Thermo-hydraulic performance evaluation of a novel design recharging microchannel

Abstract

A three-dimensional numerical study has been carried out for thermo-hydraulic performance evaluation of a novel design recharging microchannel. In this proposed design of recharging microchannel fresh fluid flows multiple times over total cooling length. Thus, minimizing the maximum temperature within the cooling area. Conjugate effects are considered in the analysis to investigate the effect of axial wall conduction on the overall thermal performance of the recharging microchannel. The parametric variations considered in this study includes solid to fluid thickness ratio δsf (0.5–2), width ratio ωsf (0.5–2), solid to fluid conductivity ratio ksf (21.957–657.075), channel aspect ratio ε (0.5–2) and channel length L (30–120 mm). Simulations are performed for different flow Re (50–200) and applied constant heat flux q″ (5–20 W/cm2) at the bottom face of the substrate. The study reveals that axial back/wall conduction increases with increasing channel aspect ratio, solid to fluid thickness, width, and conductivity ratio; whereas it decreases with increasing channel length and flow Reynolds number in recharging microchannel. It is also observed that applied heat flux does not affect axial wall conduction. Finally, it is found that the overall thermal performance of recharging microchannel is better than that of a simple microchannel. Next, axial wall/back conduction is very less in recharging microchannel compared to simple microchannel. This provides efficient cooling solution for better thermal management of high heat flux generating devices.