Effect of Channel Shape On Axial Back Conduction in The Solid Substrate of Microchannels

3rd European Conference on Microfluidics
Microfluidics 2012
Heidelberg, December 3-5, 2012
EFFECT OF CHANNEL SHAPE ON AXIAL BACK

CONDUCTION IN THE SOLID SUBSTRATE OF
MICROCHANNELS
Manoj Kumar Moharana
Department of Mechanical Engineering
National Institute of Technology
Rourkela
Rourkela 769008 (Odisha), India
Sameer Khandekar
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
Kanpur 208016 (UP), India
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Heidelberg, Germany

Microfluidics 2012
Contents:
Introduction
Literature review
Problem statement
Solution methodology
Results and discussion
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Introduction:

Microfluidics 2012
ri
ri
1
t
Conventional tube
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ri
ri
1 or 1
t
t
Microtubes
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As
1
Af
Microchannel on
solid substrate

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Literature
Conduction parameter =
axial heat transfer within the solid energy flow

carried by the fluid in the channel
Bahnke and Howard (1964)

Peterson (1998, 1999)
Maranzana et al. (2004)

Conduction number
(k s As ) /(m cp L)
2 NTU
qcond
s / L
M
ks

qconv f cpf f u
Bi
The effect of axial conduction in the substrate on the heat transfer

coefficient can be neglected if M<10-2.
Li et al. (2007)
Zhang et al. (2010)
04 December 2012
ks
As Ts
M
f cp u L A f Tf
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Axial conduction parameter:

A quantity that gives relative importance of conduction heat transfer
compared to the energy flow carried by the fluid
k s As
m c
Ratio of axial heat transfer within the solid duct or tube due to axial
temperature gradient in it to the energy flow carried by the fluid in the
channel in the axial direction
Conventional channel: Bahnke and Howard (1964)
Microscale counter-flow heat exchangers: Peterson (1998, 1999)
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Heidelberg, Germany

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Axial conduction number (M)*:

qcond
ks
As
M
qconv f cp u L A f
FLUID
SOLID
Axial conduction negligible if M < 0.01
Li et al. (2009):
ks
As Ts
M
f cp u L A f Tf
Ts To Ti Solid
Tf To Ti Fluid
Zhang et al. (2009): Study on conjugate heat transfer in thick micro tube
Criteria for judging the effect of axial wall conduction may vary on
case to case basis depending on boundary condition and
geometrical parameter
*IJHMT 47(2004) 3993-4004, IJHMT 50(2007) 3447-3460, IJHMT 53(2010) 3977-3989
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From review of literature:

An explicit parameter for discerning the effect of axial conduction on
the heat transport coefficient in microchannel flows, under a given
set of geometry and boundary conditions, is still not available.
Most of the studies deal with circular micro tubes.
Motivation for the present work:
Most flows in microchannel heat transfer applications are
simultaneously developing in nature.
Rectangular/square microchannels on flat substrates are widely in use
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Discussion:
Chein et al. (2012)*
- Silica glasss
- Steel
- Copper
*Axial heat conduction and heat supply effects on methanol-steam reforming

performance in micro-scale reformers, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 55 (2012) 30293042
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PROBLEM STATEMENT
Assumptions:
Heat transfer and fluid
flow takes place at
steady state
Flow is laminar,
incompressible
Constant thermophysical properties
Negligible heat loss by
FIG 1. MICROCHANNEL WITH CONDUCTIVE WALLS

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- Radiation
- Natural convection
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PROBLEM STATEMENT
Three dimensional
numerical heat transfer
study on commercial
CFD platform (FLUENT):
Objective:
Study the effect of axial

heat conduction along
the solid substrate
Parameters of interest:
Peripherally averaged
local heat flux, wall
temperature
Peripherally averaged
local wall temperature
Bulk fluid temperature
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PROBLEM STATEMENT
Three dimensional
numerical heat transfer
study on commercial
CFD platform (FLUENT):
Pressure discretization
using STANDARD
scheme
SIMPLE algorithm for
velocity-pressure
coupling
SECOND ORDER
UPWIND scheme for
momentum and energy
equation

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Slug velocity profile at

inlet with inlet
temperature of 300K
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VARIABLE PARAMETERS:
Thickness ratio:
s
sf
f
2, 8, 16
Flow rate (Re):

200, 500
Conductivity ratio:
ks
k sf
kf
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26, 635
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Grid Independence Test:
z
x
FIG 2. VARIATION OF LOCAL NUSSELT

NUMBER ALONG THE CHANNEL AXIS FOR
DIFFERENT GRIDS
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Grid
4560300
6080400
75100500
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q z
q
z*
z
Re Pr Dh
Q
2 s f L
qz / q
FIG 3. VARIATION OF DIMENSIONLESS LOCAL SURFACE
HEAT FLUX ALONG THE CHANNEL LENGTH
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q z
q
f
T f T fi
T fo T fi
T w T fi
T fo T fi
FIG 4. VARIATION OF DIMENSIONLESS LOCAL WALL AND

BULK FLUID TEMPERATURE ALONG THE CHANNEL LENGTH
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q z
q
f
T f T fi
T fo T fi
T w T fi
T fo T fi
FIG 4. VARIATION OF DIMENSIONLESS LOCAL WALL AND

BULK FLUID TEMPERATURE ALONG THE CHANNEL LENGTH
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LOCAL NUSSELT NUMBER
Nu z
qz
Tf
h Dh
kf
Case 1:
Case 2:
Lee and Garimella*

Hydrodynamically fully
developed but thermally
developing flow
Case 3:
Shah and London

Simultaneously developing
laminar flow in a square
channel (Pr = 0.7)
FIG 5. VARIATION OF LOCAL NUSSELT NUMBER ALONG THE CHANNEL
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*IJHMT, 49(2006) 3060-3067, Advances in Heat Transfer (1978)

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VARYING CHANNEL ASPECT RATIO
f
H
Constant area
Constant heating perimeter
Constant width
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Constant height
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AVERAGE NUSSELT NUMBER
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AVERAGE NUSSELT NUMBER
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Discussion
Trkakar and Okutucu-zyurt (2012)*
Channel
height
*Dimensional optimization of microchannel heat sinks with multiple heat sources,

Int. J. Thermal Sciences (2012) Article In Press
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Conclusions:
1. Ks/kf determines the extent of the axial conduction in the substrate.
2. Thicker substrates lead to a reduction in thermal resistance and
therefore an increase in the axial back-conduction.
3. Increasing flow Re reduces the axial back-conduction.
4. Unless true distribution of temperature at the fluid-solid interface, true
bulk fluid temperature and the heat flux is known, the estimates of
Nusselt number can be misleading.
5. All other factors remaining the same, thin substrates made of low
conducting materials, experiencing high flow rates provide a better
solution in terms of minimizing the effect of axial conduction in the
substrate.
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Summary and Conclusions:
For a given flow rate and sf, the thermal conductivity ratio ksf is the key
factor in determining the effects of axial wall conduction on the heat transport
behavior.
Higher ksf leads to axial back conduction, thus decreasing the average Nusselt
number as compared to the Nusselt number obtained for the case when the
wall thickness is negligible.
Very low ksf leads to a situation where the channel heat transfer can be
compared to a channel having zero wall thickness with only one side heated
with a constant heat flux and the rest of the three sides being adiabatic; this
leads to lower average Nusselt number.
The results explicitly indicate the existence of an optimum value of the

thermal conductivity ratio for maximizing the Nusselt number, for a given flow
rate and wall thickness ratio.
It has also been shown that similar phenomena will be observed in substrates
having a tubular geometry.
Channel aspect ratio also plays role in axial back conduction
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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Microfluidics 2012
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Heidelberg, Germany
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Effect of Channel Shape On Axial Back Conduction in The Solid Substrate of Microchannels

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3rd European Conference on Microfluidics