Experimental investigation of flow boiling heat transfer enhancement under ultrasound fields in a minichannel heat sink

Ultrasound is considered to be an effective active heat transfer enhancement method, which is widely used in various fields. But there is no clear understanding of flow boiling heat transfer characteristics in micro/mini-channels under ultrasonic field since the studies related are limited up to now. In this paper, a novel minichannel heat exchanger with two ultrasonic transducers inside the inlet and outlet plenum respectively is designed to experimentally investigate the impacts of ultrasound on flow boiling heat transfer enhancement in a minichannel heat sink. Flow visualization analyses reveal that ultrasound can promote rapid bubble motion, bubble detachment from heating wall surface and thereby new bubble generation, and decrease the length of confined bubble. Furthermore, the flow boiling experiments are initiated employing working fluid R141b at different ultrasonic parameters (e.g., frequency, power, angle of radiation) and heat flux under three types of ultrasound excitations: no ultrasound (NU), single inlet ultrasound (IU), inlet and outlet ultrasound (IOU). The results indicate that ultrasound has obvious augmentation effects on flow boiling heat transfer even though the intensification effects will be limited with the heat flux increases. The higher ultrasonic power, the lower ultrasonic frequency and the higher ultrasonic radiation angle, the better intensification efficiency. The maximum enhancement ratio of h_ave in the saturated boiling section reaches 1.88 at 50 W, 23 kHz and 45° under the experimental conditions. This study will be beneficial for future applications of ultrasound on flow boiling heat transfer in micro/mini-channels.     

Influence of T-semi attached rib on turbulent flow and heat transfer parameters of a silver-water nanofluid with different volume fractions in a three-dimensional trapezoidal microchannel

This study aimed at exploring influence of T-semi attached rib on the turbulent flow and heat transfer parameters of a silver-water nanofluid with different volume fractions in a three-dimensional trapezoidal microchannel. For this purpose, convection heat transfer of the silver-water nanofluid in a ribbed microchannel was numerically studied under a constant heat flux on upper and lower walls as well as isolated side walls. Calculations were done for a range of Reynolds numbers between 10,000 and 16,000, and in four different sorts of serrations with proportion of rib width to hole of serration width (R/W). The results of this research are presented as the coefficient of friction, Nusselt number, heat transfer coefficient and thermal efficiency, four different R/W microchannels. The results of numerical modeling showed that the fluid's convection heat transfer coefficient is increased as the Reynolds number and volume fraction of solid nanoparticle are increased. For R/W=0.5, it was also maximum for all the volume fractions of nanoparticle and different Reynolds numbers in comparison to other similar R/W situations. That's while friction coefficient, pressure drop and pumping power is maximum for serration with R/W=0 compared to other serration ratios which lead to decreased fluid-heat transfer performance.     

Numerical investigation of laminar flow and heat transfer in a radial flow cooling system with the use of nanofluids

Nanofluids, because of their enhanced heat transfer capability as compared to normal water/glycol/oil based fluids, offer the engineer opportunities for development in areas where high heat transfer, low temperature tolerance and small component size are required. In this present paper, the hydrodynamic and thermal fields of a water–γAl₂O₃ nanofluid in a radial laminar flow cooling system are considered. Results indicate that considerable heat transfer enhancement is possible, even achieving a twofold increase in the case of a 10% nanoparticle volume fraction nanofluid. On the other hand, an increase in wall shear stress is also noticed with an increase in particle volume concentration.     

Heat transfer behaviours of nanofluids in a uniformly heated tube

In the present work, we consider the problem of the forced convection flow of water– γAl₂O₃ and ethylene glycol– γAl₂O₃ nanofluids inside a uniformly heated tube that is submitted to a constant and uniform heat flux at the wall. In general, it is observed that the inclusion of nanoparticles has increased considerably the heat transfer at the tube wall for both the laminar and turbulent regimes. Such improvement of heat transfer becomes more pronounced with the increase of the particle concentration. On the other hand, the presence of particles has produced adverse effects on the wall friction that also increases with the particle volume concentration. Results have also shown that the ethylene glycol– γAl₂O₃ mixture gives a far better heat transfer enhancement than the water– γAl₂O₃ mixture.     

R407C水冷冷凝器传热强化的实验研究

本文通过实验,研究了替代制冷工质R407C在螺旋隔板花瓣管冷凝器中的传热性能,实验结果表明,随着热流密度的增加,冷凝器的总传热系数也不断增大。在相同热流密度下,其总传热系数比板式冷凝器提高40％以上。     

R410A和R22在水平内螺纹管内冷凝性能的实验研究

实验研究了环保替代制冷工质R410A和R22在冷凝温度40℃时在内螺纹强化管(外径为9.52mm)内的冷凝换热特性,对二者的冷凝换热性能进行了对比,并研究了测试管外冷却水流量对换热系数的影响。结果表明:在管外冷却水流量相同时,R22的总换热系数K普遍比R410a小,而管内传热系数hr比R410A大。R22与R410A的总传热系数K均随管外冷却水流量的增加而增加,当制冷剂流量Gm大于300kg.s-1.m-2时,管外冷却水流量对总传热系数K的影响变小。     

Experimental investigation and simulation of flow boiling of nanofluids in different flow directions

In this work, the flow boiling of TiO₂/water and Al₂O₃/water nanofluids was investigated experimentally and simulated with two phases. Experimental results were obtained in two directions and compared together. The volume fraction and heat transfer coefficient obtained from the vertical tube were compared with those obtained from the horizontal tube. The results showed that the contours of vapor volume fraction in horizontal tube are completely different from the vertical tube, which is due to the buoyancy effect. Moreover, the effect of nanoparticles on both flow directions was almost the same, while heat transfer coefficient was not the same in these flow directions. Based on the experimental result, presence of nanoparticles in the base fluid cannot increase the heat transfer coefficient.     

微尺度水平管内沸腾换热特性研究

对不同质量分数下非共沸混合工质(R134a/R32)在微尺度管道内的流动沸腾换热特性进行了比较和分析,阐述了热流密度、质量流量和质量干度对换热的影响。结果表明:热流密度对换热的影响随着质量流量的增加而愈加明显;在质量分数为75%/25%和65%/35%时,换热系数随着质量流量的增大而增大;而质量分数为85%/15%时,换热系数随质量流量的变化先增加后减小;随着质量干度的增加,换热系数在各质量分数下基本上都呈上升趋势。     

Effect of Brownian motion on flow and heat transfer of nanofluids over a backward-facing step with and without adiabatic square cylinder

A mathematical model to predict large enhancement of thermal conductivity of nanofluids by considering the Brownian motion is proposed. The effect of the Brownian motion on the flow and heat transfer characteristics is examined. The computations were done for various types of nanoparticles such as CuO, Al₂O₃, and ZnO dispersed in a base fluid (water), volume fraction of nanoparticles ? in the range of 1 % to 6 % at a fixed Reynolds number Re = 450 and nanoparticle diameter d_np = 30 nm. Our results demonstrate that Brownian motion could be an important factor that enhances the thermal conductivity of nanofluids. Nanofluid of Al₂O₃ is observed to have the highest Nusselt number Nu among other nanofluids types, while nanofluid of ZnO nanoparticles has the lowest Nu. Effects of the square cylinder on heat transfer characteristics are significant with considering Brownian motion. Enhancement in the maximum value of Nu of 29 % and 26 % are obtained at the lower and the upper walls of the channel, respectively, by considering the Brownian effects, with square cylinder, compared with that in the case without considering the Brownian motion. On the other hand, results show a marked improvement in heat transfer compared to the base fluid, this improvement is more pronounced on the upper wall for higher ?.     

Intriguingly high convective heat transfer enhancement of nanofluid coolants in laminar flows

We reported on investigation of the convective heat transfer enhancement of nanofluids as coolants in laminar flows inside a circular copper tube with constant wall temperature. Nanofluids containing Al₂O₃, ZnO, TiO₂, and MgO nanoparticles were prepared with a mixture of 55 vol.% distilled water and 45 vol.% ethylene glycol as base fluid. It was found that the heat transfer behaviors of the nanofluids were highly depended on the volume fraction, average size, species of the suspended nanoparticles and the flow conditions. MgO, Al₂O₃, and ZnO nanofluids exhibited superior enhancements of heat transfer coefficient, with the highest enhancement up to 252% at a Reynolds number of 1000 for MgO nanofluid. Our results demonstrated that these oxide nanofluids might be promising alternatives for conventional coolants.     

An experimental investigation on pool boiling heat transfer enhancement using Cu-Al2O3 nano-composite coating

Pool boiling heat transfer performances of Cu-Al₂O₃-coated copper surfaces have been studied experimentally for its potential use in heat transfer applications. In the present study, a two-step electrochemical deposition method is examined. This method provides an easy control on surface properties such as porosity and coating thickness. The deposition method is studied carefully and responsible surface morphology parameters are reported. After performing the pool boiling experiments on coated surfaces with DI water, the maximum critical heat flux of 1800 kW/m² and heat transfer coefficient of 193 kW/m² K, which are 68% and 260% higher than that of bare surface, respectively.     

Flow patterns and heat-transfer characteristics of a top heat mode closed-loop oscillating heat pipe with check valves (THMCLOHP/CV)

The aim of this research was to investigate the flow patterns and heat transfer of a top heat mode closed-loop oscillating heat pipe with check valves (THMCLOHP/CV). In this study, the heat pipe was made of a high-quality glass capillary tube with an inner diameter of 2.4 mm bent into 10 meandering turns. The number of check valves was 2 and the tube was filled with R141b at a filling ratio of 50% of internal volume of the tube. The combined lengths of the evaporator, adiabatic and condenser sections were equal to 50 mm. The pipe was operated at the top heat mode, and the angles of inclination were 20°, 40°, 60°, 80°, and 90°. The heat applied at the evaporator section was controlled at 85°Cto 105°C, and 125°C. The results show that in the evaporator section, bubbles are produced and grow as a result of the continuous nucleate boiling. They coalesced and their volume expanded. Similarly, in the condenser section the vapor plug condensate caused the bubbles to collapse and accumulate as a liquid mass at the lower section of the U-bend tube. A new slug then developed and the bubbles coalesced in an upward flow. Heat flux increased when the evaporator temperature and inclination angle increased causing the average length of the vapor plug to decrease and the average velocity of vapor plug to increase. The maximum heat flux occurred at an evaporator temperature of 125°C and an inclination angle of minus 90°.     

Effect of electric field on the enhanced heat transfer characteristic of an evaporator with multilayered sintered copper mesh

In this paper, it was investigated experimentally that the effect of different kinds of working fluid on the thermal performance of evaporator with capillary wick consisted by multilayered sintered copper mesh under different electric field strengths at the operating pressure of 1.01 × 10⁵ Pa R141b and R123 were used as the working fluids. The electric field strength in this study was in the range of 0kV/m–1600 kV/m, respectively. The experimental results showed that the applied electric field strength has significant effect on heat transfer characteristic. The heat transfer enhancement effects increased with the increase of the electric field. Under the applied electric field strength, the maximum heat transfer enhancement factors could reach as high as 1.5 and 1.32 for the two kinds of working fluids in the experiment.     

Experimental investigation of heat transfer and friction coefficient of the water/graphene oxide nanofluid in a pipe containing twisted tape inserts under air cross-flow

The water/graphene oxide nanofluid effect in a pipe equipped by twisted tape inserts under air cross-flow is investigated and the optimal tape geometry is determined. The range of internal and external Reynolds numbers are: 3800<Re_o<21500 and 550<Re_i<2000. Heat transfer and pressure drop increase by increasing Re and inserts width and heat transfer performance coefficient increased up to 1.4, indicating enhanced heat transfer compared to undesirable pressure drop. On the other hand, the heat transfer coefficient is 26% higher when compared with water in a plain tube. According to the results, this method is a good alternative in heat exchangers.     

Physics and mechanics of heat exchange processes in nanofluid flows

Nanofluids present a new type of dispersed fluids consisting of a carrier fluid and solid nanoparticles. Unusual properties of nanofluids, particularly high thermal conductivity, make them eminently suitable for many thermophysical applications, e.g., for cooling of equipment, designing of new heat energy transportation and production systems and so on. This requires a systematic study of heat exchange properties of nanofluids. The present paper contains the measurement results for the heat transfer coefficient of the laminar and turbulent flow of nanofluids on the basis of distilled water with silica, alumina and copper oxide particles in a minichannel with circular cross section. The maximum volume concentration of particles did not exceed 2%. The dependence of the heat transfer coefficient on the concentration and size of nanoparticles was studied. It is shown that the use of nanofluids allows a significant increase in the heat transfer coefficient as compared to that for water. However, the obtained result strongly depends on the regime of flow. The excess of the heat transfer coefficient in the laminar flow is only due to an increase in the thermal conductivity coefficient of nanofluid, while in the turbulent flow the obtained effect is due to the ratio between the viscosity and thermal conductivity of nanofluid. The viscosity and thermal conductivity of nanofluids depend on the volume concentration of nanoparticles as well as on their size and material and are not described by classical theories. That is why the literature data are diverse and contradictory; they do not actually take into account the influence of the mentioned factors (size and material of nanoparticles). It has been shown experimentally and by a molecular dynamics method that the nanofluid viscosity increases while the thermal conductivity decreases with the decreasing dispersed particle size. It is found experimentally for the first time that the nanofluid viscosity coefficient depends on the particle material. The higher is the density of particles, the higher is the thermal conductivity coefficient of nanofluid.     

Evaporative Heat Transfer Characteristics of R404a and R134a under Varied Heat Flux Conditions

The two-phase heat transfer coefficients of R404A and R134a in a smooth tube of 7.49-mm inner diameter were experimentally investigated at low heat and mass flux conditions. The test section is a 10-m-long counter-flow horizontal double-tube heat exchanger with refrigerant flow inside the tube and hot fluid in the annulus. The heat transfer coefficients along the length of the test section were measured experimentally under varied heat flux conditions between 4 and 18 kW m^?2 and mass flux ranging between 57 and 102 kg m^?2 s^?1 (2.5 to 4.5 g s^?1) for saturation temperatures of ?10°C, ?5°C, and 0°C. The saturation temperatures correspond to pressures of 4.4, 5.2, and 6.1 bar for R404A and 2.0, 2.4, and 3.0 bar for R134a, respectively. The results showed that under the tested conditions, the contribution of the nucleate boiling mechanism is predominant in the heat transfer coefficient throughout the flow boiling process. The Kattan–Thome–Favrat flow pattern maps confirm the occurrence of stratified and stratified-wavy flow patterns for all of the tested conditions. The average heat transfer coefficient of R404A is estimated to be 26 to 30% higher than that of R134a for the same saturation temperature.     

R32/R134a在微通道内流动沸腾特性

研究非共沸混合工质R32/R134a(质量比,25%/75%)在水平微尺度通道内流动沸腾换热规律。在各种工况下进行了非共沸混合工质R32/R134a在水平微尺度管道内流动沸腾换热的实验,考察了质量流量G、热流密度q、质量干度x对微尺度通道内流动沸腾换热系数的影响。研究表明:在热流密度、质量流量都较低的区域,对细管道,换热系数与热流密度的关联度较大;而对微管道,换热系数受影响的因素比较多,并在干度为0.6时出现"干涸"现象,使得换热系数急剧下降。在质量流量高的区域,对细管道,热流密度对换热系数的影响很小;而对微尺度管道,当干度为0.06时换热系数发生转变,随质量干度的增加先减小后增大,热流密度增大到一定的阶段后,换热系数不再随热流密度变化。     

Numerical and Experimental Comparative Study on Nanofluids Flow and Heat Transfer in a Ribbed Triangular Duct

Numerical and experimental investigation is carried out to study the effect of combined vortex generator and nanofluids on turbulent heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics in an equilateral triangular duct. A triangular duct provides a lower heat transfer rate and lower pressure drop compared to other duct configurations. The improvement of heat transfer of these ducts increases their importance for providing higher heat transfer and lower pressure drop. Two different types of nanoparticles, namely Al₂O₃ and SiO₂, suspended in distilled water with two particle concentrations are successfully prepared and experimentally tested. The numerical and experimental results show dramatic heat transfer enhancement by using a vortex generator and nanofluids, simultaneously accomplished with a moderate increase in the friction factor. A low deviation has been seen between the present numerical and experimental results.     

Stagnation-point flow past a shrinking sheet in a nanofluid

In this paper, the stagnation-point flow and heat transfer towards a shrinking sheet in a nanofluid is considered. The nonlinear system of coupled partial differential equations was transformed and reduced to a nonlinear system of coupled ordinary differential equations, which was solved numerically using the shooting method. Numerical results were obtained for the skin friction coefficient, the local Nusselt number as well as the velocity and temperature profiles for some values of the governing parameters, namely the nanoparticle volume fraction φ, the shrinking parameter λand the Prandtl number Pr. Three different types of nanoparticles are considered, namely Cu, Al₂O₃ and TiO₂. It was found that nanoparticles of low thermal conductivity, TiO₂, have better enhancement on heat transfer compared to nanoparticles Al₂O₃ and Cu. For a particular nanoparticle, increasing the volume fraction φ results in an increase of the skin friction coefficient and the heat transfer rate at the surface. It is also found that solutions do not exist for larger shrinking rates and dual solutions exist when λ < −1.0.     

水平三维肋管管外凝结换热实验与分析(I实验研究)

本文对不同饱和蒸汽温度下R11在水平Thermoexcel-C管的管外凝结换热性能进行了实验研究。实验结果表明:随着饱和蒸汽温度的提高,C管的凝结换热系数下降。C管凝结换热强化的主要机理在于孤立三维齿结构增大了表面张力减薄凝结表面液膜厚度的作用,而C管凝液淹没区小于相同肋间距的低肋管,且在淹没区内的凝结换热大于低肋管。