A review on microchannel heat exchangers and potential applications

Energy conversion and utilization are continuous but ever increasing processes for sustainability and economic development. Environmental concerns, such as thermal and air pollution, have dictated the practices of energy conservation and recovery, as well as the implementation of clean energy sources. Heat exchangers are an important component for processes where energy conservation is achieved through enhanced heat transfer. Such issues as increased energy demands, space limitations, and materials savings have highlighted the necessity for miniaturized light-weight heat exchangers, which provide high heat transfer for a given heat duty. However, while traditional heat exchangers employ conventional tubes (⩾6 mm) with various cross-sections, orientations, and even the enhanced surface textures, the technology is nearing its limits. Microchannels (broadly ⩽1 mm) represent the next step in heat exchanger development. They are a particular target of research due to their higher heat transfer and reduced weight as well as their space, energy, and materials savings potential over regular tube counterparts. In contrast to traditional tube heat exchangers, the heat transfer and fluid flow correlations, and the systematic design procedures are not yet well established for microchannels. It remains to be established whether the classical fluid flow and heat transfer theories and correlations are valid for microchannels. Numerous investigations are underway with researchers consolidating evidence on both sides of this question. This paper surveys the published literature on the status and potential of microchannels, and it identifies research needs, and defines the scope for long-term research. Based on results from the review, an air-to-liquid crossflow experimental infrastructure has been developed and commissioned. It will be used to investigate the heat transfer and fluid flow for a variety of working fluids in different microchannel test specimens. Further information and the heat balance status of the developed test facility are also presented. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[1]  B. W. Webb,et al.  Characterization of frictional pressure drop for liquid flows through microchannels , 2002 .

[2]  Ephraim M Sparrow,et al.  Forced Convection Heat Transfer from a Shrouded Fin Array with and without Tip Clearance , 1978 .

[3]  G. Mala,et al.  Pressure-driven water flows in trapezoidal silicon microchannels , 2000 .

[4]  J. Zemel,et al.  Liquid transport in micron and submicron channels , 1990 .

[5]  Shung-Wen Kang,et al.  Analysis of effectiveness and pressure drop in micro cross-flow heat exchanger , 2007 .

[6]  Evan G. Colgan,et al.  Development of an Experimental Facility for Investigating Single-Phase Liquid Flow in Microchannels , 2006 .

[7]  Martin Richter,et al.  Microchannels for applications in liquid dosing and flow-rate measurement , 1997 .

[8]  Jay N. Zemel,et al.  Gas flow in micro-channels , 1995, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[9]  J. S. Goodling.  Microchannel heat exchangers: a review , 1993, Optics & Photonics.

[10]  Sunil S. Mehendale,et al.  Microchannel Heat Exchanger Design for Evaporator and Condenser Applications , 2003 .

[11]  Fang Liu,et al.  Forced convection in slightly curved microchannels , 2007 .

[12]  J. R. Culham,et al.  Review of Experimental Procedure for Determining Liquid Flow in Microchannels , 2005 .

[13]  S. Garimella,et al.  Investigation of heat transfer in rectangular microchannels , 2005 .

[14]  P. Naphon,et al.  Study on the convective heat transfer and pressure drop in the micro-channel heat sink , 2009 .

[15]  Jeffrey D. Morse,et al.  Micro‐fuel cell power sources , 2007 .

[16]  J. Welty,et al.  Pressure Drop Measurements in a Microchannel , 1998, Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS).

[17]  G. Peterson,et al.  Experimental investigation of heat transfer in flat plates with rectangular microchannels , 1995 .

[18]  K. Kelly,et al.  Design and fabrication of a cross flow micro heat exchanger , 2000, Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems.

[19]  M RahmanM,et al.  Experimental measurements of fluid flow and heat transfer in microchannel cooling passages in a chip substrate. , 1993 .

[20]  Jing-zhou Zhang,et al.  The study of flow characteristics of curved microchannel , 2005 .

[21]  I. Mudawar,et al.  Experimental and numerical study of pressure drop and heat transfer in a single-phase micro-channel heat sink , 2002 .

[22]  M. M. Rahman.  Measurements of heat transfer in microchannel heat sinks , 2000 .

[23]  Ian Papautsky,et al.  Laminar fluid behavior in microchannels using micropolar fluid theory , 1999 .

[24]  W. Little,et al.  Measurement of the heat transfer characteristics of gas flow in fine channel heat exchangers used for microminiature refrigerators , 1984 .

[25]  R. L. Zhang,et al.  HEAT TRANSFER AND FRICTION IN SMALL DIAMETER CHANNELS , 1998 .

[26]  K. Breuer,et al.  Gaseous slip flow in long microchannels , 1997 .

[27]  Satish G. Kandlikar,et al.  Fundamental issues related to flow boiling in minichannels and microchannels , 2002 .

[28]  R. J. Barker,et al.  Microchannel cooling for a high-energy particle transmission window, an RF transmission window, and VLSI heat dissipation , 1998 .

[29]  Liqing Ren,et al.  Interfacial electrokinetic effects on liquid flow in microchannels , 2001 .

[30]  Roland Baviere,et al.  An Experimental Study of Water Flow in Smooth and Rough Rectangular Micro-Channels , 2004 .

[31]  Satish G. Kandlikar,et al.  Evolution of Microchannel Flow Passages--Thermohydraulic Performance and Fabrication Technology , 2003 .

[32]  V. Gnielinski.  New equations for heat and mass transfer in turbulent pipe and channel flow , 1976 .

[33]  W. Tao,et al.  Experimental study of compressibility, roughness and rarefaction influences on microchannel flow , 2007 .

[34]  S. Garimella,et al.  Single-Phase Flow and Heat Transport and Pumping Considerations in Microchannel Heat Sinks , 2004 .

[35]  S. McPhail,et al.  Experimental study on compressible flow in microtubes , 2007 .

[36]  S. Abdel-Khalik,et al.  An experimental investigation of microchannel flow with internal pressure measurements , 2005 .

[37]  J. Chung,et al.  Flow characteristics of water in straight and serpentine micro-channels with miter bends , 2007 .

[38]  Shanshan Zhu,et al.  Flow characteristics of liquids in microtubes driven by a high pressure , 2004 .

[39]  R. Adrian,et al.  Transition from laminar to turbulent flow in liquid filled microtubes , 2004 .

[40]  S. Kandlikar,et al.  Effect of Surface Roughness on Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow Characteristics at Low Reynolds Numbers in Small Diameter Tubes , 2003 .

[41]  Y. Tai,et al.  MEMS for pressure distribution studies of gaseous flows in microchannels , 1995, Proceedings IEEE Micro Electro Mechanical Systems. 1995.

[42]  Ruzhu Wang,et al.  Single-phase pressure drop and heat transfer characteristics of turbulent liquid nitrogen flow in micro-tubes. , 2007 .

[43]  W. R. Gambill,et al.  HFIR HEAT-TRANSFER STUDIES OF TURBULENT WATER FLOW IN THIN RECTANGULAR CHANNELS , 1961 .

[44]  Albert Mosyak,et al.  Fluid flow in micro-channels , 2005 .

[45]  James N. Walpole,et al.  Microchannel heat sinks for two-dimensional high-power-density diode laser arrays , 1989 .

[46]  Nam-Trung Nguyen,et al.  Investigation of forced convection in microfluid systems , 1996 .

[47]  Tim Ameel,et al.  Two-Phase Flow in Microchannels , 1997, Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS).

[48]  R. P. Scaringe,et al.  Enhanced heat transfer in the entrance region of microchannels , 1995 .

[49]  X. Peng,et al.  FRICTIONAL FLOW CHARACTERISTICS OF WATER FLOWING THROUGH RECTANGULAR MICROCHANNELS , 1994 .

[50]  Huiying Wu,et al.  An experimental study of convective heat transfer in silicon microchannels with different surface conditions , 2003 .

[51]  F. Gerner,et al.  Developing convective heat transfer in deep rectangular microchannels , 1999 .

[52]  G. Peterson,et al.  Convective heat transfer and flow friction for water flow in microchannel structures , 1996 .

[53]  Shung-Wen Kang,et al.  The Manufacture and Test of (110) Orientated Silicon Based Micro Heat Exchanger , 2002 .

[54]  Roland Baviere,et al.  Experimental characterization of water flow through smooth rectangular microchannels , 2005 .

[55]  D. Mundinger,et al.  Laser Diode Cooling For High Average Power Applications , 1989, Photonics West - Lasers and Applications in Science and Engineering.

[56]  Greg F. Naterer,et al.  Recent advances in nano‐electromechanical and microfluidic power generation , 2007 .

[57]  D. P. Sekulic,et al.  Fundamentals of Heat Exchanger Design , 2003 .

[58]  Lingai Luo,et al.  Heat exchanger: from micro- to multi-scale design optimization , 2007 .

[59]  G. Morini.  Single-phase Convective Heat Transfer in Microchannels: a Review of Experimental Results , 2004 .

[60]  B. W. Webb,et al.  Characterization of transition to turbulence in microchannels , 2006 .

[61]  S. Turner,et al.  Gas Flow Through Smooth And Rough Microchannels , 2002 .

[62]  S. J. Davies,et al.  An experimental study of the flow of water in pipes of rectangular section , 1928 .

[63]  Zhi-Xin Li,et al.  EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON FLOW CHARACTERISTICS OF LIQUID IN CIRCULAR MICROTUBES , 2003 .

[64]  D. Maynes,et al.  Velocity profile characterization in sub-millimeter diameter tubes using molecular tagging velocimetry , 2002 .

[65]  An investigation of the temperature dependence of Poiseuille numbers in microchannel flow , 1993 .

[66]  Shigefumi Nishio,et al.  The experimental research on microtube heat transfer and fluid flow of distilled water , 2004 .

[67]  R. Pease,et al.  High-performance heat sinking for VLSI , 1981, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[68]  X. Peng,et al.  Forced convection and flow boiling heat transfer for liquid flowing through microchannels , 1993 .

[69]  P. Oosthuizen,et al.  CHANNEL-TO-CHANNEL PRESSURE DIFFERENCES IN SERPENTINE MINICHANNEL FLOW SYSTEMS , 2005 .

[70]  Bernard Thonon,et al.  Extruded Microchannel-Structured Heat Exchangers , 2005 .

[71]  M. Esashi,et al.  A micro chemical analyzing system integrated on a silicon wafer , 1990, IEEE Proceedings on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, An Investigation of Micro Structures, Sensors, Actuators, Machines and Robots..

[72]  Dongqing Li,et al.  Heat transfer for water flow in trapezoidal silicon microchannels , 2000 .

[73]  Brahim Bourouga,et al.  Fluid flow and convective heat transfer in flat microchannels , 2009 .

[74]  S. M. Ghiaasiaan,et al.  Turbulent forced convection in microtubes , 2001 .

[75]  J. Zemel,et al.  Analysis of microchannels for integrated cooling , 1992 .

[76]  Jiang Liu,et al.  Numerical study of fluid flow and heat transfer in microchannel cooling passages , 2007 .

[77]  J. Franc,et al.  Mesure des coefficients de transfert thermique par convection forcée en mini-canaux , 2000 .

[78]  X. Peng,et al.  Forced convection heat transfer of single-phase binary mixtures through microchannels☆ , 1996 .

[79]  Dongqing Li,et al.  Flow characteristics of water in microtubes , 1999 .

[80]  C. Tobias,et al.  Transport processes in narrow (capillary) channels , 1985 .

[81]  Predrag Stojan Hrnjak,et al.  Single phase pressure drop in microchannels , 2007 .

[82]  Satish G. Kandlikar,et al.  Single-Phase Liquid Friction Factors in Microchannels , 2006 .

[83]  Said I. Abdel-Khalik,et al.  Applicability of traditional turbulent single-phase forced convection correlations to non-circular microchannels , 1999 .

[84]  Kuan Chen.  Second‐law analysis and optimization of microchannel flows subjected to different thermal boundary conditions , 2005 .

[85]  S. M. Ghiaasiaan,et al.  Enhancement of liquid forced convection heat transfer in microchannels due to the release of dissolved noncondensables , 1999 .

[86]  Roland Baviere,et al.  Bias effects on heat transfer measurements in microchannel flows , 2006 .

[87]  Fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics in rectangular microchannels , 2008 .

[88]  W. Little,et al.  Measurement of friction factors for the flow of gases in very fine channels used for microminiature Joule-Thomson refrigerators , 1983 .

[89]  Tao Wang,et al.  Fabrication, modeling, and testing of micro-cross-flow heat exchangers , 2002 .

[90]  Zeng-Yuan Guo,et al.  Size effect on microscale single-phase flow and heat transfer , 2002 .

[91]  X. Peng,et al.  HEAT TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS OF WATER FLOWING THROUGH MICROCHANNELS , 1994 .

[92]  S. Lin,et al.  Local frictional pressure drop during vaporization of R-12 through capillary tubes , 1991 .

[93]  Nobuhide Kasagi,et al.  OPTIMAL DESIGN AND ASSESSMENT OF HIGH PERFORMANCE MICRO BARE-TUBE HEAT EXCHANGERS , 2003 .

[94]  Ventsislav Zimparov,et al.  Energy conservation through heat transfer enhancement techniques , 2002 .

[95]  Said I. Abdel-Khalik,et al.  An experimental investigation of single-phase forced convection in microchannels , 1998 .

[96]  Predrag Stojan Hrnjak,et al.  Single-Phase Pressure Drop Measurements in a Microchannel Heat Exchanger , 2002 .

[97]  Akimaro Kawahara,et al.  Characteristics of Single-Phase Flow in Microchannels , 2002 .

[98]  Ian Papautsky,et al.  Effects of rectangular microchannel aspect ratio on laminar friction constant , 1999, MOEMS-MEMS.

[99]  Dongqing Li,et al.  Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow in Microchannels , 1996, Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS).

[100]  W. Choi,et al.  Experimental investigation of flow friction for liquid flow in microchannels , 2000 .

[101]  Mahmood Yaghoubi,et al.  Influence of channel geometry on the performance of a counter flow microchannel heat exchanger , 2009 .

[102]  S. Eckels,et al.  Correlations for heat transfer and pressure drop of glycol-water and air flows in minichannel heat exchangers , 2005 .

[103]  Pei-Xue Jiang,et al.  Thermal hydraulic performance of small scale micro-channel and porous-media heat-exchangers , 2001 .

[104]  L J Kricka,et al.  Manipulation and flow of biological fluids in straight channels micromachined in silicon. , 1994, Clinical chemistry.

[105]  Jeff Punch,et al.  Friction factor and heat transfer in multiple microchannels with uniform flow distribution , 2008 .

[106]  Jay N. Zemel,et al.  Fluid flow in micron and submicron size channels , 1989, IEEE Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, , Proceedings, 'An Investigation of Micro Structures, Sensors, Actuators, Machines and Robots'.

[107]  D. Ting,et al.  An experimental characterization of cross-flow cooling of air via an in-line elliptical tube array , 2004 .

[108]  Greg F. Naterer,et al.  Reducing energy availability losses with open parallel microchannels embedded in a micropatterned surface , 2005 .

[109]  S. Hsieh,et al.  Liquid flow in a micro-channel , 2006 .

[110]  F. Dittus,et al.  Heat transfer in automobile radiators of the tubular type , 1930 .

[111]  Suresh V. Garimella,et al.  Experimental Investigation of Heat Transfer in Microchannels , 2003 .

[112]  Philippe Marty,et al.  Friction losses and heat transfer of single-phase flow in a mini-channel , 2007 .

[113]  K. Toh,et al.  Numerical computation of fluid flow and heat transfer in microchannels , 2002 .

[114]  A. Shekarriz,et al.  Forced convection heat transfer in parallel channel array microchannel heat exchanger , 1996 .

[115]  G. Peterson,et al.  The effect of thermofluid and geometrical parameters on convection of liquids through rectangular microchannels , 1995 .

[116]  Tim Ameel,et al.  FRICTION AND CONVECTION STUDIES OF R-134a IN MICROCHANNELS WITHIN THE TRANSITION AND TURBULENT FLOW REGIMES , 2002 .

[117]  Huiying Wu,et al.  Friction factors in smooth trapezoidal silicon microchannels with different aspect ratios , 2003 .

[118]  D. Tuckerman.  Heat-transfer microstructures for integrated circuits , 1984 .

[119]  Stéphane Le Person,et al.  Scale effects on hydrodynamics and heat transfer in two-dimensional mini and microchannels , 2002 .

[120]  X. Peng,et al.  Experimental investigation on liquid forced-convection heat transfer through microchannels☆ , 1994 .

[121]  Shripad P. Mahulikar,et al.  Experimental verification of the role of Brinkman number in microchannels using local parameters , 2000 .

[122]  Björn Palm,et al.  Experimental investigation of single-phase convective heat transfer in circular microchannels , 2004 .

[123]  Issam Mudawar,et al.  High flux boiling in low flow rate, low pressure drop mini-channel and micro-channel heat sinks , 1994 .