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Experimental study of the two-phase flow patterns during convective boiling in microchannels

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Author(s):
Daniel Felipe Sempértegui Tapia
Total Authors: 1
Document type: Master's Dissertation
Press: São Carlos.
Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC/SBD)
Defense date:
Examining board members:
Gherhardt Ribatski; Julio Cesar Passos; Maíra Martins da Silva
Advisor: Gherhardt Ribatski
Abstract

The present research has been focused on the study of flow patterns inside channels of diameter less than 3 mm during the convective evaporation of refrigerants such as R134a and R245fa. For the investigation of such topics, experimental techniques and methods of analysis of results were developed. A broad database was gathered in an experimental test facility. The characterization of flow patterns involved the simultaneous processing of signals from the following devices: a pair diode / laser-sensor having a transparent tube between them, within which occurs the two-phase flow; a micro piezoelectric pressure transducer to determine the local variation of pressure of the flow and a micro-thermocouple fixed within the fluid. The technique used in data processing involves the gradual agglomeration of data having similar average characteristics; this method was developed based on the k-means clustering algorithm. The signals from the transducers were acquired simultaneously at a frequency of 25 kHz. The program for the acquisition and for processing of the signals was developed using LabView. Simultaneous images of two-phase flow at a speed of capture around 10,000 images / s were obtained through a high speed camera and the observed flow patterns were contrasted to the results provided by the objective method. Based on this analysis, flow maps were proposed, which incorporate not only subjective criteria such as visualization, but also objective criteria like the transient variations of local pressure of the flow, temperature of the fluid and the effect of the flow morphology based on the dispersion of light which effect was captured by the photo-diode. The maps obtained by the objective method were compared against flow pattern segregated based on visualization and a reasonable agreement was obtained. Besides the elongated bubble characteristics were determined. (AU)