MICRO FIN ARRAY CONFIGURATION IN HEAT TRANSFER ENHANCEMENT IN MINICHANNELS

An experimental study was conducted on a novel cooling device that consists of a rectangular micro-fins array placed inside the cooling device. A unique cover was designed and fabricated to allow the mass flow rate in and out and for measuring the temperature and pressure of the fluid. Scanning electronic microscope measurements showed that the average hydraulic diameter of the mini channel is 155 microns. The novel mini channels were tested with different volume flow rates and heat inputs. Two thermocouples and two pressure transducer sensors installed at the inlet and outlet recorded the pressure drop and temperature difference for the different flow conditions. A similar experiment was conducted on a dummy finless device to compare its performance with the minichannels. The experimental results showed an improvement in the heat transfer rate of the novel device compared with the dummy device. According to the experimental results, this study revealed an improvement in the cooling process by having rectangular micro-fins inside the device. For constant flow rates, the novel microchannel design was able to remove 5.6 times as much heat as the finless plate. It is expected that this novel device may increase the heat transfer rate significantly in aerospace and electronic cooling applications.