Development of electrohydrodynamic two-phase heat exchanger and thermal management technologies

热能转换和管理是一项核心技术，可以强烈影响汽车，燃料电池，航空航天和废热回收等应用的进步。两相热管理系统需要精确控制温度，并最大限度地减少每单位能量的系统重量/尺寸。然而，设计的可靠性、预测能力和瞬态控制并不容易实现，特别是在热交换器中。因此，需要分析能力来协助设计、开发和优化先进的热管理系统。本研究的目的是发展“智能”换热器设计的专业知识，并建立电流体动力学（EHD）作为智能控制机制。EHD提供了基于施加电压条件控制热交换器和系统性能的能力。

Thermal energy conversion and management is a core technology that can strongly affect the advancement of applications including automotive, fuel cell, aerospace and waste heat recovery. Two-phase thermal management systems are required to precisely control temperature and minimize weight/size of the system per unit energy rejected. The reliability, predictive capability for design and transient control, however, are not readily available, especially in heat exchangers. Analysis capabilities are therefore required to assist in the design, development and optimization of advanced thermal management systems. The purpose of the proposed research is to develop expertise in 'smart' heat exchanger design and establish electrohydrodynamics (EHD) as the mechanism of intelligent control. EHD provides the ability to control heat exchanger and system preformance based on applied voltage conditions.