Co-Flowing Ammonia Desorption in a Fractal-Like Branching Heat Exchanger

Author(s):  
Greg Mouchka ◽  
Mario Apreotesi ◽  
Keith Davis ◽  
Deborah Pence

Heat activated cooling provides an opportunity to recover and utilize wasted heat. In terms of thermal management of electronics, a heat-activated cooling cycle could be used to thermally manage a space such as a central computing facility. A microscale, fractal-like branching flow heat exchanger was designed and used to desorb ammonia from an aqueous ammonia solution. The fractal-like pattern employed in the present study was previously studied for high heat flux single-phase and two-phase boiling flow heat sink applications. For compatibility, the desorber was fabricated in 316 stainless steel. The desorber is compact, approximately 38 mm in diameter and 6.4 mm thick, and lightweight, weighing 20 grams. Heating was accomplished using Paratherm NF oil between 350 and 400 K. The mass fraction of ammonia in the strong solution inlet stream was 0.30 and the temperature was 300 K. Given a range of inlet solution mass flow rates between 0.42 and 0.92 g/s and oil flow rates between 1.67 and 10 g/s, the mass flow rate of vapor generated varied from 0.02 to 0.13 g/s. The mass fraction of ammonia in the exiting vapor stream varied between 0.8 and 0.96 while circulation ratios varied between 3.5 and 20. Heat exchanger performance is presented using LMTD and ε-NTU analyses. Overall heat transfer coefficients ranged from 7500 to 15,000 for the flow rates and driving temperature differences investigated. The configuration of the desorbers is such that the oil stream can be introduced to flow parallel or counter to the ammonia solution stream. The nature of the microchannels is such that desorption occurs in a co-flowing manner, limiting the vapor mass fraction. However, the advantages of the present design are lightweight, compact, modularity and orientation independence.

Author(s):  
Joshua D. Sole ◽  
Bradley J. Shelofsky ◽  
Robert P. Scaringe ◽  
Gregory S. Cole

Electronics of all types, particularly those in the military aviation arena, are decreasing in size while at the same time increasing in power. As a result, newer high-heat-flux electronic components are exceeding the cooling capabilities of conventional single-phase military aviation coldplates and coolants. It is for this reason that we have been investigating new methods to cool the next generation of high-heat-flux military aviation electronics. In this work, a novel method of inducing two-phase conditions within a microchannel heat exchanger has been developed and demonstrated. Micro-orifices placed upstream of each microchannel in a microchannel heat exchanger not only cause an improvement in flow distribution, but can also induce cavitation in the incoming subcooled refrigerant and result in favorable two-phase flow regimes for enhanced heat transfer. In this study, R-134a is used as the coolant in the cavitation enhanced microchannel heat exchanger (CEMC-HX) which has been integrated into a vapor compression refrigeration system. Multiple micro-orifice geometries combined with a fixed microchannel geometry (nominally 250 μm × 250 μm) were investigated over a range of applied base heat fluxes (10–100 W/cm2) and mass fluxes (500–1000 kg/m2-s). Two-phase heat transfer coefficients exceeding 100,000 W/m2-K at refrigerant qualities of less than 5% have been demonstrated due to the achievement of preferential, cavitation-induced, flow regimes such as annular flow. To the author’s knowledge, this is the highest heat transfer coefficient ever reported in the literature for R-134a. Additionally, a four term two-phase heat transfer correlation was developed that achieved a mean absolute error (MAE) of 25.5%.


2014 ◽  
Vol 136 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Jie Liu ◽  
Hua Zhang ◽  
S. C. Yao ◽  
Yubai Li

Compared to single-phase heat transfer, two-phase microchannel heat sinks utilize latent heat to reduce the needed flow rate and to maintain a rather uniform temperature close to the boiling temperature. The challenge in the application of cooling for electronic chips is the necessity of modeling a large number of microchannels using large number of meshes and extensive computation time. In the present study, a modified porous media method modeling of two-phase flow in microchannels is performed. Compared with conjugate method, which considers individual channels and walls, it saves computation effort and provides a more convenient means to perform optimization of channel geometry. The porous media simulation is applied to a real chip. The channels of high heat load will have higher qualities, larger flow resistances, and lower flow rates. At a constant available pressure drop over the channels, the low heat load channels show much higher mass flow rates than needed. To avoid this flow maldistribution, the channel widths on a chip are adjusted to ensure that the exit qualities and mass flow rate of channels are more uniform. As a result, the total flow rate on the chip is drastically reduced, and the temperature gradient is also minimized. However, it only gives a relatively small reduction on the maximum surface temperature of chip.


Author(s):  
Jason Chan ◽  
Brian E. Fehring ◽  
Roman W. Morse ◽  
Kristofer M. Dressler ◽  
Gregory F. Nellis ◽  
...  

Abstract A thermoreflectance method to measure wall temperature in two-phase annular flow is described. In high heat flux conditions, momentary dry-out occurs as the liquid film vaporizes, resulting in dramatic decreases in heat transfer coefficient. Simultaneous liquid and vapor thermoreflectance measurements allow calculations of instantaneous and time-averaged heat transfer coefficients. Validation, calibration and uncertainty of the technique are discussed.


Author(s):  
Ulrich Schygulla ◽  
Ju¨rgen J. Brandner ◽  
Eugen Anurjew ◽  
Edgar Hansjosten ◽  
Klaus Schubert

This publication describes the development of a new microstructure to transfer high heat fluxes. With a simple mathematical model based on heat conduction theory for the heat transfer in a micro channel at laminar flow conditions it was deduced that for the transmission of high heat fluxes only the initial part at the beginning of the micro channels is of importance, i.e. the micro channels should be short. Based on this principle a micro structure was designed with a large number of short micro channels taken in parallel. With this newly developed microstructure a prototype of a micro heat exchanger and a surface micro cooler was manufactured and tested. Using the prototype of the micro heat exchanger, manufactured of plastic, heat fluxes up to 500 W/cm2 were achieved at a pressure loss of 0.16 MPa and a mass flow of the water of 200 kg/h per passage. Due to the use of materials with a higher temperature resistance and higher stability like aluminum or ceramic, higher water throughputs and higher flow velocities could be realized in the micro channels. Thus it was possible to increase the heat flux up to approx. 800 W/cm2 at a pressure loss of approx. 0.35 MPa and a mass flow of 350 kg/h per passage. The important focus of investigation of the surface micro cooler was set on the examination of the surface temperatures for different heat fluxes and different velocities of the water in the micro channels. The experimental results of these surface micro coolers are summarized to characteristic maps. With this characteristic maps it is possible to determine whether a micro surface cooler can be used for a specific application.


Author(s):  
Farhad Saffaraval ◽  
Amir Jokar

The objective of this study is to experimentally explore thermodynamic performance of R245fa, as a low-pressure and environmentally-friendly refrigerant, in a microchannel heat exchanger. This heat exchanger is used in an electronics cooling application with high-power density. Due to the large amount of latent heat that is released during evaporation process, the two-phase microchannel coolers are able to remove much more energy compared to single-phase cooling systems. In this study, R245fa is used as the working fluid in a refrigeration pump loop that mainly includes an evaporator, a condenser, a refrigerant pump, and a pressure regulator valve. The goal is to obtain optimal mass flow rates and system pressures while the temperatures in evaporator and condenser are kept constant for specific conditions. The results obtained from this study are then compared to the results previously obtained for water as the working fluid in a similar cooling system. It is expected the evaporative cooling through the microchannel heat exchanger be a viable and effective solution, especially for higher heat flux applications.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Akbar Abbasian Arani ◽  
Reza Moradi

Purpose Using turbulators, obstacles, ribs, corrugations, baffles and different tube geometry, and also various arrangements of these components have a noticeable effect on the shell and tube heat exchangers (STHEs) thermal-hydraulic performance. This study aims to investigate non-Newtonian fluid flow characteristics and heat transfer features of water and carboxyl methyl cellulose (H2O 99.5%:0.5% CMC)-based Al2O3 nanofluid inside the STHE equipped with corrugated tubes and baffles using two-phase mixture model. Design/methodology/approach Five different corrugated tubes and two baffle shapes are studied numerically using finite volume method based on SIMPLEC algorithm using ANSYS-Fluent software. Findings Based on the obtained results, it is shown that for low-mass flow rates, the disk baffle (DB) has more heat transfer coefficient than that of segmental baffle (SB) configuration, while for mass flow rate more than 1 kg/s, using the SB leads to more heat transfer coefficient than that of DB configuration. Using the DB leads to higher thermal-hydraulic performance evaluation criteria (THPEC) than that of SB configuration in heat exchanger. The THPEC values are between 1.32 and 1.45. Originality/value Using inner, outer or inner/outer corrugations (outer circular rib and inner circular rib [OCR+ICR]) tubes for all mass flow rates can increase the THPEC significantly. Based on the present study, STHE with DB and OCR+ICR tubes configuration filled with water/CMC/Al2O3 with f = 1.5% and dnp = 100 nm is the optimum configuration. The value of THPEC in referred case was 1.73, while for outer corrugations and inner smooth, this value is between 1.34 and 1.57, and for outer smooth and inner corrugations, this value is between 1.33 and 1.52.


Author(s):  
Ehsan Yakhshi-Tafti ◽  
Howard Pearlman ◽  
Seung M. You

Forced two-phase cooling is investigated for handling high power electronics and laser applications having high heat flux and isothermality requirements. Experimental results are reported for minichannel heat sinks with and without enhanced boiling coatings showing increased heat transfer coefficients and higher critical heat flux for coated versus uncoated surfaces.


Author(s):  
Milnes P. David ◽  
Tarun Khurana ◽  
Carlos Hidrovo ◽  
Beth L. Pruitt ◽  
Kenneth E. Goodson

The increasing complexity of modern integrated circuits and need for high-heat flux removal with low junction temperatures motivates research in a wide variety of cooling and refrigeration technologies. Two-phase liquid cooling is especially attractive due to high efficiency and low thermal resistances. While two-phase microfluidic cooling offers important benefits in required flow rate and pump size, there are substantial challenges related to flow stability and effective superheating. This work investigates the use of hydrophobic membrane to locally vent the vapor phase in microfluidic heat exchangers. Previous work has demonstrated selective venting of gas in microstructures and we extend this concept to two-phase heat exchangers. This paper details the design, fabrication and preliminary testing of the novel heat exchanger. Proof-of-concept of the device, carried out using an isothermal air-water mixture, found the air-mass venting efficiency exceeding 95%. Two-phase, thermal operation of the heat exchanger found the pressure-drop to be smaller compared to a two-phase, non-venting model. The paper also includes a discussion of design challenges such as membrane leakage and optical inaccessibility. The favorable results demonstrated in this first-generation, vapor-venting, micromachined, heat exchanger motivates further study of this and other novel microstructures aimed at mitigating the negative effects of phase-change. With continued research and optimization, we believe two-phase cooling is a viable solution for high heat flux generating electronics.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document