Dynamic pressure based prediction of spray cooling heat transfer coefficients

An important goal of spray cooling research is the ability to predict local heat transfer from the spray hydrodynamics. It is postulated that the local normal pressure exerted by the spray onto the heated surface can be used to obtain the local heat transfer coefficient. This hypothesis was tested using data obtained from hollow cone, full cone, and linear sprays at four nozzle pressures and three stand-off distances. A correlation between the pressure and heat transfer coefficient was determined from the data, then used to “predict” the heat transfer coefficient to verify the accuracy of the correlation. The area averaged heat transfer coefficient could be predicted within 25%, indicating that pressure can be used to predict the local heat transfer coefficient in the single-phase regime.     

Study on heat transfer performance of spray cooling: model and analysis

In consideration of droplet–film impaction, film formation, film motion, bubble boiling (both wall nucleation bubbles and secondary nucleation bubbles), droplet–bubble interaction, bulk air convection and radiation, a model to predict the heat and mass transfer in spray cooling was presented in this paper. The droplet–film impaction was modeled based on an empirical correlation related with droplet Weber number. The film formation, film motion, bubble growth, and bubble motion were modeled based on dynamics fundamentals. The model was validated by the experimental results provided in this paper, and a favorable comparison was demonstrated with a deviation below 10%. The film thickness, film velocity, and non-uniform surface temperature distribution were obtained numerically, and then analyzed. A parameters sensitivity analysis was made to obtain the influence of spray angle, surface heat flux density, and spray flow rate on the surface temperature distribution, respectively. It can be concluded that the heat transfer induced by droplet–film impaction and film-surface convection is dominant in spray cooling under conditions that the heated surface is not superheated. However, the effect of boiling bubbles increases rapidly while the heated surface becomes superheated.     

The spray characteristics of a pressure-swirl injector with various exit plane tilts

The gasoline spray characteristics of a pressure-swirl injector were investigated with various exit plane tilts. The analysis focused on the correlation between tilt angle and flow angle. Mie-scattering technique and phase Doppler anemometry were employed to analyze the macroscopic spray development and droplet size distribution of the spray. An analytical method for mass flux estimation was applied to understand the velocity distribution at the nozzle exit. The results showed that the spray shape and velocity distribution of the spray were more asymmetrical at high tilt angles. In particular, an opened hollow cone spray was formed when the tilt angle is greater than the complementary flow angle. The pressure drop inside the spray, one of the crucial factors for the swirl spray collapse at various surrounding conditions, was attenuated in this opened hollow cone spray since the pressure inside the spray was assimilated to the surrounding air pressure. The spray collapse at high fuel temperature and back pressure conditions did not appear when the tilt angle is larger than the complementary flow angle due to the reduced pressure drop inside the spray. However, tilt angle should be optimized to fulfill the requirements of spray robustness and avoid the locally rich area. The droplet size of 70° tilted nozzle spray shows a value similar to that of the original swirl spray in the plane that includes nozzle axis and the major axis of exit surface ellipse (Major axis plane) while it shows an increased value in the plane that includes nozzle axis and the minor axis of exit surface ellipse (Minor axis plane).     

Seed bubbles stabilize flow and heat transfer in parallel microchannels

Seed bubbles are generated on microheaters located at the microchannel upstream and driven by a pulse voltage signal, to improve flow and heat transfer performance in microchannels. The present study investigates how seed bubbles stabilize flow and heat transfer in micro-boiling systems. For the forced convection flow, when heat flux at the wall surface is continuously increased, flow instability is self-sustained in microchannels with large oscillation amplitudes and long periods. Introduction of seed bubbles in time sequence improves flow and heat transfer performance significantly. Low frequency (∼10 Hz) seed bubbles not only decrease oscillation amplitudes of pressure drops, fluid inlet and outlet temperatures and heating surface temperatures, but also shorten oscillation cycle periods. High frequency (∼100 Hz or high) seed bubbles completely suppress the flow instability and the heat transfer system displays stable parameters of pressure drops, fluid inlet and outlet temperatures and heating surface temperatures. Flow visualizations show that a quasi-stable boundary interface from spheric bubble to elongated bubble is maintained in a very narrow distance range at any time. The seed bubble technique almost does not increase the pressure drop across microsystems, which is thoroughly different from those reported in the literature. The higher the seed bubble frequency, the more decreased heating surface temperatures are. A saturation seed bubble frequency of 1000–2000 Hz can be reached, at which heat transfer enhancement attains the maximum degree, inferring a complete thermal equilibrium of vapor and liquid phases in microchannels. Benefits of the seed bubble technique are the stabilization of flow and heat transfer, decreasing heating surface temperatures and improving temperature uniformity of the heating surface.     

Effect of salt spray corrosion on air-side hydrophilicity and thermal-hydraulic performance of copper-fin heat exchangers

The effect of salt spray corrosion on the air-side hydrophilicity and the thermal-hydraulic performance of copper-fin heat exchangers were experimentally investigated. Artificial accelerated method of salt spray corrosion on the copper-fin heat exchangers was used for simulating the actual corroded heat exchangers. The experimental results show that, the contact angles increase with the increase of salt spray corrosion hours, which results in the degradation of the hydrophilicity of copper fin. The air-side heat transfer coefficients decrease and pressure drops increase with the increase of corrosion hours. The effect of salt spray corrosion on the heat transfer coefficients and pressure drops become more obvious with the increase of inlet air velocity. The heat transfer coefficients of the corroded copper-fin heat exchangers decrease by 4.4–34.0% and the pressure drop increase by 5.2–26.1% comparing with those of the uncorroded copper-fin heat exchanger at the inlet air velocity ranging from 0.5 to 2.0 m/s.     

Investigation into the effect of nozzle shape on the nozzle discharge coefficient and heat and mass transfer characteristics of impinging air jets

High velocity impinging air jets are commonly used for heating, cooling and drying, etc. because of the high heat and mass transfer coefficients which are developed in the impingement region. In order to provide data for the designers of industrial equipment, a variety of slot nozzles were tested to determine the effect on heat transfer of both nozzle shape and slot width. A large multi-nozzle rig was also used to measure average heat and mass transfer characteristics under arrays of both slot nozzles and circular holes. As a necessary preliminary to the heat transfer investigation, the discharge coefficients of the nozzles were measured. Then, the experimental results are compared with the simplified flow model. A good agreement was found between the theoretical and experimental results. From the tests, it was also found that the heat transfer results from differently shaped nozzles could be satisfactorily correlated provided that the effective slot width or hole diameter was used to characterize the nozzle shapes.     

On flow structure, heat transfer and pressure drop in varying aspect ratio two-pass rectangular channel with ribs at 45°

To increase the thermal efficiency of gas turbines, inlet temperature of gas is increased. This results in the requirement of cooling of gas turbine blades and vanes. Internal cooling of gas turbine blades and vanes is one of several options. Two-pass channels are provided with ribs to enhance heat transfer at the expense of an increased pressure drop. The space in the blade is limited and requires channels with small aspect ratios. Numerical simulations have been performed to investigate heat transfer, flow field and pressure loss in a two-pass channel equipped with 45° ribs with aspect ratio (W_in/H) equal to 1:3 in the inlet pass and 1:1 in the outlet pass with both connected together with a 180° bend. The results are compared with a higher aspect ratio channel (W_in/H = 1:2, inlet pass). In the ribbed channel, a decrease in pressure drop was observed with a decrease in the aspect ratio of the channel. The smaller aspect ratio channel not only allows using more cooling channels in the blade, but also results in more heat transfer enhancement. The divider-to-tip wall distance (W_el) has influence on the pressure drop, as well as on the heat transfer enhancement at the bend and outlet pass. Heat transfer decreases with decrease in aspect ratio of the inlet pass of the two-pass channel. With increase in divider-to-tip wall distance, heat transfer tries to attain a constant value.     

Effects of dynamic load on flow and heat transfer of two-phase boiling water in a horizontal pipe

An experimental investigation was performed to obtain the flow and heat transfer characteristics of single-phase water flow and two-phase pipe boiling water flow under high gravity (Hi-G) in present work. The experiments were conducted on a rotating platform, and boiling two-phase flow state was obtained by means of electric heating. The data were collected specifically in the test section, which was a lucite pipe with inner diameter of 20 mm and length of 400 mm. By changing the parameters, such as rotation speed, inlet temperature, flow rate, and etc., and analyzing the fluid resistance, effective heat and heat transfer coefficient of the experimental data, the effects of dynamic load on the flow and heat transfer characteristics of single phase water and two-phase boiling water flow were investigated and obtained. The two-phase flow patterns under Hi-G condition were obtained with a video camera. The results show that the dynamic load significantly influences the flow characteristic and boiling heat transfer of the two-phase pipe flow. As the direction of the dynamic load and the flow direction are opposite, the greater the dynamic load, the higher the outlet pressure and the flow resistance, and the lower the flow rate, the void fraction, the wall inner surface temperature and the heat transfer capability. Therefore, the dynamic load will block the fluid flow, enhance heat dissipation toward the ambient environment and reduce the heat transfer to the two-phase boiling flow.     

High enthalpy nozzle flow sensitivity study and effects on heat transfer

The sensitivity of the flow along the nozzle and in the test section of high enthalpy wind tunnels to the thermochemical response of the nozzle expansion process, as well as effects on the pressure and heat transfer distributions over the Electre blunt cone standard test model, are examined in the framework of properly characterizing the test section flow field in such facilities. Particularly sensitive to the thermochemical behaviour of the nozzle flow, in the facilities under consideration, are the static pressure, static temperature and Mach number, whereas stagnation point (pitot) pressure and heat transfer data or freestream velocity are inadequate for the characterization of the thermochemical state of the flow. The Electre and nozzle wall pressure data in the F4 arc jet wind tunnel suggest, in contrast to nonequilibrium computations, that the flow in the F4 nozzle is close to equilibrium. In the HEG and, to some extent, the T5 piston-driven shock tunnels, there are indications that significant heat losses occur in the reservoir. Lastly, simple semi-empirical formulations for stagnation point heating are shown to perform reasonably well in high enthalpy flow conditions.     

Numerical research of diesel spray and atomization coupled cavitation by Large Eddy Simulation (LES) under high injection pressure

A special spray model is applied to study the spray behavior with high injection pressure and micro-hole nozzle. To reveal the cavitation in diesel nozzle and its influence on spray and atomization, the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) turbulence model is adopted to detect the cavitation, and then the special spray model coupling the cavitation is build. From research results, three important conclusions can be drawn. Firstly, the cavitation flow can raise the effective velocity at the nozzle exit and such effect become even more obvious with higher injection pressure, e.g.180 MPa. Secondly, the applied spray model is in good agreement with the spray characteristics and images obtained from the EFS8400 spray test platform. Thirdly, the cavitation with high injection pressure and micro-hole nozzle can increase the spray cone angle and reduce the spray penetration; the cavitation intensity has a great impact on the spray velocity field and vorticity intensity, especially at the initial spray field under the condition of high injection pressure.     

Natural convection in a vertical rectangular enclosure with localized heating and cooling zones

Experimental and numerical studies of natural convection in a single phase, closed thermosyphon were carried out using a vertical, rectangular enclosure model. Only one vertical plate plays the role of heat transfer surface having 100 mm height and 100 mm width, and others act as the adiabatic wall made of transparent plexi-glass. The heat transfer surface is separated into three horizontal zones with an equal height; top 1/3 and bottom 1/3 of the surface are cooling and heating zones, respectively and intermediate section is an adiabatic zone. Water is used as the working fluid. Variable parameters are distance D between the heat transfer surface and an adiabatic plate opposite to the heat transfer plate, and temperature difference ΔT between heating and cooling zones. By changing both D and ΔT, three regimes of the natural convection flow; quasi-two-dimensional steady, three-dimensional steady and unsteady flows are observed by means of thermo-sensitive liquid crystal powder and numerically simulated very well by solving a set of governing equations. Received on 17 January 2000     

Two-phase flow instabilities in a silicon microchannels heat sink

Two-phase flow instabilities are highly undesirable in microchannels-based heat sinks as they can lead to temperature oscillations with high amplitudes, premature critical heat flux and mechanical vibrations. This work is an experimental study of boiling instabilities in a microchannel silicon heat sink with 40 parallel rectangular microchannels, having a length of 15 mm and a hydraulic diameter of 194 μm. A series of experiments have been carried out to investigate pressure and temperature oscillations during the flow boiling instabilities under uniform heating, using water as a cooling liquid. Thin nickel film thermometers, integrated on the back side of a heat sink with microchannels, were used in order to obtain a better insight related to temperature fluctuations caused by two-phase flow instabilities. Flow regime maps are presented for two inlet water temperatures, showing stable and unstable flow regimes. It was observed that boiling leads to asymmetrical flow distribution within microchannels that result in high temperature non-uniformity and the simultaneously existence of different flow regimes along the transverse direction. Two types of two-phase flow instabilities with appreciable pressure and temperature fluctuations were observed, that depended on the heat to mass flux ratio and inlet water temperature. These were high amplitude/low frequency and low amplitude/high frequency instabilities. High speed camera imaging, performed simultaneously with pressure and temperature measurements, showed that inlet/outlet pressure and the temperature fluctuations existed due to alternation between liquid/two-phase/vapour flows. It was also determined that the inlet water subcooling condition affects the magnitudes of the temperature oscillations in two-phase flow instabilities and flow distribution within the microchannels.     

Experimental study of convective heat transfer under arrays of impinging air jets from slots and circular holes

 Impinging air jets are widely used in industry, for heating, cooling, drying, etc, because of the high heat transfer rates which is developed in the impingement region. To provide data for designers of industrial equipment, a large multi-nozzle rig was used to measure average heat transfer coefficients under arrays of both slot nozzles and circular holes. The aim of the present paper is to develop the relationship between heat transfer coefficient, air mass flow and fan power which is required for the optimum design of nozzle systems. The optimum free area was obtained directly from experimental results. The theory of optimum free area was analysed and good agreement was found between theoretical and experimental results. It was also possible to optimise the variables, to achieve minimum capital and running costs. Received on 21 November 2000 / Published online: 29 November 2001     

A comparison between spray cooling and film flow cooling during the rewetting of a hot surface

The paper is dealing with a research carried out at the Institute of Thermal-Fluid Dynamics to investigate the rewetting of a hot surface. The rewetting of the hot surface by spray cooling has been analyzed in previous works. After the droplet impingement, the liquid film falls along the surface, and rewetting by falling film takes place. The experiment was characterized by a 1-dimensional liquid spray, i.e., drops having a uniform, constant diameter, impinging on the heated surface. The cooling rate of the hot surface has been detected as a function of wall temperature, drop diameter and velocity, and impact point of the spray. The working feature of the spray is based on the varicose rupture of the liquid jet: imposing a periodic (symmetrical) perturbation with appropriate amplitude and frequency on the jet surface, the flow is “constrained” to break soon after leaving the nozzle, eventually obtaining constant diameter drops, depending on the nozzle diameter and liquid velocity. In this paper, previous results with spray cooling are compared with experimental runs in which the spray injection is replaced with a falling film all along the test section. The rewetting velocity has been calculated from the response of the thermocouples placed on the heated wall and using a digital image system based on the video image registered during the runs.     

Slowly mixing cylinder in a cone-shaped nozzle

We report on a surprising phenomenon in a turbulent jet setup which uses a cone-shaped nozzle with an excentric inlet. Inside the nozzle a slowly mixing, rotating cylinder surface was observed. The speed of mixing on this cylinder surface is reduced by approximately a factor of 8 compared to the remaining flow field of the nozzle. The phenomenon seems to be independent of the Reynolds number and the pressure distribution inside the nozzle.     

Experimental study of spray cooling performance on micro-porous coated surfaces

Experiments on evaporative spray cooling of flat heaters with plain and micro-porous coated surfaces were performed in this study. Micro-porous coated surfaces were made by using the DOM [Diamond particle, Omegabond 101, Methyl-Ethyl-Keton] coating method. In pure air-jet cooling, micro-porous coating did not show heat transfer improvement over plain surface. In spray cooling, however, three different flow patterns (complete wetting, evaporative wetting and dryout) were observed on both plain and micro-porous coated surfaces. The effects of various operating conditions, such as water flow rate, particle size, and coating thickness on the micro-porous coated surface were investigated. It was found that the level of surface wetting was an important factor in determining the performance of spray cooling. The level of surface wetting depended on the balance between the amount of liquid absorbed by capillary force over porosity and the amount of liquid evaporated. A micro-porous coated surface has a very high cooling capacity, especially in the evaporative wetting zone. The liquid flow rate and coating thickness are significant factors in the evaporative wetting zone, but are not in the complete wetting zone and the dryout zone.     

Entropy generation in flow field subjected to a porous block in a vertical channel

Entropy generation in the flow field subjected to a porous block situated in a vertical channel is examined. The effects of channel inlet port height (vertical height between channel inlet port and the block center), porosity, and block aspect ratio on the entropy generation rate due to fluid friction and heat transfer in the fluid are examined. The governing equations of flow, heat transfer, and entropy are solved numerically using a control volume approach. Air is used as the flowing fluid in the channel. A uniform heat flux is considered in the block and natural convection is accommodated in the analysis. It is found that entropy generation rate due to fluid friction increases with increasing inlet port height, while this increase becomes gradual for entropy generation rate due to heat transfer for the inlet port height exceeding 0.03 m. The porosity lowers entropy generation rate due to fluid friction and heat transfer. The effect of block aspect ratio on entropy generation rate is notable; in which case, entropy generation rate increases for the block aspect ratio of 1:2.     

Numerical investigation of static flow instability in a low-pressure subcooled boiling channel

A three-dimensional two-fluid model to predict subcooled boiling flow at low pressure is presented. The model is adopted to investigate the two-phase flow and heat transfer characteristics in a heated channel. The presence of bubbles as a consequence of heating flow through a vertical rectangular channel has a significant effect on the overall pressure drop along the channel. Numerical results were compared against a series experimental data performed at various conditions – mass flux, heat flux, inlet temperature and exit pressure. Good agreement on the overall pressure drop was achieved. The onset of flow instability velocity was also accurately determined when compared against measurements. Predicted results of void fraction provided useful information towards a more fundamental understanding of the occurrence of onset of nucleate boiling, onset of significant voiding and onset of flow instability. The phenomenon of boiling onset oscillations was also predicted through the use of the two-fluid model.     

Parametric study on heat transfer enhancement and pressure drop of an internal blade tip-wall with pin-fin arrays

One way to cool gas turbine tips is to design serpentine passages with 180° turns inside the blades to fully utilize the coolant potential. It is therefore a desire to improve the cooling of the blade tips to ensure a long durability and safe operation. In the present work, a two-pass channel with a 180° turn and various arrays of pin-fins mounted internally on the tip-cap is considered. The effects of pin-fin height, diameter and pitches on the heat transfer enhancement and pressure drop are investigated numerically. The nominal ratio of height to diameter (H/D) of the pin-fins is 2, and the ratio of tip clearance to pin-fin height is about 10. The inlet Reynolds numbers based on hydraulic diameter are ranging from 100,000 to 600,000. Details of the three dimensional fluid flow and heat transfer over the pin-finned tips are presented. The overall performances of various tips are compared. It is found that due to the combination of turning, impingement and pin-fin crossflow, the heat transfer coefficient of the pin-finned tips is up to a factor of 2.1 higher than that of the smooth tip. This augmentation is achieved at the expense of a penalty of pressure drop around 30%. Results show that the magnitude of the heat transfer enhancement depends upon pin-fin configuration and arrangement. It is suggested that pin-fins are suitable to enhance the blade tip heat transfer and thus to improve the tip cooling.     

Numerical simulation of compressible gas flow and heat transfer in a microchannel surrounded by solid media

In this study, a numerical model is developed to investigate the coupled compressible gas flow and heat transfer in a microchannel surrounded by solid media. To accommodate the varying flow cross-section, the compressible gas flow model is established in a non-orthogonal curvilinear coordinate system. An iterative numerical procedure is employed to solve the coupled heat transfer and gas flow equations. The computer code for the compressible gas flow is first validated against two test problems, and then extended by including the heat conduction in the solid media. The effect of the inlet Mach number on the Nusselt number is examined. It is found that the pressure difference from the pyrolysis front to the heated surface is induced essentially by the gas addition from the channel wall, instead from the pyrolysis front. The necessity of accounting for the gas compressibility is clearly demonstrated when severe heating is applied. The pressure distribution obtained along the channel axial direction is useful for further structural analysis of composite materials.