Waves, Instabilities, and Rivulets in High Quality Microgap Two-Phase Flow

Abstract

Two-phase flow in sub-millimeter microgap channels offers highly potent thermal management capability and is the foundation for the emerging "embedded cooling" paradigm of electronic cooling. While the thermofluid characteristics and operational limits of such microcoolers are intimately tied to distinct forms of vapor-liquid aggregation in the microgap channel, insufficient attention has been paid to the formation of distinct wave patterns and instabilities on the thin liquid films associated with high-quality microgap channel flow. This paper focuses on the results of visualization and heat transfer studies of such two-phase flows, under both adiabatic and diabatic conditions, for FC-72 flowing in a 184 micron microgap channel at a mass flux of 230 kg/(m2.s). The study has revealed the existence of a post-annular, high-quality Rivulet flow regime, in which the liquid film breakdown and local wall dryout drives large surface anisothermalities and limits the heat transfer rate from the wall.As predicted by the prevailing flow regime models, annular flow is found to be the dominant flow regime for this microgap configuration.. For the adiabatic conditions, flow qualities ranged between 27% and 81%, and widely spaced, 3D waves, with a wavelength that decreases with increasing flow quality, were observed on the liquid-vapor interface. For the diabatic condition, the inlet flow quality was maintained at 36% and the exit flow quality varied between 47% and 97%. For exit qualities greater than 61%, the liquid film would periodically rupture into rivulet of varying width and length. The spacing, length, and width of the rivulets varied considerably, and can easily stretch well into dryout region. The axial variation of the wall heat transfer coefficient was found to reflect and confirm the expected axial propagation of the two- phase flow regimes and the onset of local dryout associated with the newly-defined Rivulet regime.