Open Access
ARTICLE
VOLUME OF FLUID SIMULATION OF BOILING TWO-PHASE FLOW IN A VAPOR-VENTING MICROCHANNEL
Chen Fang*, Milnes David, Anita Rogacs, Kenneth Goodson
Mechanical Engineering Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305
* Corresponding Author: Email:
Frontiers in Heat and Mass Transfer 2010, 1(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.5098/hmt.v1.1.3002
Abstract
Vapor-venting microchannel heat exchangers are promising because they address the problems of high pressure drop, flow instability, and local dryout that are common in conventional two-phase microchannel heat sinks. We present a 3D numerical simulation of the vapor-venting process in a
rectangular microchannel bounded on one side by a hydrophobic porous membrane for phase-separation. The simulation is based on the volume of
fluid (VOF) method together with models for interphase mass transfer and capillary force. Simulation shows the vapor-venting mechanism can
effectively mitigate the vapor accumulation issue, reduce the pressure drop, and suppress the local dry-out in the microchannel. Pressure surge is
observed in the vapor-venting channel. The simulation provides some insight into the design and optimization of vapor-venting heat exchangers.
Keywords
Cite This Article
Fang, C., David, M., Rogacs, A., Goodson, K. (2010). VOLUME OF FLUID SIMULATION OF BOILING TWO-PHASE FLOW IN A VAPOR-VENTING MICROCHANNEL.
Frontiers in Heat and Mass Transfer, 1(1), 1–11.