Flow pattern-based flow boiling heat transfer model for microchannels

A new flow pattern-based prediction method for heat transfer coefficients in microchannels was developed based on recent experimental results for several multi-microchannel evaporators in silicon and copper and for single-microchannel tubes in stainless steel. In the present paper, some updates to the three-zone flow boiling model for slug flow are presented, including further proof that the dryout thickness is well represented by setting it equal to the measured channel roughness for the silicon, copper and stainless steel test surfaces. Next, a non-circular channel version of the Cioncolini–Thome unified annular flow model for convective boiling is proposed. These two methods are joined together into a flow pattern-based method using a new heat flux-dependent flow pattern transition criterion between slug flow and annular flow. The method predicts the results quite accurately and also captures the trends in the heat transfer coefficients well.