Thermal Performance of Crossflow Microchannel Heat Exchangers

Forced-convection heat transfer in a crossflow microchannel heat exchanger (MCHE) was investigated via experiment. The microchannels on the plates of the MCHE were machined using a chemical etching method from 0.4-mm-thick stainless steel plates, and the plates were bonded together by vacuum diffusion bonding. The influence of the aspect ratio of microchannels was analyzed based on MCHEs with two plates. The maximum volumetric heat-transfer coefficient using deionized (DI) water as the working fluid reached 11.1 MW m -3 K -1 , with a corresponding pressure drop of <6 kPa when the Reynolds number (Re )i n the microchannels was ∼64. Besides, the maximum volumetric heat-transfer coefficient, using air as the working fluid, was 0.67 MW m -3 K -1 , with a corresponding pressure drop of ∼30 kPa when Re ≈ 1026. Correlations of the average Nusselt number (Nu) and Re values were obtained from MCHEs with 2 plates, and their validity was confirmed by MCHEs with 2 and 10 plates.

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