New cooling approach using successive evaporation and condensation of a liquid film inside a vertical mini-channel

• Published in: International journal of heat and mass transfer 2018-07, Vol.122, p.895-912
• Main Authors: Najim, Monssif, Feddaoui, M’Barek, Nait Alla, Abderrahman, Charef, Adil, Kabeel, Abd Elnaby
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Binary mixture; Computer simulation; Condensation; Conveyances; Cooling; Ethanol; Evaporation; Heat exchange; Heat transfer; Mass transfer; Phase-change cooling; Property rights; Rayleigh number; Thermal management; Thermodynamics
• ISSN: 0017-9310; 1879-2189
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2018.02.034

•Computational study of a new cooling approach based one successive evaporation and condensation.•Mini-channel charged by water-ethanol and water-methanol liquid mixtures.•Effect of alcohols mass fraction in the mixtures on the heat and mass transfer.•Pure water allowed the reduction of energy loss and the achievement of a good energy balance.•Reduced temperature along the mini-channel considering the high evaporator heat flux. In this paper, the successive evaporation and condensation of water-ethanol and water-methanol liquid film mixtures for cooling purpose is investigated. The simulations are achieved using a finite difference model to describe the heat and mass transfer during this process. The studied process relies on the absorption of energy at the evaporator and then the release of this energy at the condenser. The evaporation and heat exchange abilities of the mixtures composition are analysed to identify the appropriate mixture for the new proposed cooling approach. The results indicate that more energy equilibrium occurs with high concentration of water in the mixture with the advantage of having low bulk and interface temperature.