Experimental Investigation of Forced Convective Heat Transfer in Rectangular Micro-channels

This paper investigates the experimental program on the study of heat transfer characteristics in micro-channels. The two test sections used are of 47 and 50 micro-channels in rectangular cross-section of equivalent diameters 387 and 327 μm respectively. Each channel of length 192 mm is fabricated on a 304 stainless steel substrate (230 mm x 160 mm x 1.6 mm) by photo chemical etching process. Covering the top with another plate of 0.5 mm thickness forms the channels by vacuum brazing. Experiments cover laminar region using the fluids ethanol, methanol and an ethanol-methanol mixture. The heat transfer coefficient is evaluated based on the heat carried away by the coolant and an average wall to mean fluid temperature difference. The Nusselt number is correlated through empirical correlations involving Reynolds number and Prandtl number with length parameter, the hydraulic diameter.