Particulate fouling and particle deposition at elevated temperature are crucial issues in microchannel heat exchangers. In this work, a microfluidic system was designed to examine the hydrodynamic effects on the deposition of microparticles in a microchannel flow, which simulate particle deposits in microscale heat exchangers. The deposition rates of microparticles were measured in two typical types of flow, a steady flow and a pulsatile flow. Under a given elevated solution temperature and electrolyte concentration of the particle dispersion in the tested flow rate range, the dimensionless particle deposition rate (Sherwood number) was found to decrease with the Reynolds number of the steady flow and reach a plateau for the Reynolds number beyond 0.091. Based on the Derjaguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek (DLVO) theory, a mass transport model was developed with considering temperature dependence of the particle deposition at elevated temperatures. The modeling results can reasonably capture our experimental observations. Moreover, the experimental results of the pulsatile flow revealed that the particle deposition rate in the microchannel can be mitigated by increasing the frequency of pulsation within a low-frequency region. Our findings are expected to provide a better understanding of thermally driven particulate fouling as well as to provide useful information for design and operation of microchannel heat exchangers.
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Research-Article
Hydrodynamic Effects on Particle Deposition in Microchannel Flows at Elevated Temperatures
Zhibin Yan,
Zhibin Yan
School of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering,
Nanyang Technological University,
50 Nanyang Avenue,
Singapore 639798, Singapore
e-mail: zyan3@e.ntu.edu.sg
Aerospace Engineering,
Nanyang Technological University,
50 Nanyang Avenue,
Singapore 639798, Singapore
e-mail: zyan3@e.ntu.edu.sg
Search for other works by this author on:
Xiaoyang Huang,
Xiaoyang Huang
Mem. ASME
School of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering,
Nanyang Technological University,
50 Nanyang Avenue,
Singapore 639798, Singapore
e-mail: mxhuang@ntu.edu.sg
School of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering,
Nanyang Technological University,
50 Nanyang Avenue,
Singapore 639798, Singapore
e-mail: mxhuang@ntu.edu.sg
Search for other works by this author on:
Chun Yang
Chun Yang
Mem. ASME
School of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering,
Nanyang Technological University,
50 Nanyang Avenue,
Singapore 639798, Singapore
e-mail: mcyang@ntu.edu.sg
School of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering,
Nanyang Technological University,
50 Nanyang Avenue,
Singapore 639798, Singapore
e-mail: mcyang@ntu.edu.sg
Search for other works by this author on:
Zhibin Yan
School of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering,
Nanyang Technological University,
50 Nanyang Avenue,
Singapore 639798, Singapore
e-mail: zyan3@e.ntu.edu.sg
Aerospace Engineering,
Nanyang Technological University,
50 Nanyang Avenue,
Singapore 639798, Singapore
e-mail: zyan3@e.ntu.edu.sg
Xiaoyang Huang
Mem. ASME
School of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering,
Nanyang Technological University,
50 Nanyang Avenue,
Singapore 639798, Singapore
e-mail: mxhuang@ntu.edu.sg
School of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering,
Nanyang Technological University,
50 Nanyang Avenue,
Singapore 639798, Singapore
e-mail: mxhuang@ntu.edu.sg
Chun Yang
Mem. ASME
School of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering,
Nanyang Technological University,
50 Nanyang Avenue,
Singapore 639798, Singapore
e-mail: mcyang@ntu.edu.sg
School of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering,
Nanyang Technological University,
50 Nanyang Avenue,
Singapore 639798, Singapore
e-mail: mcyang@ntu.edu.sg
1Corresponding author.
Presented at the 5th ASME 2016 Micro/Nanoscale Heat & Mass Transfer International Conference. Paper No. MNHMT2016-6628.
Contributed by the Heat Transfer Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF HEAT TRANSFER. Manuscript received June 23, 2016; final manuscript received June 11, 2017; published online August 16, 2017. Assoc. Editor: Robert D. Tzou.
J. Heat Transfer. Jan 2018, 140(1): 012402 (10 pages)
Published Online: August 16, 2017
Article history
Received:
June 23, 2016
Revised:
June 11, 2017
Citation
Yan, Z., Huang, X., and Yang, C. (August 16, 2017). "Hydrodynamic Effects on Particle Deposition in Microchannel Flows at Elevated Temperatures." ASME. J. Heat Transfer. January 2018; 140(1): 012402. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4037397
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