Study of the Effects of Single and Double Droplets Impingement on Surface Cooling

Spray cooling is a promising technique which is used to remove large amounts of heat from surfaces. It is characterized by uniform heat removal, low droplet impact velocity and better cooling efficiency when compared to other cooling schemes. It can be used in electronic cooling, and other applications. However, due to the multiple impacts of droplets, the film fluid dynamics and morphology are quite complicated. Moreover, the effect of heat transfer under spray cooling is not well understood due to the large number of interdependent variables such as impact spacing, impact angle, droplet diameter, droplet velocity and droplet frequency to name a few. An experimental approach is proposed and used to minimize and control key independent variables to determine their effects on surface temperature and heat transfer cooling mode. The effects of droplet impact angle and spacing on different heat flux conditions are studied. The film thickness is also obtained to further investigate the relationship between the independent variable and the observed heat transfer mechanism.

The study of coherent droplet impingement on an open surface is experimentally characterized using high speed imaging and infrared thermography. Single stream droplet impingent cooling with different impact angle is also studied. Temperature distribution and impact crater morphology are obtained under different heat flux conditions. Film thickness inside droplet impact craters is measured to understand the relationship between minimum surface temperature and film thickness. Next, double streams droplet impingement cooling with different spacings and impact angles are investigated. The optimum spacing is found to reduce the droplet-to-droplet collision and to minimize splashing, resulting in enhanced heat transfer and better use of the cooling fluid. The film thickness is also measured to understand the relationship between the heat transfer results and the controllable independent variables.

The results and conclusions of this study are useful in understanding the physics of spray cooling and can be applied to design better spray cooling systems.