Flow Boiling in Minichannels Under Normal, Hyper-, and Microgravity: Local Heat Transfer Analysis Using Inverse Methods

Boiling in microchannels is a very efficient mode of heat transfer since high heat and mass transfer coefficients are achieved. Here, the objective is to provide basic knowledge on the systems of biphasic cooling in mini- and microchannels during hyper- and microgravity. The experimental activities are performed in the frame of the MAP Boiling project founded by ESA. Analysis using inverse methods allows us to estimate local flow boiling heat transfers in the minichannels. To observe the influence of gravity level on the fluid flow and to take data measurements, an experimental setup is designed with two identical channels: one for the visualization and the other one for the data acquisition. These two devices enable us to study the influence of gravity on the temperature and pressure measurements. The two minichannels are modeled as a rectangular rod made up of three materials: a layer of polycarbonate $(λ=0.2Wm−1K−1)$ used as an insulator, a cement rod $(λ=0.83Wm−1K−1)$ instrumented with 21 $K$-type thermocouples, and in the middle a layer of Inconel® $(λ=10.8Wm−1K−1)$ in which the minichannel is engraved. Pressure and temperature measurements are carried out simultaneously at various levels of the minichannel. Above the channel, we have a set of temperature and pressure gauges and inside the cement rods, five heating wires provide a power of $11W$⁠. The $K$-type thermocouple sensors enable us to acquire the temperature in various locations (⁠$x$⁠, $y$⁠, and $z$⁠) of the device. With these temperatures and the knowledge of the boundary conditions, we are able to solve the problem using inverse methods and obtain local heat fluxes and local surface temperatures on several locations. The experiments are conducted with HFE-7100 as this fluid has a low boiling temperature at the cabin pressure on Board A300. We applied for each experiment a constant heat flux $(Qw=33kWm−2)$ for the PF52 campaigns (Parabolic Flights). The mass flow rate varies in the range of $1<Qm<4gs−1$ and the fluid saturation temperature $(Tsat)$ is $54°C$ at $Psat=820mbars$⁠.