Micro heat exchanger with a novel sintered ni microfibrous structured wick and its performance

A high-performance micro heat exchanger was constructed using a new microfibrous structured wick. Heat transfer performance of micro heat exchanger could be improved considerably by using a monolithic microfibrous structure consisting of Ni fiber 8 μm in dia. The use of such approach provided two-fold or more increase in volumetric heat transfer coefficient under the same operational conditions. Reduction of microfibrous structure porosity and flow channel depth promoted heat transfer performance but caused large pressure drop. The use of thinner heat transfer plate made of copper with higher thermal conductivity coefficient also provided significant promotion of heat transfer performance at high flow rate.