A Review of Single-Phase Liquid Flow and Heat Transfer in Microchannels

Fluid flow and heat transfer in microchannels have been important research area during the past decade. The understanding and explanation of the fundamental mechanisms of flow and heat transfer are critical to the application of microchannel systems to many important industrial and research projects. We present a review of the literatures on fluid flow and heat transfer of single-phase liquid in microchannels. Recent experimental and theoretical studies are both covered. The emphasis has been on studies on single-phase liquid flows. As a conclusion, although further work needs to be done, carefully designed experiments have obtained data that agree well with the conventional theory developed for larger channels. The theoretical explanation of some experimental results, which deviate the conventional theory for larger channels, is still under development.