Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Synthetic Jets in Minichannels With Subcooled Boiling Flow

Abstract

Microchannels and minichannels have been shown to have many potential applications for cooling high-heat-flux electronics over the past 3 decades. Synthetic jets can enhance minichannel performance by adding net momentum flux into a stream without adding mass flux. These jets are produced because of different flow patterns that emerge during the induction and expulsion stroke of a diaphragm, and when incorporated into minichannels can disrupt boundary layers and impinge on the far wall, leading to high heat transfer coefficients. Many researchers have examined the effects of synthetic jets in microchannels and minichannels with single-phase flows. The use of synthetic jets has been shown to augment local heat transfer coefficients by 2–3 times the value of steady flow conditions. In this investigation, local heat transfer coefficients and pressure loss in various operating regimes were experimentally measured. Experiments were conducted with a minichannel array containing embedded thermocouples to directly measure local wall temperatures. The experimental range extends from transitional to turbulent flows. Local wall temperature measurements indicate that increases of heat transfer coefficient of over 20% can occur directly below the synthetic jet with low exit qualities. In this study, the heat transfer augmentation by using synthetic jets was dictated by the momentum ratio of the synthetic jet to the bulk fluid flow. As local quality was increased, the heat transfer augmentation dropped from 23% to 10%. Surface tension variations had a large effect on the Nusselt number, while variations in inertial forces had a small effect on Nusselt number in this operating region.