Abstract
Condensation heat transfer occurs in a variety of applications such as power generation, desalination, and thermal management. In this paper, the system level impact of using a microchannel condenser in multi-stage flash desalination is presented using a simple thermal model of the condenser. The condenser is comprised of several plates with internal microscale pin fin arrays through which cooling fluid (brine) flows. Externally, water vapor condenses in between the plates and is drained by gravity. The fabrication and thermal performance of a small-scale microchannel condenser is experimentally characterized. Condensation experiments are performed under sub-atmospheric conditions relevant to multi-stage flash desalination stage temperatures with varying flow rates of the cooling fluid, cooling fluid inlet temperature and condensation pressure.
