Experimental study on micro-encapsulated phase change material slurry flowing in straight and wavy microchannels

Micro-encapsulated phase change material slurry (MPCS) is a novel heat transfer fluid with a good promise due to its latent heat of phase change material during melting/solidification. In this context, an experiment system was set up to study the flow and heat transfer performances of MPCS in straight and wavy microchannels. The results showed that the pressure drop increased with more micro-encapsulated phase change material (MEPCM) adding to the fluid. The pressure drop of the MEPCM slurry flowing in the wavy microchannel was much larger than that in the straight microchannel, especially with more particles loading in the fluid and slurry flowing at large Re. Compared to water, MPCS displayed superior heat transfer performance during phase change region due to latent heat absorbed during MEPCM melting. Moreover, compared to MPCS flowing in the straight microchannel, with perfect performance, the heat transfer of MPCS in the wavy channel would be enhanced as 1.29 times, and 1.7 times than that of pure water.

Automated summary

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the flow and heat transfer performances of Micro-encapsulated phase change material slurry (MPCS) in straight and wavy microchannels. It was found that the pressure drop increased with more micro-encapsulated phase change material (MEPCM) adding to the fluid, especially in wavy microchannels. MPCS displayed superior heat transfer performance during phase change region compared to water, and the heat transfer in wavy channels was enhanced by 1.29 times compared to straight channels, and 1.7 times compared to pure water.