Freon R141b flow boiling in silicon microchannel heat sinks: experimental investigation

This paper presents experimental investigations on Freon R141b flow boiling in rectangular microchannel heat sinks. The main aim is to provide an appropriate working fluid for microchannel flow boiling to meet the cooling demand of high power electronic devices. The microchannel heat sink used in this work contains 50 parallel channels, with a 60 × 200 (W × H) μm cross-section. The flow boiling heat transfer experiments are performed with R141b over mass velocities ranging from 400 to 980 kg/(m² s) and heat flux from 40 to 700 kW/m², and the outlet pressure satisfying the atmospheric condition. The fluid flow-rate, fluid inlet/outlet temperature, wall temperature, and pressure drop are measured. The results indicate that the mean heat transfer coefficient of R141b flow boiling in present microchannel heat sinks depends heavily on mass velocity and heat flux and can be predicted by Kandlikar’s correlation (Heat Transf Eng 25(3):86–93, 2004). The two-phase pressure drop keeps increasing as mass velocity and exit vapor quality rise.     

Nucleate pool boiling of aqueous solution of citric acid on a smoothed horizontal cylinder

Nucleate pool boiling heat transfer coefficients were measured during pool boiling of the mixtures of Citric acid/water on a horizontal heated Cylinder. The experiment was done at atmospheric pressure and heat fluxes up to 113 kW m⁻² and mass fraction range 0.1496–0.613 over all ranges of mass fraction, the heat transfer coefficients of the mixtures are markedly less than those in single component substances and, in particular, are dramatically deteriorated in the vicinity of both single component substances. An applicability of existing correlations to the present experimental data is discussed. As a result, it is difficult for any existing correlation to predict the true values of pool boiling heat transfer coefficients over all ranges of mass fraction in mixtures of citric acid/water. Available correlation results were not exactly adapted to experimental data and for the best estimation, a new modified model based on Stephan-Kroner has been achieved with reasonable accuracy. Also the status of bubble generation showed that nucleation site density is strictly functioning of heat flux.     

Periodic boiling in parallel micro-channels at low vapor quality

Based on experimental investigations the present study evaluates instability and heat transfer phenomenon under condition of periodic flow boiling of water and ethanol in parallel triangular micro-channels. Tests were performed in the range of hydraulic diameter 100–220 μm, mass flux 32–200 kg/m² s, heat flux 120–270 kW/m², vapor quality x = 0.01–0.08. The period between successive events depends on the boiling number and decreases with an increase in the boiling number. The initial film thickness decreases with increasing heat flux. When the liquid film reached the minimum initial film thickness CHF regime occurred. Temporal variations of pressure drop, fluid and heater temperatures were periodic. Oscillation frequency is the same for the pressure drop, for the fluid temperature at the outlet manifold, and for the mean and maximum heater temperature fluctuations. All these fluctuations are in phase. The CHF phenomenon is different from that observed in a single channel of conventional size. A key difference between micro-channel heat sink and single conventional channel is amplification of parallel-channel instability prior to CHF. The dimensionless experimental values of the heat transfer coefficient are presented as the Nusselt number dependence on the Eotvos number and the boiling number.     

Evaporation of pure liquids with increased viscosity in a falling film evaporator

The present study investigated fluid dynamics and heat transfer of viscous pure liquids in a falling film evaporator. This is of special benefit as it avoids mass transfer effects on the evaporation behaviour. Experiments at a single-tube glass falling film evaporator were conducted. It allowed a full-length optical film observation with a high-speed camera. Additionally the evaporator was equipped with a slotted weir distribution device. Test fluids provided viscosities ranging from μ = 0.3 to 41 mPa s. The Reynolds number was between 0.7 and 1,930. Surface evaporation and the transition to nucleate boiling were studied to gain information about the film stability at maximum wall superheat. A reliable database for laminar and laminar-wavy viscous single component films was created. The experimental results show a significant enhancement in the wave development due to the film distribution. A wavy flow with different wave velocities was superposed to the film in each liquid load configuration without causing a film breakdown or dry spots on the evaporator tube. It was found that nucleate boiling can be allowed without causing film instabilities over a significant range of wall superheat.     

Heat transfer in pool boiling of binary and ternary non-azeotropic mixtures

Heat transfer coefficients in nucleate pool boiling of binary and ternary non-azeotropic hydrocarbon mixtures were obtained experimentally using a vertical electrically heated cylindrical carbon steel surface at atmospheric pressure with several surface roughness. The fluids used were Methanol/1-Pentanol and Methanol/1-Pentanol/1,2-Propandiol at constant 1,2-Propandiol mole fraction of 30%. Heat fluxes were varied in the range 25–235 kW/m². The cylindrical heater surface was polished to an average surface roughness of 0.2 μm, and sandblasted yielding surface roughness of 2.98 and 4.35 μm, respectively. The experimental results were compared to available prediction correlations, indicating that the correlations based on the boiling range are in better qualitative agreement than correlations based on the phase envelope. Increasing surface roughness resulted in an increase in the heat transfer coefficient, and the effect was observed to be dependent on the heat flux and fluid composition.     

Experimental studies on heat and mass transfer performance of a coiled tube absorber for R134a-DMAC based absorption cooling system

Absorber is an important component in vapor absorption refrigeration system and its performance has greater influence in overall efficiency of absorption machines. Falling film heat and mass transfer in an absorber is greatly influenced by fluid properties, geometry of heat exchanger and its operating parameters. This paper presents on the results of experimental studies on the heat and mass transfer characteristics of a coiled tube falling film absorber, using 1,1,1,2-Tetrafluroethane(R-134a) and N-N Dimethyl Acetamide (DMAC) as working fluids. The effects of film Reynolds number, inlet solution temperature and cooling water temperature on absorber heat load, over all heat transfer coefficient and mass of refrigerant absorbed are presented and discussed. Normalized solution and coolant temperature profiles and refrigerant mass absorbed along the height of absorber are also observed from the experimental results. The optimum over all heat transfer coefficient for R-134a–DMAC solution found to be 726 W/m²K for a film Reynolds number of 350. The R-134a vapour absorption rate is maximum in the normalized coil height of 0.6 to 1.     

Study of transient heat transfer and synchronized flow visualizations during sub-cooled flow boiling in a small aspect ratio microchannel

The challenges that microchannel flow boiling technology faces are the lack of understanding of underlying mechanisms of heat transfer during various flow boiling regimes and a dearth of analytical models that can predict heat transfer. This paper aims to understand flow boiling heat transfer mechanisms by analyzing results obtained by synchronously captured high-speed flow visualizations with local, transient temperature data. Using Inverse Heat Conduction Problem (IHCP) solution methodology, the transient wetted surface heat flux and temperature as well as heat transfer coefficient are calculated. These are then correlated with the visual data. Experiments are performed on a single microchannel embedded with fast response temperature sensors located (630 µm) below the wetted surface. The height, width and length of the microchannel are 0.42 mm, 2.54 mm and 25.4 mm respectively. De-ionized, de-gassed water is used as the working fluid. Two heat fluxes are tested at each of the mass fluxes of 182 kg/(m²s) and 380 kg/(m²s). Because of vapor confinement, slug flow is observed for the tested conditions. The present study provides detailed insights into the effect of various events such as passage of vapor slug, 3-phase contact line, partial-dry-out and liquid slug on transient heat transfer coefficient. Transient heat transfer coefficient peaks when thin film evaporation mechanism is prevalent. The peak value is influenced by the distance of bubble incipience as well as downstream events obstructing the flow. Heat transfer coefficient during the passage of liquid slug and 3-phase contact line were relatively lower for the tested experimental conditions.     

Flow boiling heat transfer characteristics of R123 and R134a in a micro-channel

Flow boiling heat transfer in a single circular micro-channel of 0.19 mm ID has been experimentally investigated with R123 and R134a for various experimental conditions: heat fluxes (10, 15, 20 kW/m²), mass velocities (314, 392, 470 kg/m² s), vapor qualities (0.2–0.85) and different saturation pressures (158, 208 kPa for R123; 900, 1100 kPa for R134a). The heat transfer trends between R123 and R134a are clearly distinguished. Whether nucleate boiling is suppressed at low vapor quality or not determines the heat transfer trend and mechanism in the flow boiling of micro-channels. High convective heat transfer coefficients in the two-phase flow of micro-channels enables nucleate boiling to be suppressed even at low vapor quality, depending on the wall superheat requirement for nucleate boiling. In the case of early suppression of nucleate boiling, specifically R123, heat transfer is dominated by evaporation of thin liquid films around elongated bubbles. In the contrary case, namely R134a, nucleate boiling is dominant heat transfer mechanism until its suppression at high vapor quality and then two-phase forced convection heat transfer becomes dominant. It is similar to the heat transfer characteristic of macro-channels except the enhancement of nucleate boiling and the short forced convection region.     

Experimental study on surface wave and film breakdown of falling liquid film flow

In order to evaluate characteristics of the liquid film flow and their influences on heat and mass transfer, measurements of the instantaneous film thickness using a capacitance method and observation of film breakdown are performed. Experimental results are reported in the paper. Experiments are carried out at Re = 250–10000, T _in = 20–50°C and three axial positions of vertically falling liquid films for film thickness measurements. Instantaneous surface waveshapes are given by the interpretation of the test data using the cubic spline method. The correlation of the mean film thickness versus the film Reynolds number is also given by fitting the test data. It is revealed that the surface wave has nonlinear behavior. Observation of film breakdown is performed at Re = 1.40 × 10³–1.75 × 10⁴ and T _in = 85–95°C. From experimental results, the correlation of the film breakdown criterion can be obtained as follows: Bd = 1.567 × 10⁻⁶ Re ^1.183     

Crystallization fouling of finned tubes during pool boiling: effect of fin density

Bubble characteristics such as density, size, frequency and motion are key factors that contribute to the superiority of nucleate pool boiling over other modes of heat transfer. Nevertheless, if heat transfer occurs in an environment prone to fouling, the very same parameters may lead to accelerated deposit formation due to concentration effects beneath the growing bubbles. This has led to the widely accepted design recommendation to maintain the heat transfer surface temperature below the boiling point if fouling may occur, e.g., in seawater desalination. The present paper aims at investigating the formation of deposits on finned tubes during nucleate pool boiling of CaSO₄ solutions. The test finned tubes are low finned tubes with fin densities of 19 and 26 fins/in. made from Cu–Ni. The fouling experiments were carried out at atmospheric pressure for different heat fluxes ranging from 100 to 300 kW/m² and a CaSO₄ concentration of 1.6 g/L. For the sake of comparison, similar runs were performed with smooth stainless steel tubes. The results show that: (1) the fouling resistance decreases with increasing fin density, (2) fouling on the finned tubes was reduced with increasing nucleate boiling activity and (3) if any fouling layer occurred on the finned tubes it could be removed easily.     

A film boiling model for cryogenic chilldown at low mass flux inside a horizontal pipeline

A film boiling heat transfer model is developed for cryogenic chilldown at low mass flux inside a horizontal pipeline. It incorporates the stratified flow structure and is based on conservation principles of mass, momentum, and energy. Simplifying assumptions lead to an expression for the local film boiling heat transfer coefficient which varies with the azimuthal angle. The efficacy of the model is assessed by comparing the predicted wall temperature histories with those measured at several azimuthal positions and various mass fluxes. Good agreement is observed at low flux, G = 13–54 kg/m² s.     

Effect of heater size on ultrasonic enhancement of boiling in water and surfactant solutions

Experiments were performed to study enhancement of heat transfer from the wire of d = 50 µm and the tube of d = 1.5 mm in subcooled pool boiling by ultrasonic waves. The working fluids are clean water and Alkyl (8-16) Glucoside surfactant solutions of different concentrations and bulk temperature 30 °C. The wire resistance was translated to the temperature, using the calibration data, the temperature of the tube was measured by thermocouple. The differences between effect of ultrasonic field on boiling in water for heaters of d = 50 µm and d = 1.5 mm may be summarized as follows: for boiling on the wire of d = 50 µm in subcooled water, T_b = 30 °C, enhancement of heat transfer coefficient due to applied ultrasonic field is about 70% and 20% at heat flux q = 620 kW/m² and q = 1350 kW/m², respectively. For boiling in surfactant solutions at the same boiling conditions enhancement of heat transfer coefficient is in the range of 5–10% at heat flux q = 620 kW/m² and 10–16% at heat flux q = 1350 kW/m² depending on solution concentration. For boiling on the tube of d= 1.5 mm in subcooled water, T_b= 30 ℃, enhancement of heat transfer coefficient due to applied ultrasonic field is about 50% and 45% at heat flux q = 500 kW/m² and q = 2500 kW/m², respectively. The same values are obtained for boiling in surfactant solution of concentration C = 250 ppm. For the wire of d = 50 µm the heat transfer enhancement due to acoustic vibrations in surfactant solutions is not as strong as in water. This fact may be considered as evidence of significant role of relationship between jet flow and ultrasonic field.     

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.     

An investigation on near wall transport characteristics in an adiabatic upward gas–liquid two-phase slug flow

The near-wall transport characteristics, inclusive of mass transfer coefficient and wall shear stress, which have a great effect on gas–liquid two-phase flow induced internal corrosion of low alloy pipelines in vertical upward oil and gas mixing transport, have been both mechanistically and experimentally investigated in this paper. Based on the analyses on the hydrodynamic characteristics of an upward slug unit, the mass transfer in the near wall can be divided into four zones, Taylor bubble nose zone, falling liquid film zone, Taylor bubble wake zone and the remaining liquid slug zone; the wall shear stress can be divided into two zones, the positive wall shear stress zone associated with the falling liquid film and the negative wall shear stress zone associated with the liquid slug. Based on the conventional mass transfer and wall shear stress characteristics formulas of single phase liquid full-pipe turbulent flow, corrected normalized mass transfer coefficient formula and wall shear stress formula are proposed. The calculated results are in good agreement with the experimental data. The shear stress and the mass transfer coefficient in the near wall zone are increased with the increase of superficial gas velocity and decreased with the increase of superficial liquid velocity. The mass transfer coefficients in the falling liquid film zone and the wake zone of leading Taylor bubble are lager than those in the Taylor bubble nose zone and the remaining liquid slug zone, and the wall shear stress associated falling liquid film is larger than that associated the liquid slug. The mass transfer coefficient is within 10⁻³ m/s, and the wall shear stress below 10³ Pa. It can be concluded that the alternate wall shear stress due to upward gas–liquid slug flow is considered to be the major cause of the corrosion production film fatigue cracking.     

Flow boiling heat transfer in a vertical spirally internally ribbed tube

 Experiments of flow boiling heat transfer and two-phase flow frictional pressure drop in a spirally internally ribbed tube (φ22×5.5 mm) and a smooth tube (φ19×2 mm) were conducted, respectively, under the condition of 6×10⁵ Pa (absolute atmosphere pressure). The available heated length of the test sections was 2500 mm. The mass fluxes were selected, respectively, at 410, 610 and 810 kg/m² s. The maximum heat flux was controlled according to exit quality, which was no more than 0.3 in each test run. The experimental results in the spirally internally ribbed tube were compared with that in the smooth tube. It shows that flow boiling heat transfer coefficients in the spirally internally ribbed tube are 1.4–2 times that in the smooth tube, and the flow boiling heat transfer under the condition of smaller temperature differences can be achieved in the spirally internally ribbed tube. Also, the two-phase flow frictional pressure drop in the spirally internally ribbed tube increases a factor of 1.6–2 as compared with that in the smooth tube. The effects of mass flux and pressure on the flow boiling heat transfer were presented. The effect of diameters on flow boiling heat transfer in smooth tubes was analyzed. Based on the fits of the experimental data, correlations of flow boiling heat transfer coefficient and two-phase flow frictional factor were proposed, respectively. The mechanisms of enhanced flow boiling heat transfer in the spirally internally ribbed tube were analyzed. Received on 1 December 1999     

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.     

Prediction of the boiling temperature and heat flux in sugar–water solutions under pool-boiling conditions

Condensing of a sugar–water solution is a widely used production process, especially in food industry. In this study, boiling temperature and heat transfer of different concentration levels of sugar/water solution is experimentally studied. In the experiment, the pool boiling with constant temperature difference between surface and boiling temperature is investigated. Boiling point of sugar/water solution depends on sugar mass concentration and on vapor phase pressure. A function is suggested to calculation the boiling temperature. The experimental data and the calculated values of boiling temperature are compared. The results are verified with previous investigations. It is determined that the heat flux between surface and sugar/water solution while pool boiling displays a linear relation with water mass concentration in the solution. Heat transfer coefficient could be determined in dependency of surface temperature and sugar mass concentration. Furthermore a function is suggested to predict the heat flux for engineering purpose, which is already used in similar form for pure substances.     

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 the influence of SO2 gas injection to pure liquids on pool boiling heat transfer coefficients

SO₂ gas is injected into the different pure liquids using new innovative method via meshed tubes. Many experiments have been performed to investigate the influence of gas injection process on the pool boiling heat transfer coefficient of pure liquids around the horizontal cylinder at different heat fluxes up to 114 kW m^?2. Results demonstrate that presence of SO₂ gas into the vapor inside the bubbles creates a mass transfer driving force between the vapor phase inside the formed bubbles and liquid phase and also between the gas/liquid interfaces. Local turbulences and agitations due to the gas injection process around the nucleation sites leads the pool boiling heat transfer coefficient to be dramatically enhanced. Besides, some of earlier well-known correlations were unable to obtain the reasonable values for the pool boiling heat transfer coefficients in this particular case. Therefore, the most accurate correlation among the examined correlations was modified to estimate the pool boiling heat transfer coefficient of pure liquids. Experimental data were in a good agreement with those of obtained by the new modified correlation with absolute average deviation of 10 %.