Nanofluids & Microfluidics
Microfluidics (Flow boiling in micro channels)
Thermal management of electronic devices such as microprocessors involves dissipation of a large amount of heat within a small area. Conventional cooling methods using fins and also single phase liquid cooling may not be able to address the heat removal requirements that can arise in the near future as the computational power is increasing. Flow boiling in micro channels is a promising solution as it makes use of the high latent heat of phase change. Our research group has worked on the following areas:
- Effect of oxidation of copper surface on heat transfer coefficient during flow boiling in micro channels.
- Effect of oxidation of copper surface on CHF during flow boiling in micro channels
It was observed that there is a significant reduction in heat transfer coefficient of up to 70% while the CHF was largely unaffected due to oxidation.
Fig. Experimental test rig