Experimental Study on the Effect of Synthetic Jet on Flow Boiling Instability in a Microchannel

Two-phase flow instability in microchannel flow boiling exhibits pressure fluctuations with different frequencies and amplitudes. One possible way to suppress the dynamic instability is to introduce synthetic jet near the inlet of the channel. An important feature of synthetic jet is that it allows momentum transfer into the microchannel flow without net mass injection into it. The strength and frequency of the jet can be controlled by changing the driving voltage and frequency of the piezoelectric driven jet actuator. The effects of the synthetic jet together with upstream throttling are evaluated as a means of stabilizing the flow boiling instability. The results are compared with the case without synthetic jet. The pressure dynamics of the microchannel flow caused by the synthetic jet are also analyzed.