Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

Numerical investigation into the effects of multiple bubbles in microchannel flow boiling

Dissertation (MEng (Mechanical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2021.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Other Authors: Moghimi Ardekani, Mohammad
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2022
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613444058906624
access_status_str Open Access
author2 Moghimi Ardekani, Mohammad
author_browse Moghimi Ardekani, Mohammad
author_facet Moghimi Ardekani, Mohammad
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2022 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MEng (Mechanical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2021.
format Thesis
id oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/83905
institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:36:14.350Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2022
publishDateRange 2022
publishDateSort 2022
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
record_format dspace
source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/83905 Numerical investigation into the effects of multiple bubbles in microchannel flow boiling Moghimi Ardekani, Mohammad l.louis2310@gmail.com Meyer, Josua P. Valluri, Prashant Lombaard, Louis Microchannel Flow boiling Multiple bubbles Computational fluid dynamics Ansys Fluent UCTD Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-07 SDG-07: Affordable and clean energy Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-09 SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-12 SDG-12: Responsible consumption and production Dissertation (MEng (Mechanical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2021. Recent developments in microelectronics have produced higher heat fluxes that are beyond the capabilities of current heat exchangers. An increase in computing power coupled with decreasing processor size requires high thermal management on a smaller contact area. Microchannel heat sinks utilising flow boiling have been shown to produce heat fluxes orders of magnitude higher than those of their macroscale counterparts. Several factors influence the high heat transfer capabilities of the systems such as taking advantage of both the sensible and latent heat of the working fluid and the evaporation of the thin liquid film present between the channel walls and the vapour bubbles. Many researchers have investigated a wide range of microchannel geometries, orientations and different working fluids and applied heat fluxes. The correlations developed between confined boiling, heat flux and pressure drop are for macroscale flow and are ill-suited to microscale analysis. Heat transfer correlations are generally derived from experimental results conducted over a range of parameters and from evaluation of the influence of these varying parameters on the system. Because the scales of these phenomena are extremely small, visualisation and measurement during experimentation are difficult and inaccurate. Numerical modelling through computational fluid dynamics allows researchers to simulate and investigate these small-scale phenomena. This study focused on numerically modelling the interaction between multiple bubbles during flow boiling of refrigerant R245fa. The two-dimensional numerical domain had a length of 36 mm, consisting of three sections, and a height of 0.5 mm. The first section was adiabatic to allow the patched bubbles to develop in shape before phase change was present. The middle section had an applied heat flux of 5 kW/m2 and was the main focus. The last section was also adiabatic and was used to retain the leading bubbles. An interface-tracking mesh refinement method was used in all the cases. This method refined the liquid-vapour interface and a set distance around the interface, reducing the computational cost of the simulations. The results from Magnini, Pulvirenti & Thome (2013) were recreated with less than 4% of the required mesh elements. A set of three-dimensional simulations was attempted using the same method, but the simulations have not yet been completed. The bubbles were patched into the domain, instead of simulating bubble departure, to have better control over the positions of the bubbles. In all the cases, the heat flux improved from the first to the second bubble by at least 25%. A further 20% improvement was observed from the second to the third bubble at the end of the heated section. An increase in phase change was observed as the distance between bubbles were decreased, suggesting better heat transfer. This study illustrated the advantages of flow boiling over single-phase cooling, and the results corresponded to the findings of Magnini et al. (2013) and Magnini & Thome (2016). ThermaSMART project of the European Commission (Grant: EC-H2020- RISE-ThermaSMART-778104) mi2025 Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering MEng (Mechanical Engineering) Unrestricted SDG-07: Affordable and clean energy SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure SDG-12: Responsible consumption and production 2022-02-14T13:55:29Z 2022-02-14T13:55:29Z 2022 2021 Dissertation * A2022 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/83905 en © 2022 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Microchannel
Flow boiling
Multiple bubbles
Computational fluid dynamics
Ansys Fluent
UCTD
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-07
SDG-07: Affordable and clean energy
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-09
SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-12
SDG-12: Responsible consumption and production
Numerical investigation into the effects of multiple bubbles in microchannel flow boiling
title Numerical investigation into the effects of multiple bubbles in microchannel flow boiling
title_full Numerical investigation into the effects of multiple bubbles in microchannel flow boiling
title_fullStr Numerical investigation into the effects of multiple bubbles in microchannel flow boiling
title_full_unstemmed Numerical investigation into the effects of multiple bubbles in microchannel flow boiling
title_short Numerical investigation into the effects of multiple bubbles in microchannel flow boiling
title_sort numerical investigation into the effects of multiple bubbles in microchannel flow boiling
topic Microchannel
Flow boiling
Multiple bubbles
Computational fluid dynamics
Ansys Fluent
UCTD
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-07
SDG-07: Affordable and clean energy
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-09
SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-12
SDG-12: Responsible consumption and production
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/83905