GOALI/Collaborative Research: Fundamentals of Microemulsion Boiling: from Interfacial Thermodynamics to Multiphase Heat Transfer

1336778/1336590PI：杨/乔这个合作项目的目标是研究微乳液中核沸腾的基本机理，并评估其在工业相关冷却系统中的性能和可靠性。PI已经确定了一种有趣的微乳液流体，在这种流体中，挥发性液体被分散到另一种不相容的非挥发性液体中作为自组装液滴，作为强化相变换热的候选。实验结果表明，聚α-烯烃基微乳液流体的池沸腾临界热流密度(CHF)比基础流体-聚α-烯烃微乳液流体高约80%。为了能够合理地设计微乳液作为传热流体，并充分开发其沸腾潜力，本项目将进行三个相互交织的活动。首先，PI将研究高温下微乳液的界面热力学，并了解微乳液中相变的能量学。其次，PI将通过实验表征和数值模拟相结合的方法来研究微乳沸腾的传热机理。这项研究将集中在与经典池沸腾有很大不同的特殊气泡动力学上。第三，绩效指标将通过与行业合作伙伴的合作，在与行业相关的环境下评估微乳沸腾的性能。拟议的研究具有潜在的变革性：通过引入微乳液作为换热流体，其沸腾行为与经典沸腾具有质的不同，这项工作开创了一种强化沸腾换热的全新方法。这项拟议的研究有助于解决高热流密度制冷方面的长期挑战，并有可能在许多技术上实现新的突破，这些技术受到目前冷却瓶颈的限制。特别是，这项研究可以极大地惠及两个工业部门：电子产品的热管理和工业换热器。启动马里兰大学、克莱姆森大学及其工业合作伙伴之间的GOALI伙伴关系将极大地增强他们的研究能力，并促进微乳液在工业热管理系统中的应用。拟议的项目将与马里兰大学和克莱姆森大学的教育活动密切相关，办法是培训学生进行跨学科研究，扩大代表不足群体参与研究的范围，并开展K-12外联活动。在实施这些活动时，私人投资促进计划将集中于通过研究工程科学的前沿来拓宽学生的视野，并让学生接触到现实生活中的工业问题。这些活动将通过充分利用现有的机构资源和利用与行业合作伙伴的合作来开展。

1336778/1336590PI: Yang/QiaoThe objective of this collaborative GOALI project is to investigate the fundamental mechanisms of nucleate boiling in microemulsions and to evaluate their performance and reliability in industry-relevant cooling systems. The PIs have identified an interesting microemulsion fluid, in which a volatile liquid is dispersed into another immiscible nonvolatile liquid as self-assembled droplets, as a candidate for enhanced phase change heat transfer. It has been observed that the polyalphaolefin-based microemulsion fluids exhibit a pool boiling critical heat flux (CHF) about 80% higher than the base fluid polyalphaolefin. To enable the rational design of microemulsions as heat transfer fluids and to fully exploit their potential in boiling, three interwoven activities will be carried out in this project. First, the PIs will investigate the interfacial thermodynamics of microemulsions at elevated temperatures and understand the energetics of phase change in microemulsions. Second, the PIs will investigate the heat transfer mechanisms of microemulsion boiling by integrating experimental characterization and numerical simulations. The research will focus on the peculiar bubble dynamics that differ greatly from those in classical pool boiling. Third, the PIs will evaluate the performance of microemulsion boiling under industry-relevant settings through collaboration with industrial partners. The proposed research is potentially transformative: by introducing microemulsions as heat transfer fluids, whose boiling behavior differs qualitatively from classical boiling, this work pioneers a radically new approach for enhancing boiling heat transfer. The proposed research helps resolve a long-standing challenge in high-heat flux cooing and can potentially enable new breakthroughs in many technologies limited by current bottlenecks in cooling. In particular, this research can greatly benefit two industrial sectors: thermal management of electronics and industrial heat exchangers. Initiating the GOALI partnership between University of Maryland, Clemson University and their industrial partner will greatly enhance their research capabilities and facilitate the application of microemulsions in industrial thermal management systems. The proposed project will be tied closely with the education activities at University of Maryland and Clemson University through training students in interdisciplinary research, broadening the participation of underrepresented groups in research, and K-12 outreach. When implementing these activities, the PIs will focus on broadening the horizons of students through research at frontiers of engineering sciences and exposing students to real-life industry problems. These activities will be carried by making full use of available institutional resources and by leveraging collaboration with industrial partner.