Heat Transfer Enhancement in Micro-Domains Using Gas-Driven Liquid Film

A liquid film has been introduced upstream of a heater in a microchannel with gas flow, and the impact on the heat transfer performance has been investigated. The shear force exerted by the gas flow on the gas-liquid interface drives the film and drags it downstream, onto the heated area. Distilled water was injected through a 350 μm circular hole in a main stream of Nitrogen in a 220 μm deep and 1.5 mm wide rectangular microchannel to enhance the heat transfer from a 1 mm × 1 mm heater. Average heat transfer coefficient was studied for different gas and liquid flow rates and compared with single-phase flow. Significant improvement in heat transfer performance was observed while the pressure drop in the channel was not increased dramatically.