Parameter exploration for parallel-channel evaporator design

The expansion of operational capabilities in space and aeronautical applications is one of the contexts of technological development where the increase in computing power in electronic components and the necessary reduction in weight converge to create a unique requirement for these mobile applications: compact thermal management systems for high heat flux dissipation. Since the second half of the 20th century, two-phase thermal management technologies have been considered a high-potential solution for heat acquisition, transport, and rejection in an integrated thermal management system. In such systems, flow boiling developed in an evaporator linked to the hot source enables phase change in the working fluid as a means of heat capture under conditions close to isothermicity (an ideal scenario for temperature control in electronic components). In this context, the present work details the initial stages of designing an evaporator with a parallel channel configuration for thermal management in a two phase mechanically pumped loop system. It presents an exploratory framework with particular emphasis on the importance of channel dimensions and the internal heat transfer coefficient in estimating the external heat transfer using the finite element method. Additionally, it addresses the role of aspect ratio as a key geometric descriptor in the thermal conductivity analysis of rectangular channels with convective boundary conditions.

Pedroza Torres, M., Rioboo, R., Dupont, V., and Lemort, V.

Proceedings of the 38th International Conference on Efficiency, Cost, Optimization, Simulation and Environmental Impact of Energy Systems (ECOS)