Conjugated Heat Transfer in 2-Dimensional Mini and Micro Channels: Influence of Axial Conduction in the Walls

Abstract

For small Reynolds numbers, conductive heat transfer in the wall of mini-micro channels can become quite multidimensional: the wall heat flux density does not stay uniform and heat transfer mainly occurs at the entrance of the channels. The use of a ID model to invert measurements designed for estimating the convective heat transfer coefficient can lead to misinterpretations such as a variation of the Nusselt number with the Reynolds number. Three analytical models of conjugated heat transfer in channels are proposed, and the potential inversion of measurements is considered. A non-dimensional number M quantifying the relative part of conductive axial heat transfer in walls is introduced.