Journal of Mechanics Engineering and Automation 3 (2013) 641-649

D
DAVID

PUBLISHING

Developing Flow Pressure Drop and Friction Factor of Water in Copper Microchannels
Mirmanto
Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Mataram University, Mataram 83125, Indonesia

Received: April 23, 2013 / Accepted: May 31, 2013 / Published: October 25, 2013. Abstract: Experiments of de-ionized water flowing in microchannels made in copper blocks were carried out to obtain pressure drop and friction factor and to investigate any possible discrepancies from conventional theory. Three channels with widths of 0.5 mm, 1.0 mm, 1.71 mm, a depth of 0.39 mm and a length of 62 mm were tested. For adiabatic tests, the temperature of the working fluid was maintained at 30 C, 60 C and 90 C without any heat fluxes supplied to the test section. The experimental conditions covered a range of Reynolds numbers from 234 to 3,430. For non-adiabatic tests, the inlet temperature and heat flux applied were 30 C and 147 kW/m2 and only for the 0.635 mm channel. The friction factors obtained for the widest channel (Dh = 0.635 mm) are reported for both adiabatic and non-adiabatic experiments to assess possible temperature effects. The paper focuses on the effect of hydraulic diameter on pressure drop and friction factor over the experimental conditions. The pressure drop was found to decrease as the inlet temperature was increased, while the friction factors for the three test sections did not show significant differences. The experimental friction factors were in reasonable agreement with conventional developing flow theory. The effect of temperature on friction factor was not considerable as the friction factor with and without heat flux was almost the same. Key words: Microchannel, single-phase flow, pressure drop, friction factor.

Nomenclature
Aht C cp Dh f H I K() K L L* Heat transfer area (m2) Constant Specific heat (J/kg K) Hydraulic diameter (m) Fanning friction factor Channel height (m) Current (A) Incremental pressure drop Loss coefficient Channel length (m) Dimensionless channel length (L/Dh Re) Mass flow rate (kg/s) Electrical power input (W) Measured pressure drop between inlet plenum and outlet plenum (Pa) Pressure drop in the channel (Pa) Sum of pressure losses due to turns, sudden contraction and sudden enlargement (Pa) Heat flux, based on heated area (W/m2) Heat removal rate (W)

qloss Re Re* T V V ch Vp W z

Heat loss rate (W) Reynolds number ( V ch D h / ) Laminar-equivalent Reynolds number Temperature (C) Voltage (V) Mean velocity in the channel (m/s) Mean velocity in the plenum (m/s) Channel width (m) Distance from channel inlet (m)

Greek Symbols
Channel aspect ratio Density (kg/m3) Dynamic viscosity (kg/ms)

& m
P pmeas pch ploss

Subscripts
app c ch e FD i o Apparent Contraction Channel Enlargement, entrance Fully developed flow Inlet Outlet

q
qrem

Corresponding author: Mirmanto, Ph.D., research field: fluid mechanics. E-mail: mmirmanto@gmail.com.

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Developing Flow Pressure Drop and Friction Factor of Water in Copper Microchannels

1. Introduction
MEMS (micro electro mechanical systems) have generated significantly interest in the area of microscale heat transfer because of their capability for removing high heat fluxes. They also have been used in many practical applications and numerous scientific researches. Commonly the microchannels are used in cooling systems for electronics, laser diode/weapon, gas turbine blade, bearing and cutting tool. A microchannel concept was introduced by Tukerman and Pease in the early 1980s. They invented a microchannel heat sink cooling concept. They used a silicon microchannel with a total area of 1 cm2. The channel width, depth and fin thickness were 50 m, 302 m and 50 m, respectively. Water was used as the working fluid [1]. Since then, many studies on microchannels have been reported. Some authors explained that the single-phase pressure drop in microchannels still obeyed the conventional theory and macroscale correlations. Gao et al. [2] investigated the single-phase flow and the associated heat transfer in the channels of large-span rectangular cross-section with heights ranging from 0.1 mm-1 mm. The fluid used was demineralized water with a pH of 7.8. They found that the friction factors still obeyed the conventional theory. A review of 150 papers (500 data sets) with hydraulic diameters ranging from 8 m to 990 m and Reynolds number ranging from 0.002 to 5,000 was carried out by Steinke and Kandlikar [3]. They concluded that in microchannels, generally, the conventional theory was applicable. Costaschuk et al. [4] investigated water flowing in an aluminum rectangular microchannel with a hydraulic diameter of 169 m and Reynolds numbers ranging from 230 to 4,740. They found that the Poiseuille numbers confirmed the conventional theory. Silverio et al. [5] studied pressure drop and heat convection for a single-phase fully-developed for laminar flow in microchannels of diverse cross-sections. They used distilled water as the working fluid and channel

hydraulic diameters ranging from 200 m to 500 m. The Reynolds number applied was 800. They stated that the deviation from the laminar theory was not observed. In contrast, some studies showed that the conventional theory was not applicable to microchannels as described in the following publications. Pfund et al. [6] investigated pressure drops in microchannels with heights ranging from 128 m to 521 m and a width of 10 mm. The channels were formed in a sandwich structure which consisted of polycarbonate, spacer and 0.05 inch thick polyimide (DuPont CIRLEX film). They used water as the working fluid with Reynolds numbers ranging from 60 to 3,450. Although the experimental uncertainties and systematic errors were included in the results analysis, the deviation from conventional theory remained significant. Jiang et al. [7] studied fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics in rectangular microchannels 80 mm long, 900 m wide and 350 m deep, and the channels were separated by 500 m thick walls. The test plate was made of oxygen free copper with a thickness of 3 mm, width of 20 mm and length of 80 mm. They used a parallel microchannel with 13 channels and water as the working fluid. They found that the friction factors were only 20% to 30% of the theoretical value. The critical Reynolds number found was 1,100 which was also lower than that of conventional theory. The causes of the discrepancy were not mentioned by the authors. Akbari et al. [8] conducted an experimental observation on pressure drop of de-ionized water flowing in a rectangular microchannel with aspect ratios ranging from 0.13 to 0.76 and Reynolds numbers varying from 1 to 35. According to their analytical model and experimental data, the Poiseuille numbers were found to be only a function of microchannel geometry in the range of tested Reynolds numbers. The friction factors were therefore different with that of conventional theory. Kohl et al. [9] investigated the discrepancies in previously published data using straight channel test

Developing Flow Pressure Drop and Friction Factor of Water in Copper Microchannels

643

sections with integrated miniature pressure sensors along the flow direction. The channel hydraulic diameters ranged from 25 m to 100 m and the Reynolds numbers applied varied from 4.9 to 2,068. This technique provided a way to consider the entrance effects and hydrodynamic developing flow. The authors suggested that the friction factor for microchannels could be accurately determined from data for standard large channels. In addition, they explained that the inconsistency in previous research could be due to instrumentation errors and compressibility effects. Furthermore, they explained that the pressure drop inside the channel associated with the developing flow was found to be higher 17% of the fully developed flow pressure drop. Temperature of fluid may affect the deviation in results from conventional theory. Shen et al. [10] studied flow and heat transfer in microchannels with rough wall surfaces. They applied three different inlet temperatures: 30 C, 50 C and 70 C. The microchannel was a copper rectangular multi-channel with 26 channels. The channel width and depth were 300 m and 800 m, respectively. The tested Reynolds numbers varied from 162 to 1,257 and de-ionized water was used as the working fluid. They revealed that the effect of surface roughness (relative roughness 4%-6%) on laminar flow was significant and the effect of inlet temperature on pressure drop indicated that higher inlet temperature decreased the pressure drop. In addition, the Poiseuille number found was greater than that of conventional theory and also dependent on the Reynolds number. Urbanek et al. [11] investigated the temperature dependence on the Poiseuille number of flow in microchannels. They used propanol, pentanol and water as the working fluids. The microchannels used were trapezoidal and triangular with hydraulic diameters of 5 m, 12 m and 25 m. They claimed that the Poiseuille numbers increased by as much as 25% and 10% for the 12 m and 25 m channels, respectively, as the temperature increased from 0 C to 80 C. This indicates that the experimental results

show a deviation from conventional theory. In contrast, Toh et al. [12] conducted a numerical computation of fluid flow and heat transfer in microchannels using water as the working fluid. The channel widths and depths ranged from 50 m to 64 m and 280 m to 320 m, respectively. The microchannels were parallel silicon microchannels with 150-200 channels. They found that increasing the temperature decreased the pressure drop and hence decreased the Poiseuille numbers. For cold water, the Poiseuille number was in good agreement with that predicted using conventional theory, whilst for hot water the Poiseuille number was lower than that of conventional theory.

2. Experimental Facility
A schematic diagram of the test facility is shown in Fig. 1. The working fluid was de-ionized water which was drawn from the main tank and circulated through entire the flow loop by a magnetically coupled gear pump (Micropump GA-T23, PFSB) equipped with a programmable variable speed drive (Ismatec Reglo ZS-Digital). The mass flow rate of the working fluid was measured using a Coriolis flowmeter (Micromotion Elite CMF010) with an uncertainty of 1 10-5 kg/s. Two filters were fitted in the flow loop to remove any particles suspended in the working fluid. Electric pre-heaters with PID controllers were installed in the upstream loop, before the microchannel test section, to heat the fluid to the desired inlet temperature. After exiting the test section, the working fluid returned to the main tank. The microchannel test sections are shown in Fig. 2, which was made of an oxygen-free copper block of overall dimensions 12 mm wide 25 mm high 72 mm long. A single rectangular microchannel was cut in the top surface of the block between the 2 mm diameter inlet and outlet plenums using a Kern HSPC 2,216 high-speed micro-milling machine. The microchannel length was 62 mm. Three identical test sections but different widths were manufactured, as shown in Table 1. The measurements were accurate to 1 m giving

644

Developing Flow Pressure Drop and Friction Factor of Water in Copper Microchannels

Exploded view of microchannel

Fig. 1

Schematic diagram of the test rig.

1. Cover plate, polycarbonate; 2. Channel cover, polycarbonate; 3. O-ring seal; 4. Cartridge heater; 5. Copper block; 6. Nitrile foam rubber insulation; 7. Bottom plate, polycarbonate.

Fig. 2

Test section construction showing the main parts (all dimensions in mm). Dimensions and surface roughness of the test Length L (mm) 62.0 62.0 62.0 Surface roughness Ra (m) 1.012 1.048 1.190

Table 1 section.

Width Height Hydraulic Test Aspect W H diameter section ratio (mm) (mm) Dh (mm) 1 0.50 0.39 0.438 0.78 2 3 1.00 1.71 0.39 0.39 0.561 0.635 0.39 0.23

mean uncertainties of hydraulic diameter 0.34%, 0.37% and 0.42%, respectively. Each test section was clamped with a transparent polycarbonate cover and sealed with an O-ring.

For non adiabatic experiments, heat input to the microchannel test section was provided by a cartridge heater which utilized an AC electrical power controlled by a variable transformer. The electrical power dissipated by the test section cartridge heater was determined from voltage and current measurements obtained using calibrated digital multimeters (Black Star 3,225) with uncertainties of 0.3 V and 0.01 A, respectively. All temperatures were measured using 0.5 mm diameter K-type sheathed thermocouples with an

Developing Flow Pressure Drop and Friction Factor of Water in Copper Microchannels

645

uncertainty of 0.025 K. All pressures were measured using differential pressure sensors (Honeywell 26PCC type) connected between the tapping points and atmosphere with an uncertainty of 0.2 kPa. The average surface roughness Ra of the channel base was measured using a Zygo NewView 5,000 surface profiler with a resolution of 1 nm.

Table 2 Test section 1 2 3

Values of Kc and Ke for the three test sections. Kc Area ratio Laminar Turbulent 0.062 1.10 0.75 0.124 0.95 0.61 0.212 0.88 0.54 Ke Laminar Turbulent 0.96 0.98 0.79 0.83 0.59 0.66

3. Data Reduction
The pressure drop along the microchannel, pch, due to the friction and the developing flow, is obtained by subtracting the inlet and outlet pressure losses from the total measured pressure drop, pmeas. The inlet and outlet plenum pressure losses were estimated using Eq. (1). 1 1 ploss = V p 2 2K 90 + Vch 2 (K c + K e ) (1) 2 2 where K90 is the loss coefficient associated with each of the 90 turns at the channel inlet and outlet and is approximately 1.2. According to Ref. [13], Kc and Ke are the inlet and exit loss coefficients for the sudden contraction and the sudden enlargement and can be estimated from Ref. [14] based on the ratio of the channel area to the plenum flow area and the flow regime (laminar or turbulent). The values of Kc and Ke for the three test sections are presented in Table 2. The experimental fanning friction factor based on the channel pressure drop is given by p ch D h f ch = (2) 2LV 2
ch

polycarbonate channel cover is assumed to be adiabatic. The propagated experimental uncertainties were calculated based on the method described in Ref. [15] and are given in Table 3 together with experimental conditions.

4. Experimental Results and Discussion

The experimental results are presented in the form of graphs and were obtained from the tests performed with and without applying the heat flux. Channel pressure drops obtained at three different inlet temperatures are presented in Fig. 3 for the 0.438 mm and those obtained from the three different hydraulic diameter channels at the same fluid temperatures of 30 C, 60 C and 90 C are presented in Figs. 4a-4c. In general, the pressure drop increases with Reynolds numbers, which is as expected since the pressure drop is a function of mass flow rate. The pressure drop also increases as the channel hydraulic diameter decreases in this work. At the fluid temperature of 30 C, Fig. 4a, the pressure drop increased by approximately 51%, 108 % and 214% when the hydraulic diameter decreased by 12%, 22% and 31%, respectively. Local pressure measurements are plotted in Fig. 5 at equi-spaced locations along the Dh = 0.438 mm test section from the inlet plenum (z/L = 0) to the exit plenum (z/L = 1) for several Reynolds numbers, at fluid temperature of T = 30 C. The marked decrease in pressure evident between the inlet plenum and z/L = 0.2 includes contributions due to the flow area change, the losses associated with the 90 turn and sudden contraction in the channel inlet, in addition to the pressure drop due to wall shear stress and flow development. Similarly, the pressure change between z/L = 0.8 and the outlet plenum includes contributions

To estimate the heat flux in non-adiabatic experiments, the rate of heat loss from the test section to the ambient was determined by energy balance tests and found to be approximately 6.8% of the input electrical power. The rate of heat removal, qrem, by the working fluid is expressed as & c p (T o T i ) = P q loss = 0 . 932 P (3) q rem = m where P is equal to the product of the voltage V and current I supplied to the cartridge heater. The average heat flux at the heated walls of the channel is defined as q" = qrem /A ht , where A ht = (2H + W)L since the

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Developing Flow Pressure Drop and Friction Factor of Water in Copper Microchannels

Table 3

The uncertainty and the range of measurement.

Dh = 0.438 mm Dh = 0.561 mm Dh = 0.635 mm

Range of measurement Uncertainty 30 C, 60 C and 90 Inlet temperature, Ti 0.2 K C 0.2 K Outlet temperature, To 33-56 C Mass flow rate, m 0.6 g/min 4.98-153 g/min Mass flux, G 332-4,883 kg/m s 0.7%-14% Pressure, p 0.2 kPa 2-106 kPa 0.38%-13.7 Pressure drop, p 1.2-79.2 kPa % Reynolds number, Re 234-3,430 2%-14% Friction factor, f 0.0101-0.0602 3.7%-32% Heat flux, q" 147 8.4%
T = 30 C T = 60 C

Parameter

T = 30 C

Dh = 0.438 mm Dh = 0.561 mm Dh = 0.635 mm

T = 60 C

Pch (kPa)

T = 80 C

Dh = 0.438 mm Dh = 0.561 mm Dh = 0.635 mm

100

1,000 Reynolds number, Re

10,000

T = 90 C

Fig. 3 Channel pressure drop for the 0.438 mm channel at 30 C, 60 C and 90 C.

due to the flow area change and the losses at channel exit. In this work, hydrodynamic development occurred. However, it depended on the Reynolds number applied and the diameter of the test section. The length of this entry region is more significant at higher Reynolds numbers and for the larger hydraulic diameter. The hydrodynamically entrance length can be estimated using, Le = 0.056 Dh Re, as shown in Ref. [16]. All flows were evidenced partially or completely in the developing regions. Accordingly, the laminar flow results are compared with a developing flow equation proposed by Shah [17] to predict the apparent friction factor, fapp, for developing flow in circular and noncircular ducts, given by

100

1,000 Reynolds number, Re

10,000

Fig. 4 Channel pressure drop obtained in the three test sections at 30 C, 60 C and 90 C.
Re = 159 Re = 1,578 Re = 573 Re = 2,016 Re = 1,079 Re = 2,172

Dh = 0.438 mm = 0.78 T = 30 C

Fig. 5 Pressure distribution along the test section for the 0.438 mm channel at a fluid temperature of 30 C.

K ( ) 3.44 4L * L * (4) f app C Re 1 + 2 L* where L* is the dimensionless channel length and K() 3.44 = + Re L *

( f FD Re ) +

is the fully developed incremental pressure drop. For rectangular channels, K() is presented in graphical form in Fig. 7, Chapter VII, in Ref. [16]. The corresponding value of K() and the constant C in Eq. (4) which depend on the aspect ratio, (the short wall side/the long wall side).

Developing Flow Pressure Drop and Friction Factor of Water in Copper Microchannels

647

The friction factor for fully developed laminar flow in a rectangular channel can be calculated using the following equation given in Ref. [16]. 2 24 1 1.3553 + 1.9467 f FD = (5) 3 4 5 Re 1.7012 + 0.9564 0.2537 In the turbulent regime, the experimental friction factor results are compared with Eq. (6). Due to Ref. [13], the laminar-equivalent Reynolds number, Re*, appearing in Eq. (6) was proposed by Jones [18] for rectangular channels and is defined by Eq. (7).

result in a slight increase in pressure drop. The experimental friction factor for the three different
T = 30 C

f app

0.268 1.01612 L / Dh = 0.0929 + Re * L / Dh

0.3293

T = 60 C

(6)

2 11 Re* = Re + (2 ) 3 24

(7)

The turbulent flow results are also compared with the well-known Blasius equation [19] for circular conduits and fully developed flow: f = 0.316 Re-0.25, then when the Blasius friction factor is converted into fanning friction factor, the friction factor becomes:

T = 90 C

f = 0.079 Re-0.25

(8)

As shown in Fig. 6, at low Reynolds number range (Re < 1,500), the friction factor decreases with Reynolds number. At a Reynolds number of approximately 1,500, the friction factor reaches the local minimum value and starts to deviate from the laminar data. This indicates that there is an early transition in this study. However, it is not necessarily indicative of differences with conventional theory because the flow in the entrance of the channel has been disturbed by the sharp entrance and the flow was in the developing region. After that, the friction factor decreases further in the turbulent regime and the trend of the friction factor in this regime is similar to that in conventional channels. However, the experimental friction factor in the turbulent regime is slightly higher than that predicted by the developing turbulent flow theory Eq. (6). There was a possibility that the pressure tapping holes of 0.5 mm on the channel cover could

100

1,000 Reynolds number, Re

10,000

Fig. 6 Friction factor obtained for flow in the three test section at three different inlet temperatures.

hydraulic diameters at fluid temperatures of 30 C, 60 C and 90 C are in reasonable agreement with the developing flow line calculated using Eq. (5) for = 0.23 at laminar Reynolds numbers. The data indicate that there is no effect of the hydraulic diameter in the range studied here. Eq. (5) predicts that the friction factor increases with decreasing aspect ratio in the laminar regime. As seen in Fig. 7, the effect of temperature and hence the fluid properties is not significant. The experiments were performed with and without heat flux applied. The properties of the fluid were evaluated at the fluid bulk temperature. The bulk temperatures ranged from 56 C to 33 C as the Reynolds numbers increased

648

Developing Flow Pressure Drop and Friction Factor of Water in Copper Microchannels

from 383 to 2,167, while the fluid density increased from 985 kg/m3 to 995 kg/m3 and the viscosity varied
T = 30 C
Dh = 0.635 mm

f = 18.59 Re-1 f = 0.079 Re-0.25

1,000 Reynolds number, Re

10,000

Fig. 7 Friction factor obtained for flow in the 0.635 mm channel with and without heat flux.

on friction factor is not considerable. The effect of temperature is not significant either. In the laminar regime, the apparent friction factor is in reasonable agreement with the hydrodynamic entry region correlation. In the turbulent regime, the experimental friction factors are in reasonable agreement with a circular tube correlation modified by substituting a laminar-equivalent Reynolds number. The results indicate early transition to turbulence but this could be due to disturbances at the channel inlet and may not indicate deviations from values predicted for larger channels.

from 0.000494 kg/ms to 0.000772 kg/ms. The changes in fluid properties do affect the pressure drop, but they do not influence the friction factor significantly. This contradicts were found by Urbanek et al. [11] and Toh et al. [12] as they found the effect of fluid temperature on the friction factor. All of them used the same working fluid water in this study by Urbanek et al. [11] found that as the fluid temperature increased, the Poiseuille number increased as much as 25% of the theory for the 12 m channel. In contrast, Toh, et al. [12] found that as the temperature increased, especially at low mass flow rates, the Poiseuille number decreased. Similar to that, for flow with a heating process, in this study the fluid temperature variation was provided by heating the test section but the inlet temperature was kept constant at 30 C at the constant heat flux of 147 kW/m2. Shen et al. [10] found the effect of fluid temperature on the pressure drop. This study then confirms the results obtained by Shen et al. [10]. As the fluid temperature was increased, the pressure drop decreased; however, they did not report the effect of the fluid temperature on friction factor.

Acknowledgments
The author would like to acknowledge the Indonesia Higher Education for the funding; Brunel University for the experimental facility.

References
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5. Conclusions
Experimental data have been presented for the pressure drop and friction factor of single-phase flow of deionized water in single copper microchannels of rectangular cross-section. The effect of hydraulic diameter on pressure drop is very significant whilst that
[7]

[8]

Developing Flow Pressure Drop and Friction Factor of Water in Copper Microchannels 1-8. M.J. Kohl, S.I. Abdel-Khalik, S.M. Jeter, D.L. Sadowski, An experimental investigation of microchannel flow with internal pressure measurements, Int. J. Heat and Mass Transfer 48 (2005) 1518-1533. S. Shen, J.L. Xu, J.J. Zhou, Y. Chen, Flow and heat transfer in microchannels with rough wall surface, Energy Conversion and Management 47 (2006) 1311-1325. W. Urbanek, J.N. Zemel, H.H. Bau, An investigation of temperature dependence on poiseuille numbers in microchannel flow, J. Micromech. Microeng 3 (1993) 206-208. K.C. Toh, X.Y. Chen, J.C. Chai, Numerical computation of fluid flow and heat transfer in microchannels, Int. J. Heat and Mass Transfer 45 (2002) 5133-5141. R.J. Phillips, Forced-convection, liquid-cooled, microchannel heat sinks, M.Sc. Thesis, Massachusetts Institut of Technology, Cambridge, 1987, p. 70.

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