A Numerical Study on Taylor Flow Heat Transfer in Square Microchannels Under Constant Wall Temperature Boundary Condition

Abstract

Heat transfer in Taylor flows or slug flows has been examined exclusively by researchers. Noncircular microchannels have not been widely considered in the literature. There is a large gap in research since noncircular microchannels are common structures in microcooling processes. Square and rectangular microchannels are the most important examples. In the present study the heat transfer process in slug flows in square microchannels has been investigated numerically under constant wall temperature boundary condition. The local heat flux for the moving slugs has been converted to total microchannel heat flux using the integration methods suggested recently by the authors. This leads to microchannel wall average heat flux which is the parameter of interest in heat sink problems. Finally, effects of liquid film around bubbles on heat transfer process have been discussed.