Subcooled Flow Boiling Heat Transfer of Nanofluids in a Microchannel

This work investigates the subcooled flow boiling of aqueous based nanofluids in a 510 μm single microchannel with a focus on the effect of nanoparticles on the critical heat flux (CHF). The surface temperature distribution along the pipe, the inlet and outlet pressures and temperatures are measured simultaneously for different concentrations of alumina nanofluids and dionized water. The experiment shows a remarkable increase ∼ 31% in the CHF under very low nanoparticle concentrations (∼0.1v%) and a nonlinear influence of nanoparticles on the subcooled boiling heat transfer.