NUMERICAL STUDY OF BUBBLE INSTABILITY DURING MICROCHANNEL FLOW BOILING

摘要

In recent years, the forced convection cooling for the heat dissipation of electronic components has become a significant area of research. Many high-end computing applications, from consumer gaming to scientific research, encounter performance limitations due to heat generation in micro-electronic components. Micro heat exchangers can offer an ideal cooling solution for these applications due to their compact size and heat dissipation characteristics. Single-phase heat exchangers are widely used in both industry and consumer applications, but are limited by operational temperature ranges as well as the working fluid's thermo physical properties. Two-phase, convection cooling systems, however, can further increase the capabilities of micro-heat exchangers. In the present study, a model has been created to investigate bubble growth and the values of wall superheat, contact angle, and Reynolds number that cause instability at the liquid-vapor interface during microchannel flow boiling. The results show how bubble instability is caused by the transfer of heat being restricted by the liquid-vapor interface.