Heat Transfer Analysis of a Micro-Spherical Particle in the Slip Flow Regime by Considering Variable Properties

Behzad Mohajer1*, Vahid Aliakbar1, Mehrzad Shams1, Abouzar Moshfegh2

1

Faculty of Mech. Engng., K.N.Toosi University of Tech., Pardis St., Vanak Sq., Tehran 19395-1999, Iran

School of Aerospace, Mechanical & Mechatronic Engng., The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
*

Corresponding author: Behzad Mohajer

Email: be.mohajer@gmail.com

Abstract In order to investigate how far the temperature dependent fluid properties, and characteristic length influence the drag coefficient and the heat flux, a 3D simulation study for a slip flow around an unconfined micro-spherical particle has been performed. Gas properties such as density, viscosity, conductivity and mean free path were assumed to vary with temperature. Slip velocity and temperature jump at the gas particle interface were both treated numerically by imposition of the slip boundary conditions. The effects of variable gas properties and Knudsen number on momentum and heat transfer were also taken into account. It was concluded that for micro flows with high heat transfer rates, the constant fluid properties approximation is very crude. In addition, the slip velocity and temperature jump affect the heat transfer in opposite ways: a large slip on the wall increases the convection along the surface; whereas a large temperature jump decreases the heat transfer by reducing the temperature gradient at the wall. Therefore, neglecting temperature jump will result in the overestimation of the heat transfer coefficient. Keywords: Micro-scale heat transfer. Slip flow regime. Variable properties. Nusselt number. Temperature jump.

Conclusions In the present work, a 3D simulation of slip flow past an unconfined, stationary, impermeable, solid and spherical particle with variable properties has been carried out. Gas slip on the particle surface was treated numerically by the imposition of slip velocity and temperature jump boundary conditions. The simulations were implemented over a range of Reynolds numbers from Stokes regime up to the threshold of compressibility where the flow stays roughly steady. In a systematic approach we address the question of how important are the variable property effects on heat transfer and drag coefficient in micro and nano systems. Due to heat transfer, the temperature dependence of fluid properties like density, viscosity, thermal conductivity and mean free path result in deviations in the results compared to a solution considering constant fluid properties. It can therefore be concluded that when the characteristic length changes from macro to micro size, constant property simulations are just approximate solutions. As a consequence, for micro-flows with high heat transfer rates such approximations are obviously very crude. Moreover, we explored the effects of three variables, the Reynolds number, the Knudsen number and temperature difference between the particle and ambient on heat transfer from a sphere in the slip flow regime. It was concluded that the slip velocity and temperature jump affects the heat transfer in opposite ways: a large slip on the wall increases the convection along the surface, whereas a large temperature jump decreases the heat transfer by reducing the temperature gradient at the wall. Therefore, neglecting temperature jump will result in an overestimation of the heat transfer coefficient. When the temperature difference between the particle and ambient medium is small, the slip velocity has a greater influence on heat transfer rate than the temperature jump and thus the Nusselt number increases with increasing of Knudsen number. However, when the temperature difference increases the temperature jump has a greater influence and the heat transfer decreases with Knudsen number.