Controlled pool boiling: A way for high-performance cooling schemes?

Abstract

Further development in cutting-edge technologies becomes increasingly reliant upon the ability for massive heat removal. Boiling heat transfer offers the cooling capacity required by such emerging technologies. However, phase-change cooling schemes based on boiling heat transfer typically have two important limitations. First, high uncertainty in predicting the so-called ldquocritical heat fluxrdquo (CHF) that determines the maximum heat-removal capacity. Second, the inability to actively respond to fluctuating cooling demands due to the passive working principle. The present study seek to contribute to the advancement of phase-change cooling schemes by model-based development of control strategies that safely facilitate efficient boiling heat transfer close to CHF under dynamic operating conditions. These control strategies can be developed by means of a compact 3D model that describes the system-level dynamics of pool-boiling processes entirely in terms of the heat distribution within the heat-generating device. The compact 3D model and how to utilise it for the development of control strategies are the topics of this paper.