Effect of Channel Arrangement on the Thermal Hydraulic Performance of Multilayer Microchannel Arrays

Natrah  Kamaruzaman; Mohd Farhan  Wisley; Ummikalsom  Abidin; Mohsin  Mohd Sies; Mohd Ridhwan  Mohd Ruslan

Authors

Natrah Kamaruzaman Department of Thermofluid, School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
Mohd Farhan Wisley Department of Thermofluid, School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
Ummikalsom Abidin Department of Thermofluid, School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
Mohsin Mohd Sies Department of Nuclear Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
Mohd Ridhwan Mohd Ruslan Malaysian-Japan International Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 54100 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Keywords:

multilayer microchannel, heat transfer, thermal

Abstract

Thermal hydraulic performance of microchannel device is affected mainly by its geometrical parameter. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of multilayer microchannel arrangement to the thermal hydraulic performance of microchannel arrays. Numerical analysis was conducted to simulate three different microchannel arrangements by varying mass flow rate and heat flux imposed on the microchannel device. The simulation model is a simplified version which consists of eight microchannels in a single row and contains four layers for model one while model two has an arrangement of eight-seven-eight-seven microchannels in four layers and model three has an arrangement of seven-eight-seven-eight microchannels in four layers. The boundary condition that was set for heat flux ranged between 200 W/????????2 to 1000 W/????????2 while mass flow rate that flow into the device was varied between 20 kg/h to 80 kg/h. From the simulation result, it is shown that certain arrangement of microchannel in multilayer channels contribute to the enhancement of heat transfer and at the same time reducing the pressure drop of the system.