Thermally Developing Single-Phase Flows in Microtubes

The pressure drop and heat transfer due to the flow of de-ionized water at high mass fluxes in microtubes of ∼ 254 μm and ∼ 685 μm inner diameters is investigated in the laminar, transition and the turbulent flow regimes. The flow is hydrodynamically fully developed and thermally developing. The experimental friction factors and heat transfer coefficients are respectively predicted to within ±20% and ±30% by existing open literature correlations. Higher single phase heat transfer coefficients were obtained with increasing mass fluxes, which is motivating to operate at high mass fluxes and under thermally developing flow conditions. The transition to turbulent flow and friction factors for both laminar and turbulent conditions were found to be in agreement with existing theory. A reasonable agreement was present between experimental results and theoretical predictions recommended for convective heat transfer in thermally developing flows.