Liquid Immersion Cooling of a Longitudinal Array of Discrete Heat Sources in Protruding Substrates: I—Single-Phase Convection

Abstract

Experiments have been performed using water and FC-77 to investigate heat transfer from an in-line 1 x 10 array of discrete heat sources, flush mounted to protruding substrates located on the bottom wall of a horizontal flow channel. The data encompass flow regimes ranging from mixed convection to laminar and turbulent forced convection. Buoyancy-induced secondary flows enhanced heat transfer at downstream heater locations and provided heat transfer coefficients comparable to upstream values. Upstream heating extended enhancement on the downstream heaters to larger Reynolds numbers. Higher Prandtl number fluids also extended heat transfer enhancement to larger Reynolds numbers, while a reduction in channel height suppressed buoyancy driven flows, thereby reducing enhancement. The protrusions enhanced the transition to turbulent forced convection, causing the critical Reynolds number to decrease with increasing row number. The transition region was characterized by large heater-to-heater variations in the average Nusselt number.