Design and Experimental Investigation of a Gas-to-Gas Counter-Flow Micro Heat Exchanger

In this work, a double-layered microchannel heat exchanger is designed for investigation on gas-to-gas heat transfer. The micro-device contains 133 parallel microchannels machined into a polished polyether ether ketone plate for both the hot side and cold side. The microchannels are 200 μm high, 200 μm wide, and 39.8 mm long. The design of the micro-device allows tests with partition foils in different materials and of flexible thickness. A test rig is developed with the integration of customized pressure and temperature sensors for in situ measurements. Experimental tests on the counter-flow micro heat exchanger have been carried out for five different partition foils and various mass flow rates. The experimental results, in terms of pressure drop, heat transfer coefficients, and heat exchanger effectiveness are discussed and compared with the predictions of the classic theory for conventionally sized heat exchangers.