Effect of Channel Width on Pool Boiling Enhancement of Open Microchannels With Selective Sintered Porous Coatings

Thermal management in microelectronic devices involves development of high heat flux removal systems to meet the cooling requirements. Pool boiling addresses these demands by using latent heat transfer. In this study, heat transfer surfaces are fabricated by depositing porous coatings on an open microchannel surface. Screen printing and sintering are identified as techniques to deposit porous coatings and ensure substrate bonding respectively. Firstly, the effect of selective enhancement was studied by depositing porous coatings on (i) fin tops only (sintered-fin-tops), (ii) channels only (sintered-channels), and (iii) completely covering the boiling surface (sintered-throughout). The pool boiling performance with saturated distilled water at atmospheric pressure was obtained and a maximum critical heat flux (CHF) of 313 W/cm² at a wall superheat of 7.5 °C was reported here for a sintered-throughout surface. Furthermore, the effect of channel width on sintered-throughout surfaces was studied. The results indicated that channel width plays an important in improving the performance. High speed videos are taken to understand the underlying mechanism. Additional nucleation sites and separate liquid-vapor pathways are identified as contributing mechanisms for the enhancement in CHF and heat transfer coefficient (HTC).