Erratum to: Active thermal management of on-chip hot spots using EWOD-driven droplet microfluidics

In response to the rapid advances in microelectronics, novel cooling technologies are needed to meet increasing cooling requirements. As a paradigm-shifting technique, electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) uses electric potential to control the movement of a liquid droplet on a dielectric surface. In this work, we developed an EWOD-based microfluidic technique for active and adaptive thermal management of on-chip hot spots. A two-dimensional array of control electrodes was patterned on the chip surface for EWOD operations. By applying DC or AC voltages with appropriate sequence and timing to the electrode units, we were able to transport microdroplets of tens of μL along a programmable path. Without the need of external pumps and valves, the droplets were precisely delivered to cooling targets. With the driving voltage as low as 40 V_AC, we demonstrate high heat flux (7.6 W/cm²) cooling on a hot spot. The EWOD-induced internal circulation within the droplets led to a time-averaged Nusselt number of ~45.     

Active thermal management of on-chip hot spots using EWOD-driven droplet microfluidics

In response to the rapid advances in microelectronics, novel cooling technologies are needed to meet increasing cooling requirements. As a paradigm-shifting technique, electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) uses electric potential to control the movement of a liquid droplet on a dielectric surface. In this work, we developed an EWOD-based microfluidic technique for active and adaptive thermal management of on-chip hot spots. A two-dimensional array of control electrodes was patterned on the chip surface for EWOD operations. By applying DC or AC voltages with appropriate sequence and timing to the electrode units, we were able to transport microdroplets of tens of μL along a programmable path. Without the need of external pumps and valves, the droplets were precisely delivered to cooling targets. With the driving voltage as low as 40 V_AC, we demonstrate high heat flux (7.6 W/cm²) cooling on a hot spot. The EWOD-induced internal circulation within the droplets led to a time-averaged Nusselt number of ~45.     

Experimental tests of dropwise cooling on infrared-transparent media

The present work is aimed at analyzing the cooling of hot solid surfaces induced by liquid droplets. In particular, the study is focused on the non-intrusive measurement of the transient contact temperature between impinging droplets and hot solid surfaces.

An experimental apparatus was built and set up in order to approach the non-trivial problem of the measurement of a solid–liquid interface temperature after droplet impingement. The solid–liquid interface temperature was monitored from below through a transparent-to-infrared material. That material had been coated with a very thin layer of high-emissivity, opaque paint on its upper side, so that it could effectively respond to the infrared camera located below.

The paper reports the main results that have been collected to date, with particular regard to the approaches used to coat the transparent solid. Some considerations are also expressed about the effectiveness of the proposed method and about the improvements that are currently being implemented to get new and more accurate interface temperature measurements.     

Study of the impacts of droplets deposited from the gas core onto a gas-sheared liquid film

The results of an experimental study on droplet impactions in the flow of a gas-sheared liquid film are presented. In contrast to most similar studies, the impacting droplets were entrained from film surface by the gas stream. The measurements provide film thickness data, resolved in both longitudinal and transverse coordinates and in time together with the images of droplets above the interface and images of gas bubbles entrapped by liquid film. The parameters of impacting droplets were measured together with the local liquid film thickness. Two main scenarios of droplet-film interaction, based on type of film perturbation, are identified; the parameter identifying which scenario occurs is identified as the angle of impingement. At large angles an asymmetric crater appears on film surface; at shallow angles a long, narrow furrow appears. The most significant difference between the two scenarios is related to possible impact outcome: craters may lead to creation secondary droplets, whereas furrows are accompanied by entrapment of gas bubbles into the liquid film. In addition, occurrence of partial survival of impacting droplet is reported.     

基于扰动波的HVAS液滴耦合振动特性分析

高速电弧喷涂过程中熔融金属液滴的振动特性对喷涂涂层性能具有决定性作用,但限于实验技术很难检测液滴的动力学行为,因而利用扰动波理论建立了气流和液滴的耦合振动方程组,并数值求解获得了喷涂气流最不稳定波数,与Bradley的数据曲线进行了比较,二者呈现出较好的吻合性,误差在士2％之间,验证了所建立的HVAS小扰动液滴模型是有效的;根据HVAS液滴耦合振动模型分析了不同喷涂气流及其速度对不同熔融金属的相应HVAS液滴振动特性。结果表明,HVAS过程中用N2具有一定的优势,且增加气流速度有利于提高喷涂涂层的结合强度,从而为HVAS过程中的材料选择与工艺控制提供了基本的理论依据。     

Producing droplets smaller than the nozzle diameter by using a pneumatic drop-on-demand droplet generator

A pneumatic droplet generator to produce water/glycerin droplets smaller than the nozzle diameter is described. The generator consists of a T-junction with a nozzle fit into one opening, the second opening connected to a gas cylinder through a solenoid valve and the third connected to a length of steel tubing. The droplet generator is filled with liquid. Opening the valve for a preset time creates a pulse of alternating negative and positive pressure in the gas above the surface of the liquid, ejecting a single droplet through the nozzle. Droplet formation was photographed and the pressure variation in the droplet generator recorded. The effect of various experimental parameters, such as nozzle size, pressure pulse width and liquid properties on droplet formation was investigated. Small droplets could not be generated when liquid viscosity was too low or too high. For pure water, droplet diameters were several times that of the nozzle. Using more viscous glycerin mixtures, droplets with diameters as small as 65% of the nozzle diameter could be produced.     

Interaction phenomena between liquid droplets and hot particles—Captured via high-speed camera

The interaction of evaporating droplets and hot catalyst particles plays a major role in heterogeneously catalysed reactions. The liquid feed is injected into a gas–solid flow and is mixed with the catalyst. The interaction phenomena determine the evaporation time which should be minimised to keep the reactor vessel small. First measurements with a bed of fixed hot FCC-particles (fluid catalytic cracking) and two model fluids have been conducted. The interactions of ethanol and water droplets with the hot bed surface were captured via a high-speed camera. While the ethanol droplet developed a stable steam cushion due to Leidenfrost phenomena, water showed intense interaction and steam explosions which induced repulsion and atomisation of the droplet.     

高超声速边界层液膜演化过程和冷却机理研究

高超声速液膜冷却技术是通过一系列狭缝或孔洞压出冷却工质,在飞行器表面边界层形成一层低温冷却膜,阻止高超声速气流对飞行器的气动加热.其作为一种主动冷却方式在高超声速飞行器表面热防护有着巨大的应用潜力.文章采用数值方法,结合VOF模型,研究25 km飞行高度和Ma=5气流条件下的液膜铺展情况,并通过不同冷却工质的入射速度、角度、表面张力和黏性系数条件,讨论了液膜在平板上的演化过程和冷却机理.结果表明,在气流作用下,液膜向壁面下游发展,液膜的存在导致边界层分离,连续液膜会在一定位置断裂为液块,然后进一步破碎为液滴.入射条件和液体性质的改变,会影响液膜沿流向的发展,具体表现在连续液膜断裂点的位置和连续液膜的厚度.在所设定的计算域内,壁面热流降低了80%～95%,液膜对壁面的冷却效率随着液膜形态的变化而变化.     

超声速气流中雾化燃料喷射的三维数值研究

首次用双流体模型对雾化燃料在扩张形超燃室中沿九喷嘴顺流喷射的混合问题进行了数值研究。气相用迎风 TVD格式求解三维全 Navier- Stokes方程 ,液相用预估、校正 NND格式求解三维 Euler方程。相间相互作用的常微分方程用预估、校正Runge- Kutta法求解。用三维 Poisson方程生成网格。结果表明 :气相较液相的扩散效果好 ,小直径液滴的扩散效果好。相间速度滑移、改变气相喷射压力和喷射速度对液相扩散的贡献不大 ,但调整喷射角度会明显地增强液相的扩散、混合 ,本文结果未出现阻塞。     

Numerical simulation of transpiration cooling through porous material

Transpiration cooling using ceramic matrix composite materials is an innovative concept for cooling rocket thrust chambers. The coolant (air) is driven through the porous material by a pressure difference between the coolant reservoir and the turbulent hot gas flow. The effectiveness of such cooling strategies relies on a proper choice of the involved process parameters such as injection pressure, blowing ratios, and material structure parameters, to name only a few. In view of the limited experimental access to the subtle processes occurring at the interface between hot gas flow and porous medium, reliable and accurate simulations become an increasingly important design tool. In order to facilitate such numerical simulations for a carbon/carbon material mounted in the side wall of a hot gas channel that are able to capture a spatially varying interplay between the hot gas flow and the coolant at the interface, we formulate a model for the porous medium flow of Darcy–Forchheimer type. A finite‐element solver for the corresponding porous medium flow is presented and coupled with a finite‐volume solver for the compressible Reynolds‐averaged Navier–Stokes equations. The two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional results at Mach number Ma = 0.5 and hot gas temperature T_HG=540 K for different blowing ratios are compared with experimental data. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical analysis of swirling turbulent droplet-laden flow and heat transfer in a sudden pipe expansion

The effect of swirling intensity on the structure and heat transfer of a turbulent gas–droplet flow after a sudden pipe expansion has been numerically simulated. Air is used as the carrier phase, and water, ethanol, and acetone are used as the dispersed phase. The Eulerian approach is applied to simulate the dynamics and heat transfer in the dispersed phase. The gas phase is described by a system of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations, taking into account the effect of droplets on mean transport and turbulent characteristics in the carrier phase. Gas phase turbulence is predicted using the second-moment closure. A swirling droplet-laden flow is characterized by an increase in the number of small particles on the pipe axis due to their accumulation in the zone of flow recirculation and the action of the turbulent migration (turbophoresis) force. A rapid dispersion of fine droplets over the pipe cross-section is observed without swirling. With an increase in swirling intensity, a significant reduction in the length of the separation region occurs. The swirling of a two-phase flow with liquid droplets leads to an increase in the level of turbulence for all three types of liquid droplets investigated in this work due to their intensive evaporation. It is shown that the addition of droplets leads to a significant increase in heat transfer in comparison with a single-phase swirling flow. The greatest effect of flow swirling on heat transfer intensification in a two-phase gas-droplet flow is obtained for the droplets of ethanol and water and smallest effect is for the acetone droplets.     

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.     

Atomized non-equilibrium two-phase flow in mesochannels: Momentum analysis

Two-phase pressure drop measurements are very difficult to make while the fluid is in non-equilibrium condition, i.e. while phase change is taking place. This is further complicated when an atomized liquid is introduced in the system at much higher velocity than other components such as liquid layer, vapor core, and entrained droplets. The purpose of this paper is to develop a model to predict the two-phase pressure characteristics in a mesochannel under various heat flux and liquid atomization conditions. This model includes the momentum effects of liquid droplets from entrainment and atomization. To verify the model, an in-house experimental setup consisting of a series of converging mesochannels, an atomization facility and a heat source was developed. The two-phase pressure of boiling PF5050 was measured along the wall of a mesochannel. The one-dimensional model shows good agreement with the experimental data. The effects of channel wall angle, droplet velocity and spray mass fraction on two-phase pressure characteristics are predicted. Numerical results show that an optimal spray cooling unit can be designed by optimizing channel wall angle and droplet velocity.     

Simultaneous velocity field measurements in two-phase flows for turbulent mixing of sprays by means of two-phase PIV

This paper describes a novel derivative of the PIV method for measuring the velocity fields of droplets and gas phases simultaneously using fluorescence images rather than Mie scattering images. Two-phase PIV allows the simultaneous and independent velocity field measurement of the liquid phase droplets and ambient gas in the case of two-phase flow mixing. For phase discrimination, each phase is labelled by a different fluorescent dye: the gas phase is seeded with small liquid droplets, tagged by an efficient fluorescent dye while the droplets of the liquid phases are tagged by a different fluorescent dye. For each phase, the wavelength shift of fluorescence is used to separate fluorescence from Mie scattering and to distinguish between the fluorescence of each phase. With the use of two cross-correlation PIV cameras and adequate optical filters, we obtain two double frame images, one for each phase. Thus standard PIV or PTV algorithms are used to obtain the simultaneous and independent velocity fields of the two phases. Because the two-phase PIV technique relies on the ability to produce two simultaneous and independent images of the two phases, the choice of the labelling dyes and of the associated optical filter sets is relevant for the image acquisition. Thus a spectroscopic study has been carried out to choose the optimal fluorescent dyes and the associated optical filters. The method has been evaluated in a simple two-phase flow: droplets of 30–40 μm diameter, produced by an ultrasonic nozzle are injected into a gas coflow seeded with small particles. Some initial results have been obtained which demonstrate the potential of the method.     

Gas temperature in the trace of water droplets streamlined by hot air flow

In order to obtain the knowledge necessary for developing new effective fire extinguishing technologies, we determined experimentally the gas temperature in the trace of water droplets streamlined by hot air flow. It was important to establish how much the temperature in the droplet trace decreases and how fast it recovery to the initial temperature field after the droplet evaporation. The following parameters were varied: droplet size from 1.3 mm to 1.7 mm, velocity from 1 m/s to 5 m/s, initial airflow temperature from 473 K to 773 K, number of droplets (one or two), and the arrangement of droplets relative to the hot inflow (serial or parallel). The study proves the theoretical hypothesis about a significant influence of evaporation on the temperature in the water droplet trace. When a temperature trace of water droplets is formed, irrespective of their arrangement, the role of the evaporation process strengthens with the gas flow temperature rising. Furthermore, the study specifies typical longitudinal dimensions of the aerodynamic and temperature traces of water droplets. It has been established that when droplets are located in series and in parallel, their combined impact on the temperature and velocity of the gas flow in the medium differs rather considerably.     

Transient temperature measurements in a convectively cooled droplet

 The transient cooling of an evaporating water droplet, suspended in a jet of dry air, was experimentally investigated in this study using thermochromic liquid crystal thermography. Microencapsulated beads of thermochromic liquid crystals, suspended in the water droplets, enabled the visualization of the transient temperature fields within the droplets. Digital movies of the convectively cooled droplets reveal spatial and temporal temperature gradients resolved down to length scales of ∼100 μm and time scales of ∼0.03 s. The transient temperature measurements were analyzed to yield total droplet convective heat transfer rates. Droplet heat transfer rates determined from a heat balance on the droplets compare favorably to previously published measurements. Received: 11 June 1997/Accepted: 26 March 1998     

Convective heat and mass transfer from a falling film to a laminar gas stream

A numerical study has been made of convective heat and mass transfer from a falling film to a laminar gas stream between vertical parallel plates. The effects of gas-liquid phase coupling, variable thermophysical properties, and film vaporization have been considered. Simultaneous mass, momentum and heat transfer between liquid film and gas stream is numerically studied by solving the respective governing equations for the liquid film and gas stream together. The influences of the inlet liquid temperature and liquid flowrate on the cooling of liquid film are examined for air-water and air-ethanol systems. Results show that the heat transfer from the gas-liquid interface to the gas stream is predominantly determined by the latent heat transfer connected with film evaporation. Additionally, better liquid film cooling is noticed for the system having a higher inlet liquid temperature or a lower liquid flowrate.     

Combined heat and mass transfer in laminar gas stream flowing over an evaporating liquid film

A numerical analysis was carried out to study the detailed heat and mass transfer characteristics in laminar gas stream flowing over a falling liquid water film by solving the respective governing equations for the liquid film and gas stream together. It was observed that the cooling of the liquid film is mainly caused by the latent heat transfer connected with the vaporization of the liquid film. Significant liquid cooling results for the system with a high inlet liquid temperature, high gas stream velocity or a low liquid flowrate. Additionally, the predicted Nusselt and Sherwood numbers were correlated.