Liquid-to-vapor phase change is widely accepted as one of the promising solutions. A typical meniscus in any liquid-to-vapor phase change process includes a microscale evaporating region (at the three-phase contact line), where extreme high local heat flux is achieved due to the small thermal resistance across the thin film. On the other hand, the maximum cooling capacity of many liquid-to-vapor phase change processes is limited by drying-out, which occurs when mass transport of the liquid fails. Thus, a comprehensive understanding of physics in this meniscus and its interaction with solid surface will not only provide solutions to extend high local heat flux region to achieve a more efficient cooling strategy, but also allow innovative design to push up the maximum cooling capacity. Here, we present a work of exploring heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics near the three-phase contact line using buried nanochannels. The geometry of the nanochannel being well controlled and defined makes it a perfect candidate to do such a work. We fabricated cross-connected buried nanochannels with micropores at each intersect of channels. We first explored the roles of contact line extension and wicking in predicting boiling critical heat flux (CHF). We also investigated the coupled heat transfer and liquid flow in nanochannels by investigating liquid propagation in nanochannels with limited (a small drop) or unlimited (a large bulk) liquid supply, under room temperature or with heated surface.


Buried Nanochannels: A Tool for Exploring Solutions for High Heat Flux Removal

Division / Sponsors: 
Heat Transfer Division (HTD), Fluids Engineering Division (FED)

Heat Transfer Summer Conference
Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/HT/HT2020/volume/83709

18th International Conference on Nanochannels, Microchannels, and Minichannels
Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ICNMM/ICNMM2020/volume/83693

Fluids Engineering Division Summer Meeting
Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/FEDSM/FEDSM2020/volume/83716

HT-ICNMM2020 - Virtual Conference, SHTC - Virtual Conference, FEDSM2020 - Virtual Conference

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