Encapsulated Phase Change Material Slurry Flow in Manifold Microchannels

摘要

The heat transfer performance of water-based microencapsulated phase change material slurry (particle sizen5 u0001m) flow inside manifold microchannels of hydraulic diameter 170 u0001m was experimentally and numericallyninvestigated. Slurry performance was poorer compared with pure fluid due to the large size of particles used andnlower thermal conductivity of slurry compared with water. A parametric study was performed withnnanoencapsulated phase change material slurry flow (particle size of 100 nm) in microchannels of hydraulicndiameters 170 and 47 u0001m. Two different base fluids were considered and the heat transfer enhancement of slurrynwith various particle mass concentrations compared with its base fluid was presented. For developing flows, thenperformance of phase change material slurry depends on various parameters such as base-fluid thermalnconductivity, channel dimensions, amount of phase change material melted, and particle mass concentration. In thencase of manifold microchannel heat sinks, where the microchannel flowpath is much shorter compared withntraditional microchannels, using higher-thermal-conductivity phase change material, narrower channels, smallernparticles, and optimumparameterswill aid in obtaining better thermal performance of phase changematerial slurryncompared with pure fluid.