Abstract
The thermal performance of a rectangular minichannel has been estimated for various heat fluxes (1 kW/m2 to 2 kW/m2) and fluid mass flux rates (20 g/s to 40 g/s). The mixture model is used to determine two-phase flow characteristics in the mini-macro channel. The focus of the present work is to establish prime factors for the enhancement of vapor fractions inside the minichannel (<3 mm) and macrochannel (>3 mm). The fluid flow characteristics are explained with help of temperature difference (the wall side and water film side), friction factor, Nusselt number, evaporative thin film thickness, heat transfer coefficient and vapor fraction. Validation of current simulation with earlier research article shows good agreement. The friction factor value for the minichannel and macrochannel are 0.0004 and 0.0011, respectively. It is found that heat transfer is significantly more in macrochannel pipes compared with minichannels. By using the dimensional analysis, empirical correlation is developed for vapor fraction with dependent parameters such as channel diameter, fluid mass flow rate and heat flux the first time. The predicted correlation of vapor fraction and film thickness help to understand the pronounced effect of channel diameter on heat transfer.
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