Heat Transfer Characteristics of Suspension Flow Inside a Microchannel

Abstract

This paper presents computational results on the effect of suspended cylindrical solid particles in channel flow on the rate of heat transfer. The results provide insight into the effect of suspended solid particles on the rate of heat transfer. The computational method is based on the solution of the lattice-Boltzmann equation for the fluid flow, coupled with the energy equation for thermal transport and the Newtonian dynamics equations for direct simulation of suspended particle transport. The effects of Reynolds number, particle-to-channel size ratio and the eccentricity of the particle on heat transfer from the channel walls for single and multiparticles are presented. The multiparticle flow condition represents a case with solid particles suspended in the cooling medium, such as in micro/nanofluids, to augment heat transfer. The results provide insight into the mechanism by which suspended particles can effectively change the rate of heat transfer in a microchannel.