Flow boiling heat transfer characteristics of two-phase flow in microchannels

A set of experimental platforms with widths of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 mm was established to explore the mechanism of flow boiling bubble dynamics in microchannels, focusing on heat transfer characteristics, pressure loss, and two-phase flow pattern identification. Bubble flow, restricted bubble flow, and dry area were observed in all four channels. The appearance of flow pattern was related to flow rate and channel width. Under the condition of the same channel width, the initial heat flux of subcooled boiling gradually increased with increase in flow rate, and this change trend was close to the linear trend. Under the same flow rate, the initial heat flux of subcooled boiling increased with decrease in channel width. This condition was due to the faster flow rate of the working medium in the narrow channel, resulting in decrease of heating time. The increase in bubble generation frequency directly led to the increase in the wall heat transfer coefficient and the decrease in the bubble separation diameter. Mathematical analysis showed that under the condition of small flow, reduction of channel size led to reduction of the total wall heat transfer coefficient. In this condition, reduction of channel size cannot enhance heat transfer. With increasing volume flow rate, the range of hydrodynamic control area increased and the index decreased. When the flow rate was large, the total heat transfer coefficient increased greatly with the decrease in channel size. The theoretical values were in good agreement with the experimental data.