Droplet Evaporation on Heated Hydrophobic and Superhydrophobic Surfaces

The evaporation characteristics of sessilewater droplets on smooth hydrophobic and structured superhydrophobic heated surfaces are experimentally investigated. Droplets placed on the hierarchical superhydrophobic surface subtend a very high contact angle (∼160°) and demonstrate low roll-off angle (∼1°), while the hydrophobic substrate supports corresponding values of 120° and ∼10°. The substrates are heated to different constant temperatures in the range of 40–60 °C, which causes the droplet to evaporate much faster than in the case of natural evaporationwithout heating. The geometric parameters of the droplet, such as contact angle, contact radius, and volume evolution over time, are experimentally tracked. The droplets are observed to evaporate primarily in a constant-contact-angle mode where the contact line slides along the surface. The measurements are compared with predictions from a model based on diffusion of vapor into the ambient that assumes isothermal conditions. This vapor-diffusion-only model captures the qualitative evaporation characteristics on both test substrates, but reasonable quantitative agreement is achieved only for the hydrophobic surface. The superhydrophobic surface demonstrates significant deviation between the measured evaporation rate and that obtained using the vapor-diffusion-only model, with the difference being amplified as the substrate temperature is increased.Asimple model considering thermal diffusion through the droplet is used to highlight the important role of evaporative cooling at the droplet interface in determining the droplet evaporation characteristics on superhydrophobic surfaces

Thermal Management of Transient Power Spikes in Electronics - Phase Change Energy Storage or Copper Heat Sinks?

A transient thermal analysis is performed to investigate thermal control of power semiconductors using phase change materials, and to compare the performance of this approach to that of copper heat sinks. Both the melting of the phase change material under a transient power spike input, as well as the resolidification process, are considered. Phase change materials of different kinds (paraffin waxes and metallic alloys) are considered, with and without the use of thermal conductivity enhancers. Simple expressions for the melt depth, melting time and temperature distribution are presented in terms of the dimensions of the heat sink and the thermophysical properties of the phase change material, to aid in the design of passive thermal control systems. The simplified analytical expressions are verified against numerical simulations, and are shown to be excellent tools for design calculations. The suppression of junction temperatures achieved by the use of phase change materials when compared to the performance with copper heat sinks is illustrated. Merits of employing phase change materials for pulsed power electronics cooling applications are discussed

Influence of Bulk Fluid Velocity on the Efficiency of Electrohydrodynamic Pumping

The efficiency of conversion of electrical power into fluidic power in an electrohydrodynamic (EHD) pump depends on the bulk fluid velocity. An analytical formulation is developed for calculation of the efficiency of an EHD pump, with and without the presence of a superimposed flow due to an externally imposed pressure gradient. This formulation is implemented into a numerical model, which is used to investigate the effect of bulk fluid velocity on the efficiency of the EHD action. In particular, the net flow due to the combined action of EHD and a positive or negative external pressure gradient is computed. Both ion-drag pumps and induction EHD pumps are considered. Pumps based on the ion-drag principle that are studied include a one-dimensional pump, a twodimensional pump driven by a stationary potential gradient, and another driven by a traveling potential wave. Two-dimensional repulsion-type and attraction-type induction pumping caused by a gradual variation in the electrical conductivity of the fluid is also investigated. The efficiency of EHD pumps exhibited a strong dependence on bulk fluid velocity: for the two-dimensional steady ion-drag pump, for example, the efficiency increased from less than 2% to 22% under the influence of an external pressure gradient. The corresponding increase in efficiency for a two-dimensional repulsion-type EHD pump was from 0.26% to 24.5%

Local Heat Transfer Distributions in Confined Multiple Air Jet Impingement

Heat transfer from a discrete heat source to multiple, normally impinging, confined air jets was experimentally investigated. The jets issued from short, square-edged orifices with still-developing velocity profiles on to a foil heat source which produced a constant heat flux. The orifice plate and the surface containing the heat source were mounted opposite each other in a parallel-plates arrangement to effect radial outflow of the spent fluid. The local surface temperature was measured in fine increments over the entire heat source. Experiments were conducted for different jet Reynolds numbers (5000,Re ,20,000), orifice-to-target spacing ~ 0.5,H/d,4! , and multiple-orifice arrangements. The results are compared to those previously obtained for single air jets. A reduction in orifice-to-target spacing was found to increase the heat transfer coefficient in multiple jets, with this effect being stronger at the higher Reynolds numbers. With a nine-jet arrangement, the heat transfer to the central jet was higher than for a corresponding single jet. For a four-jet arrangement, however, each jet was found to have stagnationregion heat transfer coefficients that were comparable to the single-jet values. The effectiveness of single and multiple jets in removing heat from a given heat source is compared at a fixed total flow rate. Predictive correlations are proposed for single and multiple jet impingement heat transfer

Latent-Heat Augmentation of Thermocline Energy Storage for Concentrating Solar Power – A System-Level Assessment

Molten-salt thermocline tanks are a low-cost energy storage option for concentrating solar power plants. Despite the potential economic advantage, the capacity of thermocline tanks to store sufficient amounts of high-temperature heat is limited by the low energy density of the constituent sensible-heat storage media. A promising design modification replaces conventional rock filler inside the tank with an encapsulated phase-change material (PCM), contributing a latent heat storage mechanism to increase the overall energy density. The current study presents a new finite-volume approach to simulate mass and energy transport inside a latent heat thermocline tank at low computational cost. This storage model is then integrated into a system-level model of a molten-salt power tower plant to inform tank operation with respect to realistic solar collection and power production. With this system model, PCMs with different melting temperatures and heats of fusion are evaluated for their viability in latent heat storage for solar plants. Thermocline tanks filled with a single PCM do not yield a substantial increase in annual storage or plant output over a conventional rock-filled tank of equal size. As the melting temperature and heat of fusion are increased, the ability of the PCM to support steam generation improves but the corresponding ability of the thermocline tank to utilize this available latent heat decreases. This trend results from an inherent deconstruction of the heat-exchange region inside the tank between sensible and latent heat transfer, preventing effective use of the added phase change for daily plant operations. This problem can be circumvented with a cascaded filler structure composed of multiple PCMs with their melting temperatures tuned along the tank height. However, storage benefits with these cascaded tank structures are shown to be highly sensitive to the proper selection of the PCM melting points relative to the thermocline tank operating temperatures

An Explicit Conditioning Method for Image Reconstruction in Electrical Capacitance Tomography

A new electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) image reconstruction method, termed Sensitivity Factor Regularization (SFR), is developed. The SFR method provides an explicit formulation for solving the image reconstruction problem that performs better than other explicit methods, such as linear back-projection and Tikhonov regularization, while providing the same computational efficiency. The computational ease of the SFR method renders it an attractive option for ECT where real-time imaging is required and theoretical statistical evaluation of proposed electrode configurations may readily be performed. A statistical study is conducted using SFR image reconstructions for investigating the impact of electrode density on image quality for a symmetric ECT system characterizing a square cross-section. A larger number of smaller electrodes allows more data to be gathered for use in image reconstruction, but degrades signal-to-noise ratio in the measurements. The statistical study using SFR clearly identifies a theoretical optimum electrode density that minimizes reconstructed image error for a given level of measurement noise

Investigation of Liquid Flow in Microchannels

Liquid flow in microchannels is investigated both experimentally and numerically in this work. The experiments are carried out in microchannels with hydraulic diameters from 244 to 974 m at Reynolds numbers ranging from 230 to 6500. The pressure drop in these microchannels is measured in situ, and is also determined by correcting global measurements for inlet and exit losses. Onset of turbulence is verified by flow visualization. The experimental measurements of pressure drop are compared to numerical predictions. Results from this work show that conventional theory may be used to successfully predict the flow behavior in microchannels in the range of dimensions considered here

Void Detection in Dielectric Films using a Floating Network of Substrate-Embedded Electrodes

A sensor is developed for simple, in situ characterization of dielectric thermal interface materials (TIMs) at bond line thicknesses less than 100 lm. The working principle is based on the detection of regions of contrasting electric permittivity. An array of long, parallel electrodes is flush-mounted into each opposing substrate face of a narrow gap interface, and exposed to the gap formed between the two surfaces. Electrodes are oriented such that their lengthwise dimension in one substrate runs perpendicular to those in the other. A capacitance measurement taken between opposing electrodes is used to characterize the interface region in the vicinity of their crossing point (junction). The electric field associated with each electrode junction is numerically simulated and analyzed. Criteria are developed for the design of electrode junction geometries that localize the electric fields. The capacitances between floating-ground electrodes in the electrode sensor configuration employed give rise to a nontrivial network of interacting capacitances which strongly influence the measured response at any junction. A generalized solution for analyzing the floating network response is presented. The technique is used to experimentally detect thermal grease spots of 0.2mm to 1.8mm diameter within a 25 lm interface gap. It is necessary to use the generalized solution to the capacitance network developed in this work to properly delineate regions of contrasting permittivity in the interface gap region using capacitance measurements

Effects of Dissolved Air on Subcooled Flow Boiling of a Dielectric Coolant in a Microchannel Heat Sink

The effects of dissolved air in the dielectric liquid FC-77 on flow boiling in a microchannel heat sink containing ten parallel channels, each 500 mircometers wide and 2.5 mm deep, were experimentally investigated. Experiments were conducted before and after degassing, at three flow rates in the range of 30–50 ml/min. The dissolved air resulted in a significant reduction in wall temperature at which bubbles were first observed in the microchannels. Analysis of the results suggests that the bubbles observed initially in the undegassed liquid were most likely air bubbles. Once the boiling process is initiated, the wall temperature continues to increase for the undegassed liquid, whereas it remains relatively unchanged in the case of the degassed liquid. Prior to the inception of boiling in the degassed liquid, the heat transfer coefficients with the undegassed liquid were 300–500 % higher than for degassed liquid, depending on the flow rate. The heat transfer coefficients for both cases reach similar values at high heat fluxes (\u3e120 KW/m^2) the boiling process with the degassed liquid was well established. The boiling process induced a significant increase in pressure drop relative to single-phase flow; the pressure drop for undegassed liquid was measured to be higher than for degassed liquid once the boiling process became well established in both cases. Flow instabilities were induced by the boiling process, and the magnitude of the instability was quantified using the standard deviation of the measured pressure drop at a given heat flux. It was found that the magnitude of flow instability increased with increasing heat flux in both the undegassed and degassed liquids, with greater flow instability noted in the undegassed liquid