Flow boiling in microchannels and minichannels is being investigated for its potential for high heat flux removal in electronics and other devices. The small channel dimensions characteristic of these channels result, under most circumstances, in laminar flow at the flow rates used in these applications. The present work investigates the applicability of the correlation developed by Kandlikar and Balasubramanian [1] to some of the recent data for plain as well as enhanced microchannels using artificial nucleation cavities. The correlation is able to provide insight into the effect of the nucleation cavities on the heat transfer coefficient during flow boiling in microchannels. Modifications to the use of the correlation with deep laminar flows are suggested based on comparison with new data.

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