6

Heat Transfer With Phase

Change

6.1 Introduction

Heat transfer of a phase change coolant is much more complex than the previ-
ous modes of heat transfer that we have studied. By phase change we denote the
following processes:

1. Solid changing to a liquid-fusion, or melting

2. Liquid changing to a vapor-evaporation, also boiling
3. Vapor changing to a liquid-eondensation
4. Liquid changing to a solid-crystallization, or freezing
5. Solid changing to a vapor-sublimation
6. Vapor changing to a solid-deposition

Because these processes involve a fluid medium, we generally classify them

as convection processes. Beyond all of the parameters that we previously exam-
ined in convection, we must now add the variables of surface tension , o ; ambi-
ent pressure, P ; and either the enthalpy or latent heat of evaporation, hfli ; and
the latent heat of solidification, his or the latent heat of sublimation, h sg. The
latent heats are the amount of heat required to convert a unit mass of a substance
from one phase to another phase. There is also a difference in density between
the liquid phase and the vapor phase that induces a buoyancy force, Ap = PI -
Pv' when bubbles are present. Also, we will note that heat transfer during phase
change does not always occur with a change in temperature of the media. In fact,

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R. Remsburg, Advance Thermal Design of Electronic Equipment
© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 1998
438 Chap. 6 Heat Transfer With Phase Change

a very large rate of heat transfer can be achieved with very little change in tem-
perature. This is one of the attractions of phase change heat transfer. Further-
more, in contrast to natural or forced convection, increasing the I1T may result
in a decrease in the heat transfer coefficient. Because of the number of variables,
there are no accurate general equations or correlations to use. Of the useable
equations, most have an empirical value that changes with the surface charac-
teristics and must be evaluated by experimentation . The accuracy of these cor-
relations without experimental verification may be 50%.
Although heat transfer by phase change is not yet widely used in electronics
cooling, as the component heat flux rises, the laws of physics dictate that high-
end cooling technologies will progress from air-cooled to liquid-cooled to phase
change. Our studies in this section will be largely theoretical, but in subsequent
chapters we will use these basic principles in heat pipes , and other practical
applications.

6.1.1 Definitions of Phase Change Parameters

Vapor Pressure
At any temperature above absolute zero, the molecules in a liquid are in con-
stant motion. Some of these molecules will have a higher velocity than the aver-
age. If the energy in one of these high-speed molecules is greater than the
cohesive forces , the molecule can "escape" through the surface of the liquid. We
know this as evaporation. Since these higher speed molecules contain more
energy than the remaining molecules, the reduction in energy causes the bulk
liquid to cool. This is why desert cultures carry drinking water in porous bags,
and explains how a sweating body is cooled.
If the liquid is in an airtight enclosure , the escaped molecules will fill the air-
space. Some "escaped" liquid molecules will even reenter the liquid. Eventu-
ally, the number of molecules escaping the liquid equals the number of
molecules reentering the liquid. When this occurs, we call the air space a satu-
rated vapor. Since the molecules exert a pressure within this enclosure , we call
this the saturated vapor pressure.
If we increase the pressure within the airspace, or decrease the volume of the
airspace, the vapor will contain more fluid particles than it can hold. We can
then say that we have supersaturated the vapor. Supersaturation is a temporary
condition. The number of liquid molecules leaving the liquid is the same
because the temperature is the same. However, the number of liquid molecules
reentering the liquid has increased because the vapor density has increased. The
number of liquid molecules reentering the liquid will remain elevated until the
vapor again reaches saturation pressure. Then, the number of liquid molecules