Effects of cross-sectional shape on flow and heat transfer of the laminar flow of supercritical carbon dioxide inside horizontal microchannels

Abstract

Supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) flow at the micro scale provides an excellent heat transfer solutions for a range of microelectronics cooling applications. The cross-sectional shape of the microchannel (in combination with the abruptly changing thermophysical properties of sCO2) affects the heat transfer and flow characteristics, but these effects are not well understood at constant wall temperatures as most of the previous studies were performed at constant surface heat fluxes. Current study numerically investigated, using CFD, the effects of different cross-sectional shapes, such as circle, equilateral triangle, semi-circle, and square, in zero gravity (space) and in terrestrial conditions, at constant wall temperatures.In all cases, the hydraulic diameter of the microchannel was 100 μm, the total length was 27 mm, and the heated length was 25 mm. A total of 216 cases were analyzed to predict the effects of surface temperature ranging from 310 to 330 K, pressures ranging from 8 to 10 MPa, and Reynolds numbers from 100 to 500 on the heat transfer and flow. It was revealed that the microchannel with triangular cross-section has the highest heat transfer rate, highest mass flow rate, and lowest pressure drop both in zero gravity and in terrestrial conditions. The total surface heat transfer rate for the triangular microchannel was about 49% higher than the circular microchannel at a pressure of 8 MPa, around 53% higher at 9 MPa, and about 55% higher at 10 MPa. However, the average surface heat transfer coefficient displayed a complex behavior, and it depends on the combination of surface temperature, Reynolds number, and operating pressure. The surface heat transfer rate and pressure drop were increased for all shapes at terrestrial conditions, emphasizing that the effects of buoyancy cannot be neglected. Overall, this study revealed a complex behavior of the flow of sCO2 inside microchannels of different cross-sectional shapes, and the triangular cross-section performed better than other shapes.