Heat Transfer of Water Flow Boiling in Nanostructured Open Microchannels

Liaofei Yin (), Zhonglin Yang, Kexin Zhang, Yingli Xue and Chao Dang
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Liaofei Yin: Beijing Key Laboratory of Flow and Heat Transfer of Phase Changing in Micro and Small Scale, School of Mechanical, Electronic and Control Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China
Zhonglin Yang: Beijing Key Laboratory of Flow and Heat Transfer of Phase Changing in Micro and Small Scale, School of Mechanical, Electronic and Control Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China
Kexin Zhang: Beijing Key Laboratory of Flow and Heat Transfer of Phase Changing in Micro and Small Scale, School of Mechanical, Electronic and Control Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China
Yingli Xue: Beijing Key Laboratory of Flow and Heat Transfer of Phase Changing in Micro and Small Scale, School of Mechanical, Electronic and Control Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China
Chao Dang: Beijing Key Laboratory of Flow and Heat Transfer of Phase Changing in Micro and Small Scale, School of Mechanical, Electronic and Control Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 3, 1-11

Abstract: In recent years, the open microchannel has drawn increasing interest, but severe local dryout limited the heat transfer capability of flow boiling. It was anticipated that nanostructures with exceptional capillary wicking abilities would overcome this problem. In this study, blade-like CuO nanostructures were created in the copper open microchannels to experimentally investigate water flow boiling. Experiments were carried out in nanostructured open microchannels (NMCs), and smooth-surface open microchannels (SMCs), as a comparison, were examined under identical operating conditions. Four main flow patterns, including bubbly flow, slug flow, and two kinds of stratified flow, dominated successively in NMCs and SMCs. Although the flow patterns were similar in NMCs and SMCs, the heat transfer coefficient (HTC) of flow boiling was greatly enhanced by nanostructures under conditions of medium and high heat flux, while the nanostructures’ influence on HTC was unnoticeable at low heat flux. At medium and high heat fluxes, the dependence of HTC on heat flux and flow rate indicated the joint contribution of nucleate boiling mechanism and convective evaporation mechanism to heat transfer. The enhanced effect of nanostructures on nucleate boiling and convective evaporation became more prominent as heat flux increased, leading to a higher HTC in NMCs than in SMCs at higher heat flux conditions.

Keywords: open microchannels; nanostructures; flow boiling; flow patterns; heat transfer (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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