Abstract:

This study investigates the effect of evaporator confinement on the performance of an enhanced microstructure based thermosyphon, that has shown very high heat transfer rates (upto 100 W/cm2). The top spacing between the microstructure and the cover of the evaporator was varied and the effect of this variation was studied. The effect of side wall spacing was studied next. The results show that the effect of confinement on the boiling performance of the microstructure is negligible. Total blockage does deteriorate the performance at very high heat fluxes (40-70 W/cm²). However, a minute gap of the order of a few millimeters is sufficient to get to performance levels close to pool boiling. The response of the confined setup was then studied under suddenly applied loads. This is of particular importance to practical applications where a sudden temperature excursion could be detrimental to electronics. The results show a very smooth transition from startup to steady state. No incipience excursion was observed in any of the runs.

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