressure drop characteristics and flow visualization of a two-phase flow in a silicon microchannel heat sink. The microchannel heat sink consists of a rectangular silicon chip in which 45 rectangular microchannels were chemically etched with a depth of 276 μm, width of 225 μm, and a length of 16 mm. Experiments are carried out for mass fluxes ranging from 341 to 531 kg/m² s and heat fluxes from 60.4 to 130.6 kW/m² using FC-72 as the working fluid. Bubble growth and flow regimes are observed using high speed visualization. Three major flow regimes are identified: bubbly, slug, and annular. The frictional two-phase pressure drop increases with exit quality for a constant mass flux. An assessment of various pressure drop correlations reported in the literature is conducted for validation. A new general correlation is developed to predict the two-phase pressure drop in microchannel heat sinks for five different refrigerants. The experimental pressure drops for laminar-liquid laminar-vapor and laminar-liquid turbulent-vapor flow conditions are predicted by the new correlation with mean absolute errors of 10.4% and 14.5%, respectively.     

Flow boiling heat transfer study of R-134a/R-290/R-600a mixture in 9.52 and 12.7 mm smooth horizontal tubes: Experimental investigation

A detailed experimental investigation is carried out to study the flow boiling heat transfer behavior of R-134a/R-290/R-600a (91%/4.068%/4.932% by mass) refrigerant mixture in smooth horizontal tubes of diameter 9.52 and 12.7 mm. The heat transfer coefficients of the mixture are experimentally measured under varied heat flux conditions for stratified flow patterns using a coaxial counter-current heat exchanger test section. The tests are conducted for refrigerant inlet temperatures between ?9 and 5 °C and mass flow rates ranging from 3 to 5 g s^?1. Kattan–Thome–Favrat maps are used to confirm the flow patterns for the tested conditions. The magnitude of the heat transfer coefficient with respect to flow patterns and different mechanisms of boiling are discussed. The heat transfer coefficient of the refrigerant mixture is also compared with that of R-134a for selected working conditions. The significance of nucleate boiling in the overall heat transfer process under these testing conditions is highlighted.     

Experimental studies on critical heat flux in vertical tight 37-rod bundles using freon-12

The design of tight-lattice pressurized water reactors requires the knowledge of CHF in tight rod bundles. Experimental investigations on CHF behavior in tight hexagonal 37-rod bundles were performed by using the model fluid Freon-12. About 400 CHF data points have been obtained in a range of parameters: pressure 1.0–2.7 MPa, mass flux 1.4–4.5 Mg/m² s and bundle exit steam quality −0.4 to +0.2. It is found that the effect of different parameters on CHF in the tight rod bundle is similar to that in tube geometries. The present test results agree also quantitatively well with the CHF data obtained in tubes of comparable hydraulic diameters. Some in the open literature well known CHF correlations proposed for rod bundles under-predict the test results significantly.     

Nucleate boiling in graphene oxide colloids: Morphological change and critical heat flux enhancement

We report an experimental investigation into the boiling heat transfer characteristics of water based graphene oxide (GO) colloidal suspensions on a silicon dioxide plate surface. Pool boiling experiments were conducted with GO colloidal suspensions at three concentrations: 1, 5, and 10 mg/L. The characteristics of the GO colloidal suspensions were compared to those of reduced GO (RGO) colloidal suspensions examined in our previous studies, in which we investigated the critical heat flux (CHF) enhancement mechanism in graphene colloids. Even though GO and RGO share almost identical geometrical and chemical characteristics, the GO and RGO flakes formed a two-dimensional (2D) laminate film and a three-dimensional (3D) porous network on a 2D film by nucleate boiling, respectively. Both species showed dramatic CHF enhancement, but not surface wettability enhancement. The 2D structure formed by nucleate boiling exhibited a delayed CHF phenomenon. We found that the GO flakes were well-aligned in the 2D film, such that the film acted as a heat spreader, with superior thermal conductivity. The CHF enhancement data were compared with thermal activity analysis results. Boiling hydrodynamics was examined under high-speed camera visualization.     

Visualization of boiling phenomena in inclined rectangular gap

An experimental study was performed to investigate the pool boiling critical heat flux (CHF) in one-dimensional inclined rectangular channels by changing the orientation of a copper test heater assembly. In a pool of saturated water under the atmospheric pressure, the test parameters included the gap sizes of 1, 2, 5, and 10 mm, and the surface orientation angles from the downward-facing position (180°) to the vertical position (90°). Tests were conducted on the basis of the visualization of boiling phenomena in the narrowly confined channel and open periphery utilizing a high-speed digital camera. To prevent the heat loss from the water pool and copper test heater, a state-of-the-art vacuum pumping technique was introduced. It was observed that the CHF generally decreased as the surface inclination angle increased and as the gap size decreased. In the downward-facing position (180°), however, the vapor movement was enhanced by the gap structure, which produced the opposing result; that is, the CHF increased as the gap size decreased. Phenomenological characteristics regarding the interfacial instability of vapor layer were addressed in terms of visualization approaching the CHF. It was found that there exists a transition angle, around which the CHF changes with a rapid slope.     

Spatially resolved wall temperature measurements during flow boiling in microchannels

Spatial and temporal variations of channel wall temperature during flow boiling microchannel flows using infrared thermography are presented and analyzed. In particular, the top channel wall temperature in a branching microchannel silicon heat sink is measured non-intrusively. Using this technique, time-averaged temperature measurements, with a spatial resolution of 10 μm, are presented over an 18 mm × 18 mm area of the heat sink. Also presented, within a specific sub-region of the heat sink, are intensity maps that are recorded at a rate of 120 frames per second. Time series data at selected point locations in this sub-region are analyzed for their frequency content, and dominant temperature fluctuations are extracted using proper orthogonal decomposition.Results at low-vapor-quality boiling condition indicate that temperatures can be determined from recorded radiation intensities with a temperature uncertainty varying from 0.9 °C at 25 °C to 1.0 °C at 125 °C. The time series data indicate periodic wall temperature fluctuations of approximately 2 °C that are attributed to the passage of vapor slugs. A dominant band of frequencies around 2–4 Hz is suggested by the frequency analysis. Proper orthogonal decomposition results indicate that first six orthogonal modes account for approximately 90% of the variance in temperature. The first mode reconstruction accounts for temporal variations in the dataset in the sub-region analyzed; however the magnitude of fluctuations and spatial variations in temperature are not accurately captured. A reconstruction using the first 25 modes is considered sufficient to capture both the temporal and spatial variations in the data.     

Flow boiling of halogenated refrigerants at high saturation temperature in a horizontal smooth tube

Several correlations are available in the open literature for computing the heat transfer coefficient during flow boiling inside plain channels. With respect to halogenated refrigerants, these correlations are usually compared to data taken in a limited range of evaporation temperature and reduced pressure. More recently, the adoption of new refrigerants, such as high pressure HFCs and carbon dioxide, requires to largely extend the pressure range of application of such correlations. Besides, the design of evaporators for some heat pumping applications, where temperatures are set at higher values as compared to usual evaporating temperatures in air-conditioning equipment, requires proper validation of the computing methods.The present paper aims at comparing four well-known predicting models to a new database collected during flow boiling of HCFC (R22) and HFC refrigerants (R134a, R125 and R410A) in a horizontal 8 mm internal diameter tube. This database is characterized by saturation temperature ranging between 25 °C and 45 °C, reduced pressure spanning between 0.19 and 0.53. Mass velocity ranges between 200 and 600 kg m^?2 s^?1 and heat flux between 9 and 53 kW m^?2.Evaporating heat transfer coefficients of halogenated refrigerants at such high temperatures have not been reported in the open literature so far. The discussion of the results will enlighten some similarities with experimental trends presented in the literature for evaporating carbon dioxide.Two models tested here show good prediction capabilities of the present experimental data, but not for all the data sets in the same way. For the purpose of practical use, a simple modification of the correlation by Gungor and Winterton [1] is proposed, showing that this is able to catch the experimental trends of the present database with good agreement.     

Saturated nucleate boiling to binary and ternary mixtures on horizontal cylinder

In this investigation, a large number of experiments have been performed to determine saturated nucleate pool boiling heat transfer coefficients of MEA/water and DEA/water binary mixtures and that of water/MEA/DEA ternary mixtures. These heat transfer coefficients have been measured at atmospheric pressure and over a wide range of heat fluxes and solution concentrations. The heat flux has been varied in 14 different levels from 7 to about 230 kW/m² and amines concentration has been changed in 10 different levels from zero to 84 wt%. Results show that strong reduction of heat transfer coefficient occurs as a result of mass transfer interference in this phenomenon. Furthermore, in this study, all the correlations proposed during the last years for the prediction of nucleate boiling heat transfer coefficient of mixtures have been categorized in three groups. Some experimental results have been compared with the most accurate representatives of these three groups and the corresponding RMS errors have been calculated. Also, impacts of important existing parameters in these correlations like ideal heat transfer coefficient (h_id.) on the prediction have been discussed.     

Experimental study on bubble departure characteristics in subcooled nucleate pool boiling

The boiling models use departure diameter and frequency in closure relations for the calculation of nucleate boiling heat flux. These parameters are normally derived from empirical correlations which depend heavily on experiments. While these parameters are studied mostly for saturated conditions, there is not sufficient data for the values of departure diameter and frequency in subcooled boiling. In this work, the bubble departure characteristics, i.e. the departure diameters and frequency have been measured using high speed visualization experiments with subcooled demineralized water at atmospheric pressure for nucleate pool boiling conditions. The water pool dimensions were 300 mm × 135 mm × 250 mm with four different heating elements to carry out the parametric studies of bubble departure behavior. The considered parameters were heater surface roughness, heater geometry and heater inclination along with the experimental conditions like degree of subcooling (ΔT_sub = 5−20 K), superheat (ΔT_sat = 1−10 K) and the heat flux. The departure diameters and frequencies were directly measured from the images captured. It was intended to generate the subcooled nucleate pool boiling data under a wide range of conditions which are not present in the literature. The departure diameter was found to increase with the wall superheat, heater size and the inclination angle while the liquid subcooling and surface roughness produced a damping effect on the diameter. The departure frequency was found to increase with the wall superheat and the inclination angle, but decreases with an increase in the heater size. The frequency increases with the degree of subcooling except very close to the saturation, and is unaffected by the surface roughness beyond a certain superheat value.     

Flow patterns and pressure drop of ionic liquid–water two-phase flows in microchannels

The two-phase flow of a hydrophobic ionic liquid and water was studied in capillaries made of three different materials (two types of Teflon, FEP and Tefzel, and glass) with sizes between 200 μm and 270 μm. The ionic liquid was 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis{(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl}amide, with density and viscosity of 1420 kg m⁻³ and 0.041 kg m⁻¹ s⁻¹, respectively. Flow patterns and pressure drop were measured for two inlet configurations (T- and Y-junction), for total flow rates of 0.065–214.9 cm³ h⁻¹ and ionic liquid volume fractions from 0.05 to 0.8. The continuous phase in the glass capillary depended on the fluid that initially filled the channel. When water was introduced first, it became the continuous phase with the ionic liquid forming plugs or a mixture of plugs and drops within it. In the Teflon microchannels, the order that fluids were introduced did not affect the results and the ionic liquid was always the continuous phase. The main patterns observed were annular, plug, and drop flow. Pressure drop in the Teflon microchannels at a constant ionic liquid flow rate, was found to increase as the ionic liquid volume fraction decreased, and was always higher than the single phase ionic liquid value at the same flow rate as in the two-phase mixture. However, in the glass microchannel during plug flow with water as the continuous phase, pressure drop for a constant ionic liquid flow rate was always lower than the single phase ionic liquid value. A modified plug flow pressure drop model using a correlation for film thickness derived for the current fluids pair showed very good agreement with the experimental data.     

Experimental investigation into transient pressure pulses during pneumatic conveying of fine powders using Shannon entropy

This paper presents the results of an ongoing investigation into transient pressure pulses using Shannon entropy. Pressure fluctuations (produced by gas–solid two-phase flow during fluidized dense-phase conveying) are recorded by pressure transducers installed at strategic locations along a pipeline. This work validates previous work on identifying the flow mode from pressure signals (Mittal, Mallick, & Wypych, 2014). Two different powders, namely fly ash (median particle diameter 45 μm, particle density 1950 kg/m³, loosely poured bulk density 950 kg/m³) and cement (median particle diameter 15 μm, particle density 3060 kg/m³, loosely poured bulk density 1070 kg/m³), are conveyed through different pipelines (51 mm I.D. × 70 m length and 63 mm I.D. × 24 m length). The transient nature of pressure fluctuations (instead of steady-state behavior) is considered in investigating flow characteristics. Shannon entropy is found to increase along straight pipe sections for both solids and both pipelines. However, Shannon entropy decreases after a bend. A comparison of Shannon entropy among different ranges of superficial air velocity reveals that high Shannon entropy corresponds to very low velocities (i.e. 3–5 m/s) and very high velocities (i.e. 11–14 m/s) while low Shannon entropy corresponds to mid-range velocities (i.e. 6–8 m/s).