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 on the heat transfer coefficient of water flow boiling in mini/microchannels

The heat transfer coefficients of the evaporative water flow in mini/microchannels are studied experimentally to explore the novel heat dissipation for high power electronics. Two sets of parallel channels which are 61 channels with hydraulic diameter of 0.293 mm and 20 channels with hydraulic diameter of 1.2 mm are investigated respectively. The inlet and outlet temperatures of fluids, and the temperatures beneath the channels are measured to calculate the heat dissipation of the evaporative water in channels. The experiments are carried out with the mass flow rates range from 11.09 kg/(m² s) to 44.36 kg/(m² s) for minichannels and 49.59 kg/(m² s) to 198.37 kg/(m² s) for microchannels. The effective heat flux range from 5 W/cm² to 50 W/cm², and the resulted outlet vapor qualities range from 0 to 0.8. The relations of the heat transfer coefficient with heat flux and vapor quality are analyzed according to the results. The experimental heat transfer coefficients are compared with the prediction of latest developed correlations. A new correlation takes the effect of Bond number is proposed, and be verified that it is effective to predict the heat transfer coefficient of both minichannels and microchannels in a large range of vapor qualities.     

Pool boiling heat transfer of ultra-light copper foam with open cells

High speed visualizations and thermal performance studies of pool boiling heat transfer on copper foam covers were performed at atmospheric pressure, with the heating surface area of 12.0 mm by 12.0 mm, using acetone as the working fluid. The foam covers have ppi (pores per inch) from 30 to 90, cover thickness from 2.0 to 5.0 mm, and porosity of 0.88 and 0.95. The surface superheats are from −20 to 190 K, and the heat fluxes reach 140 W/cm². The 30 and 60 ppi foam covers show the periodic single bubble generation and departure pattern at low surface superheats. With continuous increases in surface superheats, they show the periodic bubble coalescence and/or re-coalescence pattern. Cage bubbles were observed to be those with liquid filled inside and vented to the pool liquid. For the 90 ppi foam covers, the bubble coalescence takes place at low surface superheats. At moderate or large surface superheats, vapor fragments continuously escape to the pool liquid.     

Measurements and high-speed visualizations of flow boiling of a dielectric fluid in a silicon microchannel heat sink

Experiments were conducted to investigate flow boiling heat transfer to a dielectric fluid in a silicon chip-integrated microchannel heat sink. Twenty-four microchannels, each 389 μm × 389 μm in cross-section, were fabricated into the 12.7 mm × 12.7 mm silicon substrate. High-speed visualizations (at 12,500 frames per second) were performed simultaneously with heat transfer and pressure drop measurements to investigate the physics of flow boiling in parallel microchannel arrays. At low heat fluxes, bubbly flow is dominant, with the bubbles coalescing to form vapor slugs as the heat flux is increased. At high heat fluxes, the flow regimes in the downstream portion of the microchannels are characteristic of alternating wispy-annular flow and churn flow, while flow reversal is observed in the upstream region near the microchannel inlet. Local heat transfer measurements, obtained at three flow rates ranging from 35 to 60 ml/min, show that at lower heat fluxes, the heat transfer coefficient increases with increasing heat flux. The heat transfer coefficient in fully developed boiling is seen to be independent of flow rate in this range. At higher heat fluxes (exceeding 542, 673, 730 kW/m², respectively, for flow rates of 35, 47 and 60 ml/min), this trend is reversed, and the heat transfer coefficient decreases with further increases in heat flux due to partial dryout in some of the microchannels. Heat fluxes at which fully developed boiling is achieved depend on the flow rate. The pressure drop in fully developed boiling increases with increasing heat flux and is independent of flow rate for the test conditions considered in this work.     

Experimental investigation of vapor bubble growth during flow boiling in a microchannel

Experiments were conducted to analyze flow boiling characteristics of water in a single brass microchannel of 25 mm length, 201 μm width, and 266 μm depth. Different heat flux conditions were tested for each of two different mass flow rates over three different values of inlet fluid temperature. Temporal and spatial surface temperature profiles were analyzed to show the relative effect of axial heat conduction on temperature rise along the channel length and the effect of flow regime transition on local surface temperature oscillation. Vapor bubble growth rate increased with increasing wall superheat. The slower a bubble grew, the further it was carried downstream by the moving liquid. Bubble growth was suppressed for increased mass flux while the vapor bubble was less than the channel diameter. The pressure spike of an elongating vapor bubble was shown to suppress the growth of a neighboring bubble by more than 50% of its volume. An upstream progression of the Onset of Bubble Elongation (OBE) was observed that began at the channel exit and progressed upstream. The effects of conjugate heat transfer were observed when different flow regime transitions produced different rates of progression for the elongation sequence. Instability was observed at lower heat fluxes for this single channel experiment than for similar studies with multiple channels.     

Artificial boiling heat transfer in the free convection to carbonic acid solution

Free convection phenomenon has been experimentally investigated around a horizontal rod heater in carbonic acid solution. Because of the tendency of the solution to desorb carbon dioxide gas when temperature is increased, bubbles appear when cylinder surface is heated. The bubbles consists mainly carbon dioxide and also a negligible amount of water vapor. The results present that dissolved carbon dioxide in water significantly enhances the heat transfer coefficient in compare to pure free convection regime. This is mainly due to the microscale mixing on the heat transfer surface, which is induced by bubble formation. In this investigation, experiments are performed at different bulk temperatures between 288 and 333 K and heat fluxes up to 400 kW m⁻² at atmospheric pressure. Bubble departure diameter, nucleation site density and heat transfer coefficient have been experimentally measured. A model has been proposed to predict the heat transfer coefficient.     

Heat and mass transfer characteristics of air bubbles and hot water by direct contact

 This paper has dealt with direct contact heat and mass transfer characteristics of air bubbles in a hot water layer. The experiments were carried out by bubbling air in the hot water layer under some experimental conditions of air flow rate, inlet air temperature and humidity as a dispersion fluid, and hot water temperature and hot water layer depth as a continuous fluid. Heat transfer and evaporation of water vapor from hot water to air bubbles occurred during air bubbles ascending into the hot water. Air bubble flow patterns were classified into three regions of independent air bubble flow, transition and air bubble combination growth. Non-dimensional correlation equations of direct contact heat and mass transfer between air bubbles and hot water were derived by some non- dimensional parameters for three regions of bubble flow pattern. Received on 14 July 2000 / Published online: 29 November 2001     

Effects of channel dimension,heat flux,and mass flux on flow boiling regimes in microchannels

Experiments are conducted with a perfluorinated dielectric fluid, Fluorinert FC-77, to investigate the effects of channel size and mass flux (225–1420 kg/m²s) on microchannel flow boiling regimes by means of high-speed photography. Seven different silicon test pieces with parallel microchannels of widths ranging from 100 to 5850 μm, all with a depth of 400 μm, are considered. Flow visualizations are performed with a high-speed digital video camera while local measurements of the heat transfer coefficient are simultaneously obtained. The visualizations and the heat transfer data show that flow regimes in the microchannels of width 400 μm and larger are similar, with nucleate boiling being dominant in these channels over a wide range of heat flux. In contrast, flow regimes in the smaller microchannels are different and bubble nucleation at the walls is suppressed at a relatively low heat flux for these sizes. Two types of flow regime maps are developed and the effects of channel width on the flow regime transitions are discussed.     

Sizing problem for a cross flow heat exchanger with wing-type vortex generator

In the present study, sizing of a single pass cross flow heat exchanger with unmixed fluid streams has been investigated. The heat exchanger is a cross flow heat exchanger. It has overall dimensions of 20 × 20 × 20 cm. Two the most common heat exchanger design problems are the rating and sizing problem. Sizing problems deal with designing an exchanger and determining its physical size to meet the specified heat duty, pressure drops and other considerations. It means the determination of the exchanger construction type, flow arrangement, heat transfer surface geometries and materials, and the physical sizes of an exchanger to meet specified heat transfer and pressure drop. In this study, the physical size (length, width, height, mass flow rates of both fluids and surface areas on each side of the exchanger) are determined. Inputs to the sizing problem are surface geometries, fluid mass flow rates, inlet and outlet fluid temperatures and pressure drop on each side. Dimensions of L _a , L _b , and L _c for the selected surfaces were investigated such that the design meets the heat duty and pressure drops on both sides exactly.     

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 flow boiling characteristics in a cross-linked microchannel heat sink

This paper experimentally investigates flow boiling characteristics in a cross-linked microchannel heat sink at low mass fluxes and high heat fluxes. The heat sink consists of 45 straight microchannels each with a hydraulic diameter of 248 μm and heated length of 16 mm. Three cross-links, of width 500 μm, are introduced in the present microchannel heat sink to achieve better temperature uniformity and to avoid flow mal-distribution. Flow visualization, flow instability, two-phase pressure drop, and two-phase heat transfer measurements are conducted using the dielectric coolant FC-72 over a range of heat flux from 7.2 to 104.2 kW/m², mass flux from 99 to 290 kg/m² s, and exit quality from 0.01 to 0.71. Thermochromic liquid crystals are used in the present study as full-field surface temperature sensors to map the temperature distribution on the heat sink surface. Flow visualization studies indicate that the observed flow regime is primarily slug. Visual observations of flow patterns in the cross-links demonstrate that bubbles nucleate and grow rapidly on the surface of the cross-links and in the tangential direction at the microchannels’ entrance due to the effect of circulations generated in those regions. The two-phase pressure drop strongly increases with the exit quality, at x_e,o < 0.3, and the two-phase frictional pressure drop increases by a factor of 1.6–2 compared to the straight microchannel heat sink. The flow boiling heat transfer coefficient increases with increasing exit quality at a constant mass flux, which is caused by the dominance of the nucleation boiling mechanism in the cross-link region.     

Flow pattern and boiling heat transfer of CO2 in horizontal small-bore tubes

Increasing attention has been focused on carbon dioxide (CO₂) heat pump system where the temperature level is rather low, while the operating pressure is rather high. In this system, the density difference between vapor and liquid becomes rather small, which significantly affects flow patterns. Low surface tension and latent heat also have significant influence on two-phase flow patterns and heat transfer. This paper describes experimental and numerical investigation on flow patterns and heat transfer characteristics of boiling flow CO₂ at high pressure in horizontal small-bore tubes ranging from 1.0 mm to 3.0 mm I.D. Even though the density difference is rather small at high pressure, phase stratification takes place, which leads to the intermittent dryout at the upper wall. So far developed discrete bubble model by the authors for vertical flows is modified so as to include horizontal flow mechanisms. The predicted flow patterns with this new model agree on the whole with the experimental observation.     

Hydrodynamic and mass transfer characteristics of slug flow in a vertical pipe with and without dispersed small bubbles

In this work, we present a numerical study to investigate the hydrodynamic characteristics of slug flow and the mechanism of slug flow induced CO₂ corrosion with and without dispersed small bubbles. The simulations are performed using the coupled model put forward by the authors in previous paper, which can deal with the multiphase flow with the gas–liquid interfaces of different length scales. A quasi slug flow, where two hypotheses are imposed, is built to approximate real slug flow. In the region ahead of the Taylor bubble and the liquid film region, the presence of dispersed small bubbles has less impacts on velocity field, because there are no non-regular intensive disturbance forces or centrifugal forces breaking the balance of the liquid and the dispersed small bubbles. In the liquid slug region, the strong centrifugal forces generated by the recirculation below the Taylor bubble lead to the effect of heterogeneity, which makes the profile of the radial liquid velocity component sharper with higher volume fraction of dispersed small bubbles. The volume fraction has a maximum value in the range of r/R = 0.5–0.6. Meanwhile, it is usually higher than 0.35, which means that larger dispersed bubbles can be formed by coalescences in this region. These calculated results are in good agreement with experimental results. The wall shear stress and the mass transfer coefficient with dispersed small bubbles are higher than those without dispersed small bubbles due to enhanced fluctuations. For short Taylor bubble length, the average mass transfer coefficient is increased when the gas or liquid superficial velocity is increased. However, there may be an inflection point at low mixture superficial velocities. For the slug with dispersed small bubbles, the product scales still cannot be damaged directly despite higher wall shear stress. In fact, the alternate wall shear stress and the pressure fluctuations perpendicular to the pipe wall with high frequency are the main cause for breaking the product scales.     

二维水平通道内流动沸腾换热的格子Boltzmann模拟

利用格子Boltzmann方法模拟二维水平通道内水的流动沸腾过程,获得不同壁面过热度下流型特点和不同因素对换热过程的影响规律。结果表明,随着壁面过热度升高,流道内流型依次经历从泡状流、弹状流到反环流的转变,平均热流密度和平均换热系数先增大后减小。入口流速降低会使流道内出现受限气泡流,核态沸腾受到抑制。提高入口流速能够有效促进气泡脱离,壁面平均换热系数随入口流速增大而增大,但增长速率有所减小。减小通道宽度有利于汽化现象发生,核态沸腾得到强化,壁面平均换热系数有所提高。     

Bubbly flow measurements in hydraulic jumps with small inflow Froude numbers

The transition from supercritical to subcritical open channel flow is characterised by a strong dissipative mechanism called a hydraulic jump. A hydraulic jump is turbulent and associated with the development of large-scale turbulence and air entrainment. In the present study, some new physical experiments were conducted to characterise the bubbly flow region of hydraulic jumps with relatively small Froude numbers (2.4 < Fr₁ < 5.1) and relatively large Reynolds numbers (6.6 × 10⁴ < Re < 1.3 × 10⁵). The shape of the time-averaged free-surface profiles was well defined and the longitudinal profiles were in agreement with visual observations. The turbulent free-surface fluctuation profiles exhibited a peak of maximum intensity in the first half of the hydraulic jump roller, and the fluctuations exhibited some characteristic frequencies typically below 3 Hz. The air–water flow properties showed two characteristic regions: the shear layer region in the lower part of the flow and an upper free-surface region above. The air–water shear layer region was characterised by local maxima in terms of void fraction and bubble count rate. Other air–water flow characteristics were documented including the distributions of interfacial velocity and turbulence intensity. The probability distribution functions (PDF) of bubble chord time showed that the bubble chord times exhibited a broad spectrum, with a majority of bubble chord times between 0.5 and 2 ms. An analysis of the longitudinal air–water structure highlighted a significant proportion of bubbles travelling within a cluster structure.     

Simulation of flow boiling in micro-channels: Effects of inlet flow rate and hot-spots

This paper presents the findings of a numerical study on the flow boiling in a micro-channel heat sink. The Navier-Stokes equations, energy equation, and the continuity equation are solved in a finite-volume framework using the front-tracking method. The numerical method is validated by comparison with the experimental results for a slug bubble growth, and vertical flow boiling. The numerical method is then used to study the effect of changing the inflow mass-velocity on the heat transfer coefficient, bubble size distribution, and the bubble nucleation frequency for a constant heat flux. The mean heat transfer coefficient of all the cases is found to be nearly twice that of the single-phase heat transfer coefficient. The bubble nucleation frequency is found to increase monotonically with the inflow mass-velocity. The bubble size distribution along the channel is found to become flatter as the mass-velocity is increased. We identify three distinct phases of the bubble evolution, namely the initial rapid growth phase, the boiling dominant phase, and finally the condensation dominant phase. Subsequently, the numerical method is used to study the effect of having a hot-spot near the bubble nucleation site on the heat transfer characteristics. It is found that the bubble nucleation frequency increases and the bubbles’ maximum volume decreases as the intensity of the hot-spot is increased for a fixed inlet flow rate. It is also observed that the average heat transfer coefficient does not change significantly with changing the intensity of the hot-spot, and that the bubble size distribution along the channel becomes flatter as the intensity of the hot-spot is increased.     

Characterization of diabatic two-phase flows in microchannels: Flow parameter results for R-134a in a 0.5 mm channel

An optical measurement method for two-phase flow pattern characterization in microtubes has been utilized to determine the frequency of bubbles generated in a microevaporator, the coalescence rates of these bubbles and their length distribution as well as their mean velocity. The tests were run in a 0.5 mm glass channel using saturated R-134a at 30 °C (7.7 bar). The optical technique uses two laser diodes and photodiodes to measure these parameters and to also identify the flow regimes and their transitions. Four flow patterns (bubbly flow, slug flow, semi-annular flow and annular flow) with their transitions were detected and observed also by high speed video. It was also possible to characterize bubble coalescence rates, which were observed here to be an important phenomena controlling the flow pattern transition in microchannels. Two types of coalescence occurred depending on the presence of small bubbles or not. The two-phase flow pattern transitions observed did not compare well to a leading macroscale flow map for refrigerants nor to a microscale map for air–water flows. Time averaged cross-sectional void fractions were also calculated indirectly from the mean two-phase vapor velocities and compared reasonably well to homogeneous values.     

Stabilization of flow boiling in a micro tube with air injection

Air injection as a stabilization method is evaluated for flow boiling in a micro tube. Pyrex glass tube coated by ITO film is employed as a test tube for flow visualization with water as a working fluid. Air bubble and liquid slug lengths are controlled by changing air and liquid mass velocities. Wall temperatures and inlet/outlet pressures show very large fluctuations during flow boiling without air injection. Severe reverse flow is also observed from flow visualization. On the other hand, wall temperature and inlet/outlet pressures as well as visualized flow patterns become very stable with air injection. In addition, much higher heat transfer coefficients are obtained for air injected cases. It is observed from the flow visualization that the flow becomes much stable and shows regular patterns.     

Mass transfer from a pulsating drop

The primary difficulty in solving the problem of mass transport through an isolated drop (or bubble) moving in a fluid medium at high Reynolds numbers lies in the extreme complexity of the hydrodynamic pattern of the phenomenon. For sufficiently high velocities a separation of the external flow will occur in the rear portion of the drops and bubbles, which leads to the appearance of a turbulent wake and a sharp increase of the hydrodynamic resistance. Beginning with those dimensions for which the resistance force acting per unit surface of the drop or bubble from the external medium becomes greater than the capillary pressure, the surface of the drops and bubbles begins to deform and pulsate. The local variations of the surface tension, resulting either from the process of convective diffusion or from adsorption of surface-active substances, have a large effect on the hydrodynamics of drops and bubbles (particularly on the deformation of their surface) [1, 2], The presence of vortical, and possibly even turbulent, motion within the drops and bubbles may, under certain conditions [1], lead to their fractionation.Naturally, at the present time such complex hydrodynamics cannot be described by exact quantitative relations. Several authors have attempted to solve this problem approximately within the framework of certain assumptions. In particular [3–6], a theory was developed for the boundary layer on the surface of spherical and ellipsoidal gaseous bubbles moving in a liquid, studies were made [7, 8] of the hydrodynamics of drops located in a gas flow and the conditions were found for which fractionation of such drops takes place. Of considerable practical interest is the development of the theory of mass transfer in pulsating drops and bubbles and finding in explicit form the dependence of the mass transfer coefficients on the hydrodynamic characteristics of these systems. Until this relationship is established, every theory which ignores the effect of hydrodynamics on the mass transfer rate from an individual drop or bubble cannot be considered in any way well-founded. This relates particularly to the theories [9, 10] which consider mass transfer in systems with concentrated streams of drops and bubbles. The present paper is devoted to the study of mass transport through the surface of an isolated drop in an irrotational gas or liquid stream for large Peclet numbers P.In conclusion the authors wish to thank V. G. Levich for his helpful discussions.     

海洋大气间气泡的气体输运

研究球形小气泡在理想流体的波浪场中的气体扩散过程,把小雷诺数下均匀来流绕流球形气泡的气体交换结果与气泡运动方程耦合在一起进行求解．讨论了溶解于水中的气体浓度、波浪、气泡半径、气泡初始深度对单个气泡气体扩散量的影响．由于气泡云对气体的输运,溶解于水中的气体可出现过饱和状态．对１０ｍ／ｓ风速下气泡云的气体输运量进行了计算,得到水中Ｏ２的过饱和度可达１．８９％～３９２％,与实际观测值一致．