Terrestrial and Micro-gravity Experimental Study of Micro-scale Heat Transport Device Driven by Electrohydrodynamic Conduction Pumping

摘要

Research on heat transport in micro-scale has been generating much interest in recent years due to the development of state-of-the-art, high-powered electronics used in aerospace and terrestrial applications and the large amount of heat produced during their operation. Micro-scale, two-phase flow heat transport devices are seen as one solution to this problem of high heat-flux removal. Micro-scale devices have extremely high heat fluxes due to the small heat transfer surface area. In addition, the need for robust, non-mechanical, lightweight, low-noise and low-vibration devices in specialized aerospace applications has led researchers to investigate electrically driven flow devices rather than their mechanical counterparts. This paper for the first time presents the results of an experimental study of a unique micro-scale heat transport device that is driven by electrohydrodynamic (EHD) conduction pumping. Results from ground-based single-phase experiments with a micro-scale EHD pump are compared to experiments conducted on board a variable-gravity parabolic flight. Data show that the EHD pump functions well in both environments and can potentially be used in heat transport devices in the absence of gravity.