Effects of Tube Radius and Surface Tension on Capillary Rise Dynamics of Water/Butanol Mixtures

Seungyeop Baek,Jaeyoun Choi,Yonmo Sung,Hyomin Jeong,Jaedeok Seo,Sungjin Jeong,Seunghwan Park,Sanggon Lee

doi:10.3390/app11083533

Seungyeop Baek, Jaeyoun Choi + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/app11083533

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Abstract

Capillary-driven action is an important phenomenon which aids the development of high-performance heat transfer devices, such as microscale heat pipes. This study examines the capillary rise dynamics of n-butanol/water mixture in a single vertical capillary tube with different radii (0.4, 0.6, and 0.85 mm). For liquids, distilled water, n-butanol, and their blends with varying concentrations of butanol (0.3, 0.5, and 0.7 wt.%) were used. The results show that the height and velocity of the capillary rise were dependent on the tube radius and liquid surface tension. The larger the radius and the higher the surface tension, the lower was the equilibrium height (he) and the velocity of rise. The process of capillary rise was segregated into three characteristic regions: purely inertial, inertial + viscous, and purely viscous regions. The early stages (purely inertial and inertial + viscous) represented the characteristic heights h1 and h2, which were dominant in the capillary rise process. There were linear correlations between the characteristic heights (h1, h2, and he), tube radius, and surface tension. Based on these correlations, a linear function was established between each of the three characteristic heights and the consolidated value of tube radius and surface tension (σL/2πr2).

Highlights

The capillary penetration of wetting fluids into narrow spaces such as cylindrical tube and porous media is important in many industrial and natural processes
In every result obtained at the tube diameter—at 0.4 mm (Figure 4a), 1.2 mm (Figure 4b), and 1.7 mm (Figure 4c)—the location of the meniscus exhibited a common trend with time
The rise height corresponding to the meniscus location at 0.25 s decreases from 29 to 16 mm, with increase in the tube radius from 0.4 to 0.85 mm

Summary

Introduction

The capillary penetration of wetting fluids into narrow spaces such as cylindrical (or square) tube and porous media is important in many industrial and natural processes. Capillary-driven flow is a fundamental phenomenon in important applications such as the development of high-performance heat transfer and thermal management systems. The cooling of modern electronic devices requires a suitable configuration for high-performance devices with reduced-size because heat loads and heat fluxes increase exponentially [5,6]. In light of the continued miniaturization of electronic components, micro heat pipes are promising micro-scale cooling devices and their operation is sustained by two-phase heat transfer and capillary forces [7]. Capillary-based flows can replace electric pumps that consume space

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