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Condensation in Microchannels

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Synonyms

Phase-change heat transfer in microchannels

Definition

Condensation is a heat transfer process in which vapor is cooled below its saturation temperature while it undergoes a change of phase from vapor to liquid.

Overview

Recently, condensation in microchannels having cross-sectional areas of different shapes, such as circular, triangular, square, trapezoidal, and rectangular, has received a great deal of attention because of its important application to micro-heat exchangers [1, 2]. It has been found that mist flow, annular flow, injection flow, plug/slug flow, and bubbly flow may occur in different locations in a microchannel, depending on the local vapor quality and mass flux. Injection flow occurs where the shearing force is overcome by the surface tension force. The occurrence frequency of injection flow depends on the condensation heat transfer rate, the mass flux of vapor, and the cross-sectional shape of microchannels. At the same mass flux, it has been found that the...

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References

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Correspondence to Ping Cheng .

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© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Cheng, P., Quan, X., Wu, H. (2014). Condensation in Microchannels. In: Li, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Microfluidics and Nanofluidics. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27758-0_251-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27758-0_251-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27758-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EngineeringReference Module Computer Science and Engineering

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