In this study, two-dimensional (2D) numerical simulations of liquid slip flows in parallel-plate microchannels have been performed to obtain heat transfer characteristics and entropy generation rate under asymmetric heating conditions. Heat transfer analysis has been conducted along with second-law analysis through utilizing temperature-dependent thermophysical properties. The results indicate that temperature-dependent thermophysical properties have a positive effect on convective heat transfer and entropy generation. Nusselt numbers of the upper and lower plates and global entropy generation rates are significantly affected by slip parameter and heat flux ratio. It is shown that Nusselt number of the lower plate may have very large but finite values at a specific heat flux ratio. This finding resembles to analytical solutions, where singularities leading to an infinite Nusselt number exist.

New requirements for heat exchangers offered pool boiling heat transfer on structured and coated surfaces as one of the promising methods for effective heat removal. In this study, pool boiling experiments were conducted on polyhydroxyethylmethacrylate (pHEMA)-coated surfaces to investigate the effect of surface orientation on bubble dynamics and nucleate boiling heat transfer. pHEMA coatings with thicknesses of 50, 100, and 200 nm were deposited using the initiated chemical deposition (iCVD) method. De-ionized water was used as the working fluid. Experiments were performed on horizontal and inclined surfaces (inclination angles of 10 deg, 30 deg, 50 deg, and 70 deg) under the constant heat flux (ranging from 10 to 80 kW/m 2 ) boundary condition. Obtained results were compared to their plain surface counterparts, and heat transfer enhancements were observed. Accordingly, it was observed that the bubble departure phenomenon was affected by heat flux and wall superheat on bare silicon surfaces, while the supply path of vapor altered the bubble departure process on pHEMA-coated surfaces. Furthermore, the surface orientation played a major role on bubble dynamics and could be considered as a mechanism for fast vapor removal from surfaces. Bubble coalescence and liquid replenishment on coated surfaces had a promising effect on heat transfer coefficient enhancement on coated surfaces. For horizontal surfaces, a maximum enhancement of 25% relative to the bare surface was achieved, while the maximum enhancement was 105% for the inclined coated surface under the optimum condition. iCVD was proven to be a practical method for coating surfaces for boiling heat transfer applications due to the obtained promising results.

This study focuses on microheat sinks with different staggered arrangements of micro pin fins (MPFs). A rectangular microchannel with the dimensions of 5000 × 1500 × 100 μm 3 (l′ × w′ × h′) was considered for all the configurations while different MPF diameters, height over diameter ratio (H/D), and longitudinal and transversal pitch ratios (S L /D and S T /D) were considered in different arrangements. Using the ansys fluent 14.5 commercial software, the simulations were done for different Reynolds numbers between 20 and 160. A constant heat flux of 30 W/cm 2 was applied through the bottom heating section. The performances of the microheat sinks were evaluated using design parameters, namely pressure drop, friction factor, Nusselt number, and thermal-hydraulic performance index (TPI). The effect of each geometrical parameter as well as wake-pin fin interaction patterns were carefully studied using the streamline patterns and temperature profiles of each configuration. The results reveal a great dependency of trends in pressure drops and Nusselt numbers on the wake region lengths as well as the local velocity and pressure gradients. Moreover, the wake region lengths mostly contribute to the increase in obtained pressure drop and Nusselt number with Reynolds number. Although an increase in the H/D and S L /D ratios results in an increase and a decrease in pressure drop, respectively, the effect on the Nusselt number depends on other geometrical parameters and Reynolds number. A larger S T /D ratio generally results in a decrease in the pressure drop and Nusselt number. Finally, while the friction factor decreases with Reynolds number, two different trends are seen for the TPI values of configurations with the H/D ratio of 1 and 2 (D = 100 and 50 μm). While the trend in the TPIs is increasing for Reynolds numbers between 20 and 40, it reverses for higher Reynolds numbers with a steeper slope in the configurations with the S T /D ratio of 1.5.

This study presents results on the hydrodynamic and thermal characteristics of single-phase water flows inside microchannels (MCs) with different micropin fin (MPF) configurations. Different inline arrangements of micropin fins were considered over Reynolds numbers ranging from 20 to 160. The computational studies were performed using the commercial software ansys 14.5 . The hydrodynamic performances of the configurations were compared using two parameters, namely, pressure drop and friction factor while the comparison in their thermal and thermal-hydraulic performances were based on Nusselt number and thermal performance index (TPI). Wake-pin fin interactions were carefully analyzed through streamline patterns in different arrangements and under different flow conditions. The results showed strong dependencies of all four evaluated performance parameters on the vertical pitch ratio (S T /D). Weaker dependencies on height over diameter ratio (H/D), horizontal pitch ratio (S L /D), and minimum available area (A min ) were observed. With an increase in the Reynolds number, extension of the wake regions behind MPFs was observed to be the paramount factor in increasing pressure drop and Nusselt number. Regarding TPI, two adverse trends were observed corresponding to different S T /D ratios, while the effect of S L /D ratio was unique. For friction factors, H/D and S L /D ratios of 1 and 1.5, respectively, led to minimum values, while different S T /D ratios are needed for each diameter size for the maximum performance. Moreover, a twofold increase in Reynolds number resulted in about 40% decrease in friction factor in each configuration.

The aim of this study is to focus on the effect of probe-to-specimen distance in kidney stone treatment with hydrodynamic bubbly cavitation. Cavitating bubbles were generated by running phosphate buffered saline (PBS) through stainless steel tubing of inner diameter of 1.56 mm at an inlet pressure of ∼10,000 kPa, which was connected to a 0.75 mm long probe with an inner diameter of 147 μm at the exit providing a sudden contraction and thus low local pressures. The bubbles were targeted on the surface of nine calcium oxalate kidney stones (submerged in a water pool at room temperature and atmospheric pressure) from three different distances, namely, 0.5 mm, 2.75 mm, and 7.75 mm. The experiments were repeated for three different time durations (5 min, 10 min, and 20 min). The experimental data show that amongst the three distances considered, the distance of 2.75 mm results in the highest erosion amount and highest erosion rate (up to 0.94 mg/min), which suggests that a closer distance does not necessarily lead to a higher erosion rate and that the probe-to-specimen distance is a factor of great importance, which needs to be optimized. In order to be able to explain the experimental results, a visualization study was also conducted with a high speed CMOS camera. A new correlation was developed to predict the erosion rates on kidney stones exposed to hydrodynamic cavitation as a function of material properties, time, and distance.

In this experimental study, flow boiling in mini/microtubes was investigated with surface enhancements provided by crosslinked polyhydroxyethylmethacrylate (pHEMA) coatings, which were used as a crosslinker coating type with different thicknesses (∼50 nm, 100 nm, and 150 nm) on inner microtube walls. Flow boiling heat transfer experiments were conducted on microtubes (with inner diameters of 249 μm, 507 μm, and 908 μm) coated with crosslinked pHEMA coatings. pHEMA nanofilms were deposited with initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) technique. De-ionized water was utilized as the working fluid in this study. Experimental results obtained from coated microtubes were compared to their plain surface counterparts at two different mass fluxes (5000 kg/m2 s and 20,000 kg/m2 s), and significant enhancements in critical heat flux (up to 29.7%) and boiling heat transfer (up to 126.2%) were attained. The enhancement of boiling heat transfer was attributed to the increase in nucleation site density and incidence of bubbles departing from surface due to porous structure of crosslinked pHEMA coatings. The underlying mechanism was explained with suction-evaporation mode. Moreover, thicker pHEMA coatings resulted in larger enhancements in both CHF and boiling heat transfer.

Ferrofluids are colloidal suspensions, in which the solid phase material is composed of magnetic nanoparticles, while the base fluid can potentially be any fluid. The solid particles are held in suspension by weak intermolecular forces and may be made of materials with different magnetic properties. Magnetite is one of the materials used for its natural ferromagnetic properties. Heat transfer performance of ferrofluids should be carefully analyzed and considered for their potential of their use in wide range of applications. In this study, convective heat transfer experiments were conducted in order to characterize convective heat transfer enhancements with lauric acid coated ironoxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticle based ferrofluids, which have volumetric fractions varying from 0% to ∼5% and average particle diameter of 25 nm, in a hypodermic stainless steel microtube with an inner diameter of 514 μm, an outer diameter of 819 μm, and a heated length of 2.5 cm. Heat fluxes up to 184 W/cm2 were applied to the system at three different flow rates (1 ml/s, 0.62 ml/s, and 0.36 ml/s). A decrease of around 100% in the maximum surface temperature (measured at the exit of the microtube) with the ferrofluid compared to the pure base fluid at significant heat fluxes (>100 W/cm2) was observed. Moreover, the enhancement in heat transfer increased with nanoparticle concentration, and there was no clue for saturation in heat transfer coefficient profiles with increasing volume fraction over the volume fraction range in this study (0–5%). The promising results obtained from the experiments suggest that the use of ferrofluids for heat transfer, drug delivery, and biological applications can be advantageous and a viable alternative as new generation coolants and futuristic drug carriers.