Liquid-liquid slug flow for enhanced heat transfer

Abstract

Attached

Liquid-liquid slug flow in microchannels can increase the heat transfer rates due to the internal recirculation within the liquid slugs. This paper presents experimental studies o f heat transfer enhancement in microchannels with liquid-liquid slug flow. The experimental studies are carried out using a stainless steel channel with a circular cross section. Water is used as the dispersed phase fluid while silicon oil is used as the primary phase. The channel is heated by Joule heating. Two-phase flow is formed using a T-junction o f 1 mm circular channels made using PDMS, and a specific channel arrangement was designed in the outlet channel in order to avoid the flow disruption when introducing the flow to the steel tube. The flow visualization is carried out with a Phantom V1610 camera and flow is visualized at both before and after the steel tube to ensure the required flow is passing through the tube. Experimental results showed over 400% increase in heat transfer with liquid-liquid slug flow compared to its single phase counterpart.