Unified Modeling Suite for Two-Phase Flow, Convective Boiling and Condensation in Macro-and Micro-Channels

Abstract

The present paper focuses on the unified modeling suite for annular flow that the authors have and continue to develop. Annular flow is of fundamental importance to the thermal design and simulation of microevaporators and micro-condensers for compact two-phase cooling systems of high heat flux components for the thermal management of computer chips, power electronics, laser diodes and high energy physics particle detectors. First, the unified suite of methods is presented, illustrating in particular the most recent updates. Then, results for convective evaporation of refrigerants in non-circular multi-microchannel configurations for microelectronics cooling are presented and discussed. The annular flow suite includes models to predict the void fraction, the entrained liquid fraction, the wall shear stress and pressure gradient, and a turbulence model for momentum and heat transport inside the annular liquid film. The turbulence model, in particular, allows prediction of the local average liquid film thicknesses and the local heat transfer coefficients during convective evaporation and condensation. The benefit of a unified modeling suite is that all the included prediction methods are consistently formulated and are proven to work well together, and provide a platform for continued advancement based on the other models in the suite.