A numerical study of the effect of slip flow irreversibility and axial conduction in microdevices with a conjugate heat transfer between unmixed streams is presented. The effects of axial conduction due to parallel flows for thermal management in energy systems are investigated. Silicon substrate containing rectangular microchannels is simulated using a finite volume, staggered coupling of the pressure-velocity fields. The entropy generation transport within the entire system is analyzed and coupled with the solution procedure. The effects of channel size perturbation, Reynolds number, and pressure ratios on the thermal performance and exergy destruction are presented. Comparative analysis of the axial conduction and flow irreversibility between parallel flow on thermal management is studied. A proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell model is used as a quality indicator to access the importance of the exergy-based design method.
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