Experimental investigation on boiling heat transfer characteristics of Al_2O_3-water nanofluids in swirl microchannels subjected to an acceleration force

Experiments were carried out to investigate the boiling heat transfer characteristics of Al₂O₃-water nanofluids in swirl microchannels under terrestrial gravity and acceleration fields. A centrifuge with a two-meter long rotational arm was used to simulate the acceleration magnitude up to 9g and three various acceleration directions. Three test sections with different geometric parameters were applied. The volume concentration of Al₂O₃ nanoparticles with an average diameter of 13 nm was varied from 0.07% to 0.1%. The mass flow rate and vapor quality were in ranges of 3–6 kg/h and 0.4–1.0%, respectively. The effects of the mass flow rate, microchannel aspect ratio, vapor quality, nanoparticle volume concentration, and acceleration direction and magnitude were analyzed in a systematic manner. Experimental results showed that the acceleration direction and magnitude had significant influences on the boiling heat transfer. The heat transfer under configuration C was found to be superior to that under configurations A and B. Moreover, the heat transfer coefficient increased with increases of the mass flow rate and the volume concentration and decreased with the aspect ratio.