International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 143 (2019) 118588

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International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhmt

Experimental investigation on flow boiling in radial expanding

minichannel heat sinks applied for low flow inertia condition
Sihui Hong, Chaobin Dang ⇑, Eiji Hihara
Department of Human and Engineered Environmental Studies, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8563, Japan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: It is known that bubble elongation in an expanding channel produces a forward additional pressure
Received 22 May 2019 caused by surface tension difference on both sides, which can relieve reverse flow. This merit is expected
Received in revised form 31 July 2019 to solve the failure of heat sink under low mass flux and high vapor quality, where inlet subcooled liquid
Accepted 14 August 2019
is rejected to channels by severe flow instability. In present work, two types of circular radial expanding
Available online 30 August 2019
minichannels heat sink (REMHS) utilizing flow boiling of deionized water are proposed. The thermal per-
formances of REMHS are inspected with visualization experiments under low flow inertia. The average
Keywords:
mass flux ranges from 12.0 to 110.5 kg
m2 s1 and heat flux spans from 79.6 to 176.4 kW/m2. The exper-
Expanding minichannels
Flow boiling
imental results illustrate that flow instability is substantially relieved in REMHS with a gentle tempera-
Low flow inertia ture fluctuation (below 1.5 K). The inlet flow status in REMHS is barely affected by the flow instability at
Flow instability the downstream. Besides, the wall temperatures of REMHS display a good symmetry, showing an even
Visualization flow distribution among the radial expanding channel array. With a rational design of expanding channel,
no heat transfer deterioration occurs in REMHS-2, heat transfer coefficient increases with xout and reaches
28 kW m2 K1 at xout = 0.52. The proposed REMHS is suitable for low mass flux condition with a superior
heat transfer capacity, which enlarges the applicable range of REMHS and enables more operating modes.
Applications of the proposed REMHS in traditional electronic cooling, as well as newly developed infor-
mation and communication technology (ICT) thermal management system become promising.
Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Fast development in chips and integrated circuits presents a
more rigorous demand for efficient heat dissipation under extreme
working conditions. Meanwhile, with global introductions of 5G
mobile network, information and communication technology
(ICT) systems becomes more and more important, as it handles
much more information and 100 times faster than the current 4G
network, which makes it more challenging for thermal manage-
ment to achieve a superior performance as well as high reliability.
Novel heat sink utilizing two-phase cooling attracts increasing
attentions owing to the high heat transfer capacity and convenient
assembly [1–5]. However, the application of two-phase heat sinks
in engineering field confronts intricate issues of flow maldistribu-
tion [6,7] and flow instability [8,9]. Attributed to the enhanced
effect of surface tension in small scaled space, isolated bubble flow,
elongated bubble flow and annular flow are the main flow patterns
observed in minichannels [10]. Bubbles inside channels evaporate
fast and elongate towards both sides, interim vapor blockage and
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: dangcb@k.u-tokyo.ac.jp (C. Dang).
succeeding pressure peak are induced [11], which causes reverse
flow or even local dry-patch [12]. Violent fluctuations in wall tem-
perature, inlet mass flux and pressure caused by flow instability
have been reported in previous researches, even when expanding
channel was applied [13]. Usually, unstable flow boiling leads to
an early heat transfer deterioration at low vapor quality [14,15]
or premature critical heat flux.
Szczukiewic et al., [16] investigated the effect of flow instability
on flow boiling heat transfer performance of multi-channel evapo-
rators applied for 3D CMOS CPU chip. Significant parallel channel
flow instabilities, vapor back flow, and flow maldistribution when
no inlet restrictions was utilized in the micro-evaporator, which
led to high-amplitude and high-frequency temperature and pres-
sure oscillations. After adding inlet restrictions, the undesired phe-
nomena were prevented. They proposed a new operational map for
the stable and unstable operating regimes of refrigerants R245fa,
R236fa, and R1234ze (E) in multi-microchannel evaporators,
where flow boiling at low mass flux is always unstable. Their
experimental results also illustrated that increasing the mass flux
could reduce the amount of vapor coming back to the inlet mani-
fold’s plenum under a constant heat flux.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2019.118588
0017-9310/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 S. Hong et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 143 (2019) 118588

Nomenclature

A cross-section area of channel, m2 Greek alphabet

Ca capillary number, Ca ¼ lu=r h expanding angle, o
Cp specific heat capacity, kJ kg1 K1 u heat loss ratio
D hydraulic diameter, m /2l two-phase frictional multiplier
G mass flow rate, kg m2 s1 v Martinelli number
H depth, m k thermal conductivity, W m1 K1
h heat transfer coefficient, kW m2 K1 q density, kg/m3
hfg latent heat, kJ/kg d liquid film thickness, m
L channel length, m l viscosity, Pa
s
m mass flow, kg/h r surface tension, N/m
n number of channel
P pressure, Pa subscript
DP pressure drop, Pa aver average
Q input heat load, W cond heat conduction
q heat flux, kW/m2 conv heat convection
R dimensionless bubble radii eff effective
Re Reynolds number, Re ¼ quD=l entr entrance
T temperature, °C i number of variables
oT temperature deviation at the symmetric location in inlet
DT fluctuation of temperature, K l liquid
U variables ncb nucleate boiling
W width, m out outlet
2
We Weber number, We ¼ qur D sat saturated
x vapor quality tp two-phase flow
v vapor
w wall

Pan et al., [17] experimentally explored the two-phase flow
instability of deionized (DI) water in a microchannel heat sink with
15 parallel microchannels. They used the magnitude of pressure
drop oscillations (6 kPa) as an index to distinguish stable/unstable
flow boiling. By establishing the stability map of two-phase flow
(Nsub-Npch figure), they found out that the stable two-phase flow
or mild two-phase flow oscillations existed in a very narrow region
near the line of zero exit quality. Later, they proposed a kind of heat
sink utilizing diverging microchannels, and confirmed the better
stability of diverging cross-section design during flow boiling
[18]. They found out that reverse flow can be suppressed with
the increased inertial effect, however, flow reversal into the inlet
chamber still appeared at the lowest mass flux of 99 kg m2 s1
in the diverging channels.
Wang et al. [19] proposed that stable and unstable flow boiling
can be characterized by two parameters of heat flux q and mass
flux G, and established a flow boiling regimes in parallel
microchannels using q/G ratio as the criterion. Flow boiling with
no periodic oscillation existed for q/G < 0.96 kJ/kg, unstable flow
boiling with long period oscillation (>1 s) ranged from 0.96 < q/
G < 2.14 kJ/kg, and unstable flow boiling with short-period oscilla-
tion (<0.1 s) existed for q/G > 2.14 kJ/kg. This criterion for stable/
unstable flow boiling regime has been widely adopted. They
reported that the fluctuation of wall temperature in the unstable
region with long period oscillation (q = 305.7 kW/m2,
-2 1
G = 304.7 kg
m s , q/G = 1.0 kJ/kg) reached 20 K.
Bogojevic et al. [20] conducted a series of experiments to inves-
tigate pressure and temperature oscillations during the flow boil-
ing of deionized water for microchannels heat sink. They
established a flow stability map for parallel microchannels in terms
of q/G ratio, where q/G > 0.99 kJ/kg was the criterion for unstable
flow boiling at inlet water temperature of 71 °C. In the unstable
region, high amplitude/low frequency oscillations (HALF) and low
amplitude/high frequency oscillations (LAHF) were identified as
the two types of two-phase instabilities. At q = 209.6 kW/m2,
G = 208 kg
m-2s1, they detected that the temperature oscillation
caused by the HALF fluctuation was about 12 K.
Kingston et al. [21,22] recently investigated the flow boiling
instability of HFE-7100 in a single microchannel, where rapid-
bubble-growth instability led to a flow reversal and large temper-
ature spike, and pressure drop instability trigged time-periodic
oscillations in pressure drop, mass flux, and wall temperature.
They concluded that subcooling degree and flow inertia were the
key factors to stabilize the flow boiling. Low flow inertia exacer-
bated the rapid-bubble-growth instability by starving the heated
channel of liquid replenishment for longer durations, and
increased the severity of pressure drop instability with large-
amplitude thermal-fluidic oscillations.
Learned from the literature research, stable flow boiling in
micro/minichannels heat sink is highly depended on the inlet flow
inertia. As shown Fig. 1, we summarized 559 data points from lit-
erature [17–24] and proposed an operating map of stable/unstable
flow boiling regime for DI water in micro/minichannels heat sink,
where the experimental results for diverging microchannels [18]
and micro-gap channels [24] were both considered. It is found
out that unstable flow boiling always occur at q/G > 1.01 kJ/kg
and q < 700 kW/m2, in particular, the failure of heat sink under
low flow inertia and high vapor quality requires to be solved.
Inspired by the precedent studies, we come up with two mani-
fold circular radial expanding minichannels heat sinks (REMHS) to
stabilize flow boiling, especially for low flow inertia and two-phase
flow inlet. The proposed REMHS comprises a vertical inlet and
radial array of expanding minichannels. The radial expanding
channel is segmented to avoid excessively developed channel
widths at the downstream. As illustrated in Fig. 2, we looked for-
ward to profit from two design traits of expanding channel: (i) for-
tified inlet flow resistance (small channel entrance), (ii) alleviated
reverse flow in expanding channel. To verify the superiority of this
 S. Hong et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 143 (2019) 118588
Fig. 1. Summarized stable/unstable flow boiling regime of DI water in micro/minichannel heat sink.
Fig. 2. Expected design traits of the proposed REMHS.
structural design, the operating conditions in present work are spe-
cially chosen in the unstable and low flow inertia region, as plotted
in Fig. 1, the experimental range is 0.80 < q/G < 13.3. With visual-
ization experiments, the flow boiling characteristics and heat
transfer mechanism introduced by the expanding minichannels
are revealed.
2. Experimental setup and data processing
2.1. Experimental setup and devices
The schematic diagram of experimental loop is shown as Fig. 3.
DI water was used as the working fluid. The inlet liquid was sup-
plied by a micro gear pump (MICROPUMP GJ-DB380.A), and the
flowrate was measured by a mass flow meter (OVAL ALTI mass II
CA001) before flowing into test section. Both the needle valves in
the bypass loop and before the test section were used to adjust
the inlet mass flowrate. The temperature of inlet subcooled liquid
3
was regulated at 84.7 ± 0.5 °C by a thermostatic bath preheater.
The two-phase flow outflowed the test section was cooled down
by a plate heat exchanger type condenser before the tank. Two
copper rods were used as an independent heat source for each
REMHS, and the heating load was provided by a power meter
(Hioki 3333). The area of heater top surface is the same as REMHS.
The test section was kept horizontal. The test section and all con-
necting pipes were wrapped with thick asbestos fabric for thermal
insulation. The temperatures at the inlet and outlet were measured
by K-type thermocouples. The pressures at the inlet and outlet
were measured by pressure sensor switch gauge (NAGANO KEIKI
KP-15), the outlet pressure was maintained at 107.2 ± 1 kPa by
the test bench, and the corresponding saturation temperature
was within 101.5 ± 0.5 °C. The inlet/outlet pressure were recorded
in a frequency of 500 ls with a high-speed analog measurement
unit (NR-HA08). In addition, the pressure drop of each REMHS
was measured by a transducer pressure sensor (SETRA model
230), where the transducer pressure sensor was wrapped with a
heater to eliminate the error caused by liquid columns in the con-
necting pipe. The cut-off temperature for the heater was set as
107 °C. Visualization tests are conducted with a MEMRECAM
high-speed digital camera (NAC Image Technology, HX-6) and a
LED light. The frame rate and spatial resolution of camera was
set as 2000 frame/s (fps) and 1280  960 dpi, respectively. The
input heat load Q varied from 400 to 800 W, and the inlet mass
flowrate m ranged from 2.30 kg/h to 11.5 kg/h. The operating con-
ditions have already been displayed in Fig. 1.
The schematic diagram of test section and thermocouple loca-
tions are displayed as Fig. 3 (b). REMHS consists of a copper base
plate (7 mm in height), and a polycarbonate cover plate (30 mm
in height) for the convenience of visualization. An O-ring was used
for sealing. Shown as Fig. 3 (b), 10 test points were symmetrically
arranged in each REMHS to detect the distribution of wall temper-
ature along the radial direction. The thermocouples were 5 mm
beneath the bottom surface of channel.
2.2. Structural differences in REMHS
As shown in Fig. 4, two prototypes of REMHS were designed
with main differences in the channel entrance (highlighted in
4 S. Hong et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 143 (2019) 118588

(a) Experimental loop

Polycarbonate
Outlet cover plate

REMHS
Outlet

Thermocouple locations
Z<0 zone Z>0 zone

Cartridge heater 3 18 29.5 39.5 47.5

(T1) (T2) (T3) (T4) (T5)
(b) thermocouple locations
Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of experimental loop and thermocouple locations.

green circle) and the channel segment. A smaller inlet port can
induce a higher inlet resistance, which plays a more significant role
in suppressing the flow instability in the channels. A reasonable
segment can avoid excessive channel width at the downstream.
These two differences are listed as below:
1) The channel entrance W1 of REMHS-1 and REMHS-2 is 0.81
and 0.34 mm, respectively.
2) To avoid too large channel width, the expanding channels in
REMHS-1 and REMHS-2 are divided by close expanding
ratios before Z = 23 mm. After Z = 23 mm, the expanding
channels in REMHS-1 is further divided with an expanding
ratio h of 1.9°.
To be noted, the channel entrance of expanding channel is
determined by the inlet port diameter Din when a certain number
of channels are divided. In order to form two channel entrances in
different dimensions, the inlet port diameters Din of these two
REMHS are designed as 10 mm and 8 mm, respectively. In this case,
the effect of Din on the heat transfer performance of REMHS should
be firstly checked before further discussing the design of expand-
ing channel. Otherwise, it would be difficult to judge whether
the observed phenomenon and result is determined independently
by the proposed designs of expanding channel (channel entrance
and segment). Therefore, Din = 6.35, 8 and 10 mm were firstly com-
pared for REMHS-1. By checking this parameter, the subsequent
discussion on the crucial structural design for expanding channel
can be reliable and rational.
Besides of the above structural difference, all channels in
REMHS are 1.5 mm in height, and the thickness of fin Wfin is
0.5 mm. The specific parameters of each REMHS are listed in
Table 1. According to our previous research, cut-off structure con-
tributes to easing unexpected inverse flow, cut-off gaps in 0.5 mm
width were machined in each REMHS, and the locations of the cut-
off gaps are also labelled in Fig. 4. As the investigation on the
mechanism, optimized dimensions and design criteria of this
‘‘cut-off” structure for expanding channel is still on-going, which
will not discussed in detail in the present work.
2.3. Data processing and uncertainty analysis
The heat transfer capacity of REMHS is evaluated with the aver-
age saturated boiling heat transfer coefficient haver, defined as Eq.
(1), where qeff is the effective heat flux in terms of the footprint
heating area, defined as Eq. (2). Tw,aver is the average wall temper-
ature in saturated region, and Tsat is the saturated temperature of
 S. Hong et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 143 (2019) 118588 5

Fig. 4. Schematic diagram of two prototypes of REMHS (unit: mm).

Table 1 The outlet vapor quality xout is calculated based on thermody-

Key parameters of two prototypes of REMHS. namic equilibrium, shown as Eq. (3), where hfg, Cpl and Tin is the
Test section latent heat of evaporation, specific heat capacity of liquid, and inlet
Parameters REMHS-1 REMHS-2
temperature of liquid, respectively.

Channel length L 40 38
[mm] Q Cp ðT sat  T in Þ
First segment n = 24, h = 7.5° n = 30, h = 6.0° xout ¼  l ð3Þ
W1 = 0.81 mm, W1 = 0.34 mm,
mhfg hfg
W2 = 3.27 mm W2 = 3.27 mm
Considering the expanded cross-section of channel along the
Second segment n = 48, h = 3.75° n = 60, h = 3.0°
W3 = 1.39 mm, W3 = 1.39 mm, radial direction, the average mass flux Gaver is defined as Eq. (4),
W4 = 2.90 mm W4 = 3.48 mm where Aentr and Aexit is the cross-section area of channel entrance
Third segment n = 96, h = 1.875° NA and exit, respectively. The main difference of Gaver is resulted from
W5 = 1.20 mm, Aentr..
W6 = 2.12 mm
Din/Dout [mm] 10/10 8/10
m [kg/s] 0.00064–0.00319

Gin þ Gout m 1 1
Gaver. [kg m2 s1] 12.0–60.2 22.1–110.5 Gav er ¼ ¼ þ ð4Þ
Q [W] 400–800 2 2 Aentr Aexit
qeff [kW/m2] 79.6–159.2 88.2–176.4
xout [–] 0.024–0.52 0.024–0.52
All the measuring sensors were calibrated before testing. The
uncertainty of thermocouples was calibrated by high precision
working liquid under the outlet pressure. To be noted, haver does standard thermometer to ±0.10 K. The maximum accuracy of mea-
not involve the inlet region, as the heat transfer in this region sured geometric dimensions is 0.01 mm. The uncertainties of the
might be dominated by single-phase forced convection. As the area measured variables were given in terms of the instrumental spec-
ratio of the inlet region to the total heating area is as small as 1.56% ifications. The uncertainties of calculated parameters (haver, qeff,
for REMHS-1 and 1.11% for REMHS-2, respectively, the heat is sub- Gaver, xout) are based on Eq. (5). The maximum uncertainties of all
stantially transferred via the saturated region, Eqs. (1) and (2) are the measured and calculated parameters are listed in Table 2.
rational. The heat loss of the heat sink was confirmed with a series of prior
tests conducted with single-phase flow before the flowing boiling
qeff tests on the basis of a widely accepted method [9,13,34]. The heat-
hav er ¼ ð1Þ
T w;av er  T sat ing loss was defined as u and calculated with Eq. (6), where m, hfg,
Cpl, and Tin/Tout refer to the mass flow (kg/s), latent heat, specific
Q heat, and inlet/outlet temperature of the working liquid, respec-
qeff ¼ ð2Þ
p
L2 tively. Qinput is the total input heat load. A series of u value were
6 S. Hong et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 143 (2019) 118588

Table 2 Owing to the vertical inlet, effective disturbances and forced

Maximum uncertainties of all the measured and calculated parameters. heat convection of subcooled liquid are triggered in the inlet
Measured parameters Maximum uncertainty region, in which way, the inlet region is always maintained at
m ±0.10% RD low wall temperature. For instance, shown as Fig. 5, T1 is 3 °C
Pin, Pout, ±0.25% FS (200/100 kPa) and 4.4 °C lower than T2 at Gaver = 12.0 kg m2 s1 and Gaver = 60.2 -
DP ±0.25% FS (6.89 kPa) kg m2 s1, respectively when Din = 10 mm. Besides, a sensibly
Q ±0.20% FS (4.0 kW) increased temperature deviation oT1 is noted with the decreasing
Tw, Tin, Tout ±0.10 K
dimensions (Din, W, H, L) ±0.01 mm
of Din or increasing Gaver owing to the strong heat convection in
haver ±5.19% the inlet region.
qeff ±1.31% As displayed in Fig. 5, all wall temperatures at the symmetrical
xout ±0.84% locations in REMHS-1 present a good symmetry, reflecting that the
Gaver ±1.46%
flow distribution among the radial array of expanding channels in
Heat loss 7.25%
REMHS is quite even.

3.2. Crucial structural design for expanding channel

obtained by changing the input power supply and the inlet mass
flow. Within the experimental range, the maximum heat loss ratio
A rational expanding ratio facilitates a fast removal of vapor col-
u was measured as 7.25%.
umns and effective relief of reverse flow. In this section, two
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi designs are compared to illustrate the key parameters to the steady

2
2
2
@UðU 1 ; U 2 ;


U i Þ @U 1 @U 2 @U i flow boiling in expanding minichannel.
¼ þ þ


þ ð5Þ
U U1 U2 Ui
3.2.1. Visualization results and temperature fluctuations
Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 compares the visualization results and temper-
mCpl ðT out  T in Þ
u¼1 ð6Þ ature fluctuations in REMHS-1 and REMHS-2, respectively. Shown
Q input
as Fig. 6 (a), for REMHS-1, the reversed two-phase flow keeps mov-
ing among the adjacent channels for about 54.0 ms before finally
leaving from the exits. Besides, as h of the third segment is as small
3. Results and discussion as 1.9°, inverse flow at the downstream is relatively aggravated.
Without timely replenishment of liquid, the liquid film beneath
3.1. Effect of Din the reversed vapor slug evaporates quickly, local dry-patch occurs
(Fig. 6 (b)). The local dry-patch cannot be moistened again till the
Fig. 5 compares the wall temperature distribution of REMHS-1 complete overcome of the reverse flow. As the local dry-patch
with various Din under two Gaver and same qeff. In Fig. 5, T1, T2 occurs periodically and randomly as rewetting appears subse-
and T4 are plotted, and abscissa labels the location of each thermo- quently, instead of a large and long-term occupied light spot inside
couple (the relative distance away from the inlet region). It is the channel, we highlight the dry-patch region with dotted white
shown that Din mainly affect the inlet region, and has insignificant ovals in Fig. 6 (b) to make it easily to be noticed. The fluctuation
effects on the downstream flow boiling performance. Beyond the of two-phase flow inside the channel can be embodied in the fluc-
inlet region, the difference in T2 and T4 under various Din are all tuation of wall temperatures. In Fig. 6 (c), the fluctuation of wall
below 0.8 K at Gaver = 12.0 kg m2 s1 and Gaver. = 60.2 kg m2 s1. temperature T4 at left side and right side under various heating

Fig. 5. Temperature distribution of REMHS-1 with various Din at qeff = 119.4 kW/m2.
 S. Hong et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 143 (2019) 118588 7

Fig. 6. Flow instability in REMHS-1 at Gaver = 36.1 kg m2 s1.

loads are detected, the inlet/outlet fluid temperatures are given as
well, and the abscissa shows the heating time under each heating
load. Shown as Fig. 6 (c), it is found out that the reverse flow causes
a continuous oscillating of wall temperature T4, the fluctuation of
temperature DT of T4 under heat load of 600 W (qeff = 119.4 kW/
m2) in REMHS-1 is about 1.2 K. The fluctuation of temperature
barely increases with the adding of heat load. Within our experi-
mental range, the maximum DT of wall temperature is below
1.5 K. Besides, neither the measured inlet nor outlet fluid temper-
ature barely fluctuates but stays quite steady, which illustrates
that the reverse flow occurred in the expanding channel has a triv-
ial effect on the mainstream.
8 S. Hong et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 143 (2019) 118588
Fig. 7. Flow instability in REMHS-2 at Gaver = 44.2 kg m2 s1.
As to REMHS-2, shown as Fig. 7 (a), as the channel entrance W1
in REMHS-2 is 2.4 times smaller than that of REMHS-1, and no
third segment added at the downstream, the backward movement
of vapor columns gets further mitigated. Only 18.0 ms is consumed
in REMHS-2 for the incoming slug flow to conquer the interim
reverse flow, and no dry-patch is observed under the same xout.
Similar as Fig. 6 (c), the fluctuation of wall temperature T4 at left
side and right side, the inlet/outlet fluid temperatures under vari-
ous heating loads are all given. As the reverse flow in REMHS-2 is
further suppressed, the fluctuations of T4 becomes more gentle, as
plotted in Fig. 7 (b), DT of T4 is only 0.2 K. Likewise, both the inlet/
outlet fluid temperatures are kept stable without occurring signif-
icant oscillation.
Clearly, compared to straight minichannels, flow instability is
substantially relieved in REMHS and the temperature fluctuation
become much gentle, even though under the condition of low flow
inertia. Although typical elongations of vapor columns are still
observed at the downstream, the elongated vapor columns can
leave from the exit after a short-time reciprocating movement
among the adjacent channels. Keeping a small channel entrance
and avoiding too small division at the downstream are crucial in
sustaining a steady flow boiling in REMHS.
3.2.2. Heat transfer performances
Fig. 8 compares boiling curves at Z = 18 mm (T2) and
Z = 39.5 mm (T4) in REMHS-1 and REMHS-2, where Balasubrama-
nian’s experimental result of DI water in expanding microchannels
[25] with close geometric dimensions and a similar operating con-
dition (G = 100 kg
m-2s1, Tin = 90 °C) is compared as a benchmark.
As the local mass fluxes at the same Z location in the two REMHS
are basically the same, this comparison intuitively reflects the
effect of structural parameters on local heat transfer capability.
It is found that the boiling curve displays a great difference at
Z = 18 mm, the measured boiling curve of REMHS-2 at Z = 18 mm
is close to the reported result of Balasubramanian’s [25], while
the superheating degree of T2 in REMHS-1 is about 1.76 times lar-
ger than that of REMHS-2. As mentioned before, the reverse flow at
Z = 18 mm in REMHS-1 is more severe than that in REMHS-2 owing
to the different design expanding channel, even local dry-patch
 S. Hong et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 143 (2019) 118588 9

Fig. 8. Comparison of local boiling curves in REMHS-1 and REMHS-2.

occurs at low quality. Consequently, the overheating degree of T2 in
REMHS-1 increases significantly.
At Z = 39.5 mm, the difference of superheating degree between
the two REMHS is narrowed down. The reciprocating movement of
backward vapor lasts for a longer period in REMHS-1 and a corre-
spondingly increased overheating degree of T4. Attributed to the
fast removal of vapor column in expanding channel, the difference
in the lasting period between these two REMHS is small, hence, the
difference in boiling curve at Z = 39.5 mm is not significant.
The average heat transfer coefficient haver in REMHS-1 and
REMHS-2 is compared in Fig. 9. It is shown that haver of REMHS-1
increases firstly with the growing of xout, and decreases
after xout = 0.25 because of the deteriorated flow instability and
local dry-out of liquid film. Fig. 9 displays a visualization
of the aggravated local dry-out in REMHS-1 at xout = 0.52,
Gaver = 12.0 kg m2 s1. With a better design in expanding channel,
haver of REMHS-2 keeps increasing without occurring heat transfer
deterioration, and outperforms that of REMHS-1 under all working
conditions. For instance, haver of REMHS-1 under xout = 0.13,
Gaver = 36.1 kg m2 s1 is about 20 kW m2 K1, while haver of
REMHS-2 under the same condition (xout = 0.13,
Gaver = 44.0 kg m2 s1) increases by 1.35 times to 27 kW m2 K1.
Besides, Fig. 9 reflects that the increasing of Gaver or xout is
insignificant to enhance the heat transfer performance in both
REMHS, which might be owing to the spontaneous deceleration
of mainstream in expanding channels. Instead, the heat transfer
performance seems relies more on the steady existence of liquid
film. The dominant heat transfer mechanism of flow boiling in
REMHS under low flow inertia will be discussed in detail in
Section 3.3.

Fig. 9. Variation of haver against xout in REMHS-1 and REMHS-2 under various Gaver.
10 S. Hong et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 143 (2019) 118588

Fig. 10. Comparison in pressure oscillation for REMHS-1 and REMHS-2.

 S. Hong et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 143 (2019) 118588
3.2.3. Fluctuations of pressure
The fluctuations of Pin and Pout in REMHS are compared in
Fig. 10, where fast Fourier transfer (FFT) is conducted for Pin. Two
typical operating conditions for slug flow and annular flow pattern
are compared.
First of all, it is noted that, under both flow patterns, the fre-
quency and amplitude in these two REMHS are quite similar, even
though the reverse flow phenomena display a certain difference, as
discussed in Section 3.2.1. This illustrates that the flow instability
at the downstream has a trivial effect on the inlet flow status in
REMHS. The designed expanding channels display the structure
traits as we expected (fortified inlet flow resistance and alleviated
reverse flow in expanding channel), which indeed enables to sus-
tain a stable liquid supply under the low flow inertia conditions.
Specifically, under slug flow pattern (Fig. 10 (a)) and annular
flow pattern (Fig. 10 (b)), the fluctuation of Pin in REMHS contains
only HALF fluctuation. It illustrates that pressure drop oscillation is
the main flow instability that affects the flow boiling process under
slug flow and annular flow patterns in REMHS. Under slug flow, the
frequency of pressure drop oscillation is about 0.47 Hz, and the
amplitude is only 0.6 kPa. Under annular flow, the pressure drop
oscillation is in a frequency of 0.55 Hz and an amplitude of
0.65 kPa.
3.2.4. DPtp-Gaver characteristic curves
Fig. 11 displayed the measured two-phase flow characteristic
DPtp-Gaver curves in REMHS-1 and REMHS-2.
It is found out that the variation of DPtp in REMHS resembles
that in straight minichannels, and presents a much gentle ‘‘N”
shape. The measured DPtp seems quite sensitive to Gaver, and
reaches the maximum at a large Gaver (low xout), instead of a high
xout, which might be attributed to strengthened disturbance trig-
gered by the segmentations of channels and the vertical inlet/out-
let. Besides, as shown in Fig. 11, owing to the difference in channel
entrance and segmentations in these two REMHS, the measured
@ DP tp
slope of @Gav er
in REMHS-1 is more abrupt than that that in
REMHS-2, implying a possible severe flow instability in REMHS-
1. This result matches with the predicted trend by L-M’s model
for laminar-laminar flow, and also consistent with the visualiza-
tion result discussed in Section 3.2.1.
As the mass flux in our experiments is quite small and the chan-
nels are in large amount, further accurate measurement on DPtp is
Fig. 11. Measured DPtp-Gaver curves for REMHS-1 and REMHS-2.
11
required by conducting a series of wide ranged experiments in a
single expanding channel.
3.3. Discussion on heat transfer mechanism in REMHS
To develop novel two-phase heat sinks with satisfactory ther-
mal performances, the comprehension on the heat transfer mech-
anism is of importance. The most widely adopted heat transfer
mechanism for flow boiling is the superposition of suppressed
nucleate boiling and enhanced two-phase flow convection, repre-
sented by Chen’s model [26]. Additionally, liquid film evaporation
is also considered as a primary mechanism for the flow boiling heat
transfer in micro/mini- scaled channels [27–29].
In the present work, our discussion is in terms of slug flow and
annular flow as they are the two main flow patterns observed in
REMHS within our experimental range.
3.3.1. For slug flow pattern
Shown as Fig. 12 (a), the spontaneous deceleration of main-
stream in expanding channel introduces two features in heat
transfer:
1) The reduced vapor velocity forms a thinner liquid film layer
beneath the vapor slug, strengthening the evaporation via
the thin liquid film.
2) The reduced liquid velocity causes a thicker boundary layer
that boosts nucleate boiling.
To compare the contribution of each heat transfer process, a
qualitative analysis is conducted and shown as Fig. 12 (b), where
hncb and hconv are on the basis of Chen’s model, hcond via thin liquid
film follows one-dimensional Fourier’s law (hcond ¼ kl =d). The aver-
age d for slug flow was computed with the modified Taylor’s model
proposed by Aussillous and Quere [30]. The local geometric param-
eter in REMHS-2 are adopted here for calculation. As reflected in
Fig. 12 (b), hconv is insignificant in REMHS owing to the deceleration
in expanded channel, hncb contributes most to the flow boiling heat
transfer process, and hcond also contributes a great part.
Unlike circular tube, the liquid film distributes quite unevenly
in a rectangular minichannel, d at the channel center can be 1–2
orders of magnitude thinner than that at the corner [31,32].
Fig. 12 (c) plots the difference of d at the center and corner in
12 S. Hong et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 143 (2019) 118588

Fig. 12. Analysis on the heat transfer mechanism in REMHS.

REMHS-2 under the given condition with Y. Han’s model [33]. d at ference in d between the center and corner reaches 58 times.
the corner is one order of magnitude thinner than that at the center Namely, liquid film evaporation devotes conspicuously in REMHS
in REMHS-2, especially at the downstream (Z = 39.5 mm), the dif- and should not be ignored.
 S. Hong et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 143 (2019) 118588
3.3.2. For annular flow pattern
The above analysis in the distribution of liquid film thickness
also demonstrates that possible breakage of liquid film could occur
at the downstream in REMHS because the sharply decreased thick-
ness of liquid film, which is consistent with our visualization
results.
Once the slug flow develops into annular flow, the heat transfer
is mainly dominated by the thin liquid film evaporation. Yet, bub-
bling phenomenon is still observed in both REMHS under the
annular flow (video 4), shown as Fig. 12 (d). Indeed, we checked
this bubbling phenomenon at different places on the heat sink dur-
ing the experiments, and this phenomenon occurred in all channels
randomly rather than in some specific radial pathways. The bub-
bling is possibly due to the increased overheating degree of wall
temperature when the liquid film thickness in the channel is too
thin to sustain an efficient evaporation. Therefore, this phe-
nomenon could occur at any places once the above issue appears,
which is also consistent with our observations. Limited by the
range of record area with a high resolution and a high record fre-
quency, and to be coherent with the videos provided in Section 3.2
(different flow patterns in same place), video 4 was chosen to man-
ifest this phenomenon. Similar phenomenon in rectangular
minichannels under low Rel conditions is also reported by other
researchers [34,35].
According to the visualization results, the bubbling phe-
nomenon under annular flow is more intensive in REMHS-1, which
is due to the more severe flow instability and more frequent break-
age of thin liquid film.
Overall speaking, the liquid film evaporation and nucleate boil-
ing are vigorous in REMHS under low flow inertia, the inconspicu-
ous acceleration of mainstream leads to a gentle growth in the heat
transfer capability, possible heat deterioration caused by the dry-
out of liquid film should be avoided.
4. Conclusion
In the present work, two types of circular REMHS are proposed
to stabilize the flow boiling under the condition of low flow inertia.
Compared to straight minichannels, flow instability is substantially
relieved in REMHS with a gentle temperature oscillation (below
1.5 K). Typical elongations of vapor columns are still observed at
the downstream in REMHS, but the elongated vapor columns can
leave from the exit after a short-time reciprocating movement
among adjacent channels. With visualization experiments, the
effect of structural parameters on the flow boiling characteristics
in REMHS have been investigated and the heat transfer mechanism
is revealed. Main conclusions are drawn as below.
1. Keeping a small channel entrance and avoiding too many divi-
sion at the downstream are crucial in sustaining a steady flow
boiling in REMHS. The fluctuation of wall temperature in
REMHS-2 can be reduced by 6 times at xout = 0.153.
2. The inlet flow status in REMHS is barely affected by the
dynamic behaviors of two-phase flow in expanding channel
array. Under either slug flow pattern or annular flow pattern
in the present work, REMHS is mainly affected by the HALF
fluctuation.
3. Heat transfer capability of REMHS-2 keeps increasing with xout
without occurring deterioration, whereas heat deterioration
occurs after xout = 0.25 in REMHS-1 because of the aggravated
flow instability and local dry-out of liquid film. The mass flux
has an insignificant effect on improving the saturated boiling
heat transfer for REMHS.
13
4. Under the condition of low flow inertia, the heat transfer in
REMHS depends on both nucleate boiling and thin liquid film
evaporation.
In summary, the design of REMHS enables an expressive effect
in suppressing the flow instability under extreme operating condi-
tions of low flow inertia. With this primary target achieved, the
proposed scheme requires further optimization on the size and
shape according to the actual cooled objects, and further optimiza-
tion on the expanding ratio in REMHS is also required to solve the
issue of sustaining thin liquid film.
Declaration of Competing Interest
Neither the entire paper nor any part of its content has been
published or has been accepted elsewhere. It is not being submitted
to any other journal. All authors have seen the manuscript and
approved to submit to your journal.
Acknowledgements
This work is supported by JST Strategic International Collabora-
tive Research Program (SICROP) and JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific
Research (C) Grant number 16K06109. The first author also thanks
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS, grant no. P18057).
Appendix A. Supplementary material
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2019.118588.
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