Fluid flow and heat transfer at micro- and meso-scales

with application to heat exchanger design*

SS Mehendafe and AM Jacob!
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign, Urbana IL 61801; mehendal@uiuc.edu anda-jacobi@uiuc.edu

RK Shah
Delphi Harrison Thermal Systems, Lockport, NY; rkshah@ibm.net

By their very nature, compact heat exchangers allow an efficient use of material, volume, and
energy in thermal systems. These benefits have driven heat exchanger design toward higher
compactness, and the trend toward ultra-compact designs will continue. Highly compact surfaces
can be manufactured using micro-machining and other modern technologies. In this paper, unre-
solved thermal-hydraulic issues related to ultra-compact designs are discussed, and the status of
the technologies required for the production of ultra-compact structured surfaces is summarized.
This review article includes 67 references.

INTRODUCTION In meso- and micro- heat exchangers, new problems and

Since the introduction of the concept of microchannel heat
sinks for electronic cooling by Tuckerman and Pease in
1981, there has been explosive growth in the field of ultra-
compact heat exchangers. Ultra-compact heat exchangers,
also called microchannel heat exchangers or compact high
intensity coolers (CHICs), are finding increased applications.
Such heat exchangers are distinguished by a very high ratio
of surface area to volume, low thermal resistances, small
volumes, lower total mass, and low inventory of working
fluids. Attempts are underway to create complete cooling
systems in miniaturized formats. As this miniaturization
trend continues, lithographic and other microfabrication
techniques that are typically used in the integrated circuit
(IC) industry are being adapted for the fabrication of ultra-
compact heat exchangers.
The literature dealing with heat transfer and flow charac-
teristics in small channels is replete with terms to describe
channel size (eg, micro-, meso-, compact, ultra-compact,
etc). There is no unique hydraulic diameter separating mi-
crochannels from the conventional scale, and, to the best of
the authors' knowledge, a precise terminology for describing
heat exchanger sizes does not exist. In this paper, we will
consider flow and heat transfer in channels with hydraulic
diameters ranging from 1 jim to 6 mm, and we will arbitrar-
ily adopt the following nomenclature for consistency and
ease in understanding:
Micro- heat exchangers: Dh = 1 - 100 um; meso- heat ex-
changers: Dh = 100 um-1 mm; compact heat exchangers: Dh
= 1 - 6 mm; conventional heat exchangers: DH > 6 mm.
questions arise that may be unimportant in compact heat ex-
changer designs. Some of these questions and problems,
which we will address in this paper, are:
1. Large differences exist in the reported friction factors
(0.5 <ffcom < 3.5) and heat transfer coefficients (0.21 <
Nu/Nuconv < 16) for single-phase flow through channels
of hydraulic diameters ranging from 0.96 um to 2.6 mm.
What phenomena are responsible for this wide disparity
in heat transfer and pressure drop data? Down to what
channel sizes can we confidently apply the continuum
theory and the conventional Navier-Stokes (N-S) equa-
tions?
2. Some studies indicate that in micro-/meso-scale pas-
sages, laminar flow starts changing to turbulent flow at
critical Reynolds numbers (Rec) ranging from 200 to
900. Similarly, fully developed turbulent flow has been
reportedly established at Reynolds numbers less than
10,000. Does this early transition really occur? If so,
why, and what impact does it have on the design of
meso- heat exchangers?
3. For single-component condensation of refrigerants, the
heat transfer coefficient increases with a decrease in the
channel dimension from 6 mm through 1 mm. Will this
trend continue when the surface tension is dominant?
4. For boiling, the heat transfer coefficient decreases with
decreasing channel dimensions below about 3 mm.
What causes this phenomenon, and is it possible to
achieve an increase in the boiling heat transfer coeffi-
cient in micro-/meso-channels?
5. If the channel dimensions are of the same order of mag-
nitude as the critical bubble nucleus, it is likely that nu-
cleation may be affected. Will the boiling phenomena

Transmitted by Associate Editor A Kraus

* This article includes material taken from the authors' previous paper, "Heat exchangers at micro- and meso-scales," from Compact Heat Exchangers and
Enhancement Technology for the Process Industries, RK Shah (ed), Begell House (1999) pp 55-74; reproduced with permission from Begell House.
ASME Reprint No AMR290 $18
Appl Mech Rev vol 53, no 7, July 2000 175 2000 American Society of Mechanical Engineers

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 176 Mehendale et al: Fluid flow and heat transfer at micro- and meso-scales Appl Mech Rev vol 53, no 7, July 2000
Table 1. Summary of experimental single-phase studiesgeometry, test fluid, and heat source/sink*
Channel Size Range Surface
Reference Channel H x W or H x W, Di, um Roughness Test Fluid Heat Sink or Source
Geometry or D, Um e/D*
Wu and Little Trapezoidal 28x133-63x149 45.5-83.1 0.05- 0.30 N2, H2, Ar gas Not applicable
(1983)
Wu and Little Trapezoidal 89x312-97x572 134-164 0.12-0.15 Nitrogen gas Liquid nitrogen (heat sink)
(1984)
Pfahler et al Trapezoidal 0.48x115-38.7x77.5 1.0-39.7 0.01 Isopropyl alcohol, Not applicable
(1991) silicone oil (liquids)
N2 and He (gas)
Choi etal (1991) Circular 3-81.2 3-81.2 0.0023- 0.08 Nitrogen gas Ambient air (heat sink)
Yue/a/(1995) Circular 19.6-102 19.6-102 = 0.0028 Nitrogen gas, water Recirculating water (heat sink)
Adams et al Circular 760 and 1090 760 and 1090 Not reported Distilled water Resistance band heaters
(1998)
Mala and Li Circular 50-254 50-254 0.007-0.035 Deionized water Not applicable
(1999)
Tuckerman and Rectangular 320 x 56 85.8-95.3 Not reported Deionized water WSi2 thin film resistor
Pease (1981) 287x55
302 x 50
Peng etal (1994) Rectangular 100 x 200 133 Not reported Water Electrical resist, heating
Wang and Peng Rectangular 700 x 200-700 x 800 320- 747 Not reported Methanol and deion- Electrical resist heating
(1994) ized water
Harms et al (1999 Rectangular 1000x25000 1923 and 404 = 0 and 0.02 Deionized water Film heater
and 1030x251
Rahman and Gui Trapezoidal 217x436-270x415 338-388 = 0.013-0.015 Water, Rl 1 Resistive heaters
(1993)
Gui and Scaringe Trapezoidal 217x436-270x415 338-388 = 0.013-0.015 Water, RU Resistive heaters
(1995)
Campbell et al Multiport 225x31.75-370x63.5 55.7-108.4 Not reported Water Resistive heaters
(1995) Rectangular
Yang and Webb Multiport See Fig Id, le 2637 (P) and Not reported Liquid Rl 2 Water cooling
(1996 a, b) Rectangular and text 1564 (M)
plain (P),
Microfin(M)
Kuan (1996) Multiport 250 x 63 100.6 Not reported Water NiCr resistor
Rectangular
Webb and Zhang Multiport 960 (Circular) 960 (Circular) Not reported Liquid Rl 34a Water cooling
(1997) Circular, No data (Rectangular) No data; and 1310
Rectangular (Rect-angular)
Kim et al. (1998) Multiport 200 x 210-200 x 410 204.9-268.9 Not reported Tap water Not applicable
Rectangular
Adams et al Irregular See Fig 1/and text 1131 Not reported Water Electrical resist, heating
(1999)
' The entries in Tables 1 and 2 are in the same order as they appear in the textby geometry and chronologically, respectively.
observed in such channels be different from those seen As the flow passage hydraulic diameter is reduced with
in conventional channels? more compact surfaces, the heat transfer coefficient increases
Interfacial effects, such as the electric double layer accordingly and assumes an ultra-high value for low Dh sur-
(EDL), are ignored in macroscale fluid mechanics. In faces. In such flow passages, surfaces are not interrupted (eg,
very small microchannels, will such electrokinetic ef- louvering) because there is no increase in the heat transfer
fects influence the flow and heat transfer characteristics, coefficient, but the result is increased cost. So highly com-
and in what direction? pact flow passages are generally continuous, with various
7. Fouling will be an important design consideration for mi- cross-sectional shapes without any interruptions. All the
cro-/meso- surfaces, even with the so-called non-fouling
studies reported in the literature attest to this fact.
or less-fouling fluids. What are the issues for fouling with
such clean fluids, and how can fouling be minimized or
eliminated in micro-/meso- heat exchangers?

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 Appl Mech Rev vol 53, no 7, July 2000 Mehendale et al: Fluid flow and heat transfer at micro- and meso-scales 177

STUDIES OF SINGLE-PHASE AND TWO-PHASE Table la. Summary of the single-phase studies of
FLOW AND HEAT TRANSFER IN MESO- Peng et al (1994) in rectangular channels;
AND MICRO-CHANNELS thefirstgeometry is included in Tables 1 and 2.
First, it should be noted that micro- and meso- heat pipes, Channel
which would form the subject of a state-of-the-art review in Size, Range Dh,um Rec I/IcOQV Nu/Nu,nv.
their own right, are not addressed in the present work. In- Hx W um
1.96 (lam, Rec) < 1 (lam)
stead, interested readers are referred to recent reviews on the 100x300 150 200 0.11 (turb, 0.21 (turb)
subject by Peterson (1992) and Cao and Faghri (1994) for in- Re = 4000)
stance. A comprehensive survey of the literature, applica- 3.16 (lam, Rec) < 1 (lam)
tions and analysis of microchannel heat sinks is given by 200 x 200 200 200 0.32 (turb, 0.30 (turb)
Philips (1990). Gad-el-Hak (1999) has presented a critical Re = 4000)
state-of-the-art review of the fluid flow phenomena impor- 1.62 (lam, Rec) < 1 (lam)
200 x 300 240 400 0.29 (turb,
tant in microdevices. According to him, much physics, 4.03 (turb)
Re = 4000)
chiefly related to the breakdown of the N-S equations, re- 0.75 (lam, Rec) < 1 (lam)
mains to be explored. The traditional N-S model of fluid 200 x 400 267 700 0.65 (turb, 0.72 (turb)
flow with no-slip boundary conditions basically demands Re = 4000)
two conditions: the fluid is a continuum, and the flow is not 3.12 (lam, Rec) < 1 (lam)
300 x 300 300 700 0.62 (turb,
too far from thermodynamic equilibrium. 0.32 (turb)
Re = 4000)
For gases, the Knudsen number Kn (defined as the ratio of
1.26 (lam, Rec) < 1 (lam)
the mean free path to the characteristic length of the flow) 300 x 400 343 700 0.55 (turb, 0.58 (turb)
determines the degree of rarefaction and the applicability of Re = 4000)
traditional flow models. As Kn > 0, the N-S equations de-
scribe near-equilibrium, continuum flows. Slip effects must channels of conventional size. This result is caused by the
be taken into account for Kn > 0.001. The slip velocity (wgas- changes in flow cross section caused by the large roughness.
Mwan) can be expressed in terms of Kn (see Gad-el-Hak, For laminar flow, the value of the experimental friction
1999). For Kn > 0.1, the N-S equations break down and al- factor normalized with respect to the theoretical value,
ternative continuum models are needed, and for Kn > 10, (flfum), was found to lie in the range 1.3 (smoother channels)
free-molecule solutions are used. In liquid flows, it is much to 3.5 (very rough channels, e/D/, = 0.30). Another observa-
harder to find a clear demarcation for the breakdown of the tion was that, the rougher the surface of the channel, the ear-
N-S equations. lier the transition from laminar to turbulent flow (350 < Rec
In this review, we identify and address the unresolved < 900). Moreover, the normalized friction factor flfmb for
thermal-hydraulic issues related to ultra-compact designs, turbulent flow (400 < Re < 15000) ranged between 1.1 (al-
and we discuss the status of technologies required to produce most smooth channels) and 5 (very rough channels, tlDh =
ultra-compact heat exchangers. This review represents an 0.30). Up to a Reynolds number of 15000, the complete tur-
extension and update to our earlier presentation on this topic bulence zone in which the friction factor is independent of
(Mehendale et al, 1999). Re (as shown in the Moody chart) was not found. As is evi-
dent from this study, the surface roughness is important to
Single-phase studies
the pressure drop and heat transfer in very small channels.
In this section, we will summarize existing experimental Accurate measurements of surface roughness are necessary
studies of trapezoidal, circular, rectangular, and parallel plate to correctly interpret the data. Wu and Little did not measure
micro- and meso-channels. Information related to geome- the surface roughness directly, but estimated it using the
tries, test fluid, and heat sink or source information is pre- Karman equation for the complete turbulence zone. Since the
sented in Table 1, and that related to the Re range, Nu,_ cor- friction factor was never independent of Re, it appears erro-
relations, and remarks for the same studies are presented in neous to use the conventional correlation for the fully turbu-
Table 2. Table la shows the results for six rectangular chan- lent zone to estimate the surface relative roughness. Hence,
nels investigated by Peng et al (1994), apart from those the estimated values of surface roughness provided by Wu
summarized in Tables 1 and 2. and Little are questionable.
Trapezoidal channels Wu and Little (1984) measured heat transfer characteris-
tics for the flow of nitrogen gas in heat exchangers used for
In 1983, Wu and Little measured friction factors for the flow
micro-miniature Joule-Thomson refrigerators. The test chan-
of gases in trapezoidal microchannels (see Fig lb) fabricated
nels had a trapezoidal cross section (see Fig lb) and the
using a photolithographic technique. The width Wt of the
channel Dh ranged from 134 to 164 jim. The laminar to tur-
channels varied from 130 to 200 jxm, and the depth H, from 30
bulent heat transfer transition zone occurred at Reynolds
to 60 (am, with a relative surface roughness e/D/, (where e is
numbers ranging from 1000 to 3000. The average heat trans-
the peak-to-valley surface roughness height) between 0.05 and
fer coefficient (based upon the fluid inlet and outlet tem-
0.30. The hydraulic diameter D,, ranged from 45 to 83 [xm.
peratures) was found to be larger for the channels with heat
Their studies revealed that even in laminar flow, the friction
coming from two sides than for the channel with heating
factor was influenced by the channel roughness, unlike in
from only one side. Nusselt numbers in laminar flow (Re <

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 178 Mehendale et al: Fluid flow and heat transfer at micro- and meso-scales Appl Mech Rev vol 53, no 7, July 2000

600) were lower than the predictions by standard correla- (1997) and Yang et al (1998), the interaction between the
tions. For 600 < Re < 1000, the Nusselt number was higher electrostatic charges on the channel wall and the free ions in
than the conventional predictions. Wu and Little used asym- polar liquids in very small channels tends to increase the
metrically rough channels and compared their results to a friction factor relative to flows free from such effects. The
correlation valid for smooth tubes. results of Pfahler et al are contrary to this expectation. With
Friction factor measurements were carried out by Pfahler gaseous flow in a channel with a hydraulic diameter of 1.01
et al (1991) for flow in small trapezoidal channels etched in |im and a depth of 0.51 \x.m,flf[3m was observed to decrease
silicon (see Fig lb). They used isopropyl alcohol (a polar with decreasing Re. The authors suggested a rarefied gas ef-
liquid), silicone oil (a non-polar liquid), and nitrogen and he- fect to explain the trend of decreasingflf\am.Rarefied gas ef-
lium gases. H ranged from 0.5 to 39 jim and the channel sur- fects first become significant for 0.001 < Kn < 0.1. Pfahler et
face relative roughness was about 0.01. The hydraulic di- al also calculated Kn for some of the smaller channels they
ameters of the channels ranged from 0.96 to 39.7 |Jm. For the tested. For the 0.51 pm x 96.6 |im {Dh = 1.01 (im) channel,
largest channels tested, the flow behaved as predicted by the they found that Kn at the channel inlet (Kn^) was 0.012 and
N-S equations. However, as the hydraulic diameter was re- Kn at the outlet (Knout) was 0.129 with nitrogen flowing
duced from 39.7 (im to 0.96 \\m,flf\am for the flow of isopro- through it. Similarly, using Helium, Kn^ was 0.025 and Knoat
pyl alcohol dropped from 1.05 to 0.75, and for silicone oil, was 0.363. Indeed, Kn for the above channel falls within the
Jlfjsm varied from 0.75 to 0.85. For both liquids,flf]amwas es- range in which rarefaction effects first become important.
sentially independent of the Re. As pointed out by Mala et al This observation emphasizes the need to account for rarefac-
tion effects in gas flows through microchannels.
w w Circular microtubes
AH-
H Choi et al (1991) measured the friction factor, in-
1 ner wall roughness, and the convective heat trans-
fer coefficient for the laminar and turbulent flow
(a) (b) (c) of nitrogen gas in circular microtubes (see Fig lc).
The microtube inside diameter ranged from 3 to 81
|am and eJD/, was between 0.0023 and 0.08. For
laminar flow,y7/iam was found to lie between 0.73
and 0.81 and was independent of the channel
roughness. Re was approximately 2300 at the on-
(e) set of turbulence. Friction factor values in the tur-
bulent region were 10% to 30% lower than those
predicted by the Blasius relation for smooth tubes.
The experimental heat transfer coefficients devi-
ated significantly from the predictions of the cor-
relations used for conventional-sized tubes. The
measured heat transfer coefficients (based on the
46.0 inlet and exit temperatures of nitrogen, and not on
the bulk temperature) in laminar flow increased
with increasing Re. The authors state that this
finding is not in accord with the expectation of a
constant Nusselt number for fully developed lami-
nar flow. However, it should be pointed out that
48.0 this expectation is not justified, since the bulk
temperature of the fluid has not been considered
while calculating h. The authors explained the
(h)
lower friction factors in turbulent flow by sug-
gesting the suppression of the turbulent eddy mo-
Dh=U31mm tion in the radial direction, but not in the axial di-
rection, due to the small diameter of the channels.
This explanation cannot, however, account for the
high turbulent h.
Yu et al (1995) investigated the flow and heat
Fig 1. Micro-scale and meso-scale geometries investigated (a) Rectangular, (b)
Trapezoidal, (c) Circular, (d) Rectangular with Webs, (e) Similar to (d) but with transfer characteristics of dry nitrogen gas and
microfins, (e) Circular Microtubes, (f) Multiport Circular, (g) I-pattern (Rahman water in microtubes with diameters of 19.6, 52.1,
and Gui, 1993), (h) U-pattem (Rahman and Gui, 1993), (i) Geometry used by and 102 \xm. />/, were of the same order of
Adams et al, 1999. Note that (a), (b), (c) and (i) represent single channels, while magnitude as those reported by Choi et al (1991),
(d), (e), (f), (g) and (h) represent multiple channel geometries. In laminar flow, the friction factor was reduced

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 Appl Mech Rev vol 53, no 7, July 2000 Mehendale et al: Fluid flow and heat transfer at micro- and meso-scales
by about 19%, and that in turbulent flow was reduced by 5%,
compared to the predictions of conventional correlations.
Heat transfer data were obtained only for water. The water,
before entering the test section, was heated by a heating ele-
ment, and was cooled in the test section by recirculating wa-
ter roughly at constant temperature. A modified LMTD ap-
proach was used to calculate h. At low Re, Nu/Nuconv was ~
1, but the Nusselt numbers increased above the conventional
prediction as Re increased. The Nusselt number data indi-
cated a weaker dependence on Pr (Nu <* Pr0'2) compared to
conventional correlations (Nu <* Pr0'4), suggesting the possi-
bility of a different convective heat transfer mechanism in
the microtubes compared to conventional tube sizes.
Turbulent, single-phase forced convection of water in cir-
cular meso-channels with diameters of 760 and 1090 urn was
investigated by Adams et al (1998). Nusselt numbers were
higher than those predicted by the Gnielinski correlation de-
veloped for conventional-sized channels. Their data sug-
gested that the extent of enhancement over the Gnielinski
correlation increased with an increase in Re and a decrease in
the channel diameter. An enhancement as high as 1.8 was
measured for the 760 um channel at Re = 20000. No physi-
cal explanation of these results was offered.
Mala and Li (1999) measured the pressure drop and the
flow rate for the flow of deionized water through micro-
/mesotubes with diameters ranging from 50 to 254 jam. Stain-
less steel and fused silica tubes, with a mean surface relative
roughness e/Dh ranging from 0.007 to 0.035, were employed.
To eliminate the effect of entrance and exit losses, the experi-
ments were conducted for each tube diameter with two differ-
ent tube lengths, l\ and /j. The difference in the two pressure
drop values was assumed to be equal to the pressure drop re-
quired to force the liquid through a tube of length l2 - l\. For
small Re, the measured pressure gradient (dp/dx) was close to
that predicted by the Poiseuille equation. At higher Re, the
measured pressure gradient was significantly higher than the
predicted value; the difference was slightly higher for the
fused silica tubes and increased with a decrease in the tube di-
ameter. The ratio _/7/fam ranged from 1.07 to 1.34 for 80 < Re <
2000, and was a strong function of Re. For Re < 650, dp/dx
was proportional to Re1'072, suggesting the existence of laminar
flow. For Re > 1500, the data were correlated by dp/dx c
Re2'0167, implying fully developed turbulent flow. For 650 <
Re < 1500, dp/dx <* Re1'3204, indicating a transition from lami-
nar to turbulent flow. For Re > 1500,/was closely approxi-
mated by the Blasius equation, further supporting the exis-
tence of turbulent flow. To explain the differences between the
measured pressure drops and the Poiseuille equation from an-
other angle, the authors also applied the theory of Merkle et al
(1974), which quantifies the effect of the surface roughness on
laminar flow in terms of a roughness-viscosity (RV) function.
Generally, roughness increases the momentum transfer in the
boundary layer near the wall. This additional momentum
transfer has been accounted for by introducing a roughness-
viscosity analogous to the concept of eddy viscosity in turbu-
lent flow. Apparently, the RV should be higher near the wall,
gradually diminish toward the center of the channel, and be
proportional to Re. The RV model predicted an increase in
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179
dp/dx over the Poiseuille prediction for a given flow rate,
yielding excellent agreement with the data. To summarize, the
authors propose two possible reasons for the discrepancy be-
tween the data and the prediction of the Poiseuille equation:
early transition from laminar to turbulent flow, or the influ-
ence of surface roughness.
A comparative study of the above investigations for cir-
cular micro-/meso-channels reveals some interesting facts:
1. Comparing the studies of Choi et al and Mala and Li, in
which there is an overlap in the range of channel diameters
and Reynolds numbers tested, one sees that there is a basic
disagreement in the Reynolds numbers reported for the
transition from laminar to turbulent flow. Choi et al assume
transition to occur at the Re (~ 2300 for nitrogen gas) at
which the slope of the f-Re curve changes markedly. Mala
and Li, on the other hand, did not apply this criterion over
the range of Reynolds numbers they tested with water.
They correlated the experimental pressure gradient as a
function of Re and classified the flow regime (laminar,
transition, or turbulent) according to the power of Re in the
correlation, with transition starting at Re ~ 650.
2. Since the channels employed by Choi et al had a mean
relative roughness (MRR) ranging from 0.0001 to 0.008,
a very low value, they found thatflf\3mwas not influenced
by the surface roughness. Mala and Li, with a higher
MRR range of 0.007 to 0.035, obtained excellent agree-
ment between their friction factor data and the prediction
of the RV model, which takes into account the effect of
surface roughness on the flow. One would expect that the
higher the MRR, the greater would be the influence of
surface roughness on the friction factor, leading to a
greater deviation between experiment and theory. A com-
parison between the studies of Choi et al and Mala and Li
supports this conclusion.
3. Adams et al stated that Nii/Nu^y would increase with de-
creasing channel diameter. Choi et al employed smaller
channels (3-81 um) than Adams et al (760 and 1090 urn),
and even though they obtained Nu/Nuconv as high as 16,
their results do not indicate the trend suggested by Adams
et al. In fact, the turbulent Nu versus Re data of Choi et al
for channel diameters 53 and 81.2 um fall very close to one
another (contrary to the trend suggested by Adams et al).
4. The studies of Choi et al and Yu et al indicate that j/fmw <
1 and Nu/Nuconv > 1 for laminar as well as turbulent flow,
which is a favorable factor in microscale heat exchanger
design. The results of Adams et al also show that Nu/Nuconv
> 1 for turbulent flow through meso-scale channels.
Rectangular channels
Tuckerman and Pease (1981) conducted one of the early in-
vestigations of fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics in
microchannels with a rectangular cross section (see Fig la).
They demonstrated that an electronic chip could be effec-
tively cooled by means of water flowing in microchannels
fabricated on the circuit board. The flow channels were 50
jim wide by about 300 (am deep. The flow rate was found to
obey the Poiseuille equation and the thermal resistance (typi-
cally 0.1C/W) was found to be independent of the power
 180 Mehendale et ah Fluid flow and heat transfer at micro- and meso-scales
2
level (up to 790 W/m ), as one would expect for fully devel-
oped laminar flow.
Peng et al (1994) experimentally investigated the flow
characteristics and the forced convection of water through
rectangular channels having hydraulic diameters of 133-367
|im and aspect ratios (H/W) of 0.333-1. The measurements
indicated that the upper bound of the laminar heat transfer
regime occurred at a Reynolds number of 200 to 700 and that
fully turbulent convective heat transfer regime was reached
at a Reynolds number of 400 to 1500. The transition Re de-
creased with the reduction of the mesochannel dimensions.
For the laminar heat transfer regime, the Nusselt number was
found to be proportional to Re0'62. However, it should be
noted that, because Peng et al based the heat transfer coeffi-
cient on the inlet fluid temperature, the expectation of a con-
stant Nusselt number is not justified. The turbulent heat
transfer data exhibited a relationship between Nu and Re
similar to that found in the Dittus-Boelter correlation, but
with a different empirical coefficient. Geometric parameters
were found to significantly affect the heat transfer character-
istics. The experiments indicated that the laminar convective
heat transfer had a maximum value when H/W ~ 0.75. The
turbulent heat transfer was optimal when 0.5 < H/W < 0.75.
The onset of turbulence was determined by marking Re at
the point at which the slope of the friction factor curve un-
derwent a perceptible change. The authors argue that in these
small channels, the intensity of the velocity fluctuations
needed to initiate turbulence can easily and quickly penetrate
over the entire channel cross section. Consequently, transi-
tion occurs immediately upon disturbance of the flow, even
at much lower Reynolds numbers, as compared to that in
larger channels. Such scale effects are expected to be prop-
erly represented in the conventional Re, and the authors do
not explain why they are not. For H/W around 0.5 in small
channels, the experimental friction factor was found to be
less than the theoretical value. For other aspect ratios, de-
creasing the microchannel size resulted in a flow resistance
that was higher than the predicted value.
Experiments were conducted by Wang and Peng (1994) to
study the behavior of single-phase forced convection of liq-
uids (de-ionized water and methanol) through mesochannels
with a rectangular cross section. The hydraulic diameter was
in the range 312 to 747 (im. The liquid velocity was varied
from 0.2 to 2.1 m/s. They found that the fully developed tur-
bulent heat transfer regime was initiated at Reynolds num-
bers ranging from 1000 to 1500. The thermophysical proper-
ties of the liquid changed markedly as the flow passed
through the channel, and Re at the channel exit could in-
crease to double that at the inlet. Therefore, the early transi-
tion to turbulence might be partially attributed to the variable
Re. However, a complete explanation is still not clear. Ex-
perimental Nusselt numbers were consistently lower than the
correlations of Dittus-Boelter and Wu and Little.
The hydrodynamic and thermal performance of a single
rectangular channel (Dh = 1923 jam) and a channel configu-
ration with 68 parallel passages (Dh = 404 (am) was reported
by Harms et al (1999). The relative roughness of the chan-
nels, determined by profilometer measurements, was about
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Appl Mech Rev vol 53, no 7, July 2000
0.02 for the multiple channel system and negligible for the
single channel. For the single channel,/could not be deter-
mined because the manifold pressure drop was large relative
to the channel pressure drop. For the multiple mesochannel
system, a clear transition from laminar to turbulent flow was
noticed at Re c 1500, based on a change in slope of the f-Re
curve. Comparison with theoretical predictions for laminar
(developing flow) as well as turbulent flow (fully developed
flow) showed excellent agreement. At low flow rates,/was
slightly lower than/ am . The local Nusselt number was evalu-
ated at two axial locations, xll = 0.25 and x/l = 0.75. For both
channel designs, experimental Nusselt numbers agreed
poorly with theory. For the single channel, Nu/Nuconv > 1 for
all flow rates. The authors suggest that this enhancement
may be due to the effect of the 90 bend at the inlet of the
channel. For the multiple channel system, there was reason-
able agreement with theory at high Re, but a significant de-
viation (Nu/ Nuconv < 1) at low Re. This deviation was attrib-
uted to flow maldistribution in the inlet manifold at low flow
rates. Notwithstanding this poor agreement between theory
and experiment, the authors still believe that conventional
relations for Nu are appropriate for predicting heat transfer in
mesochannel systems, provided the manifold is correctly de-
signed (to minimize flow maldistribution). Finally, compar-
ing the thermal resistance relative to the pressure drop for the
two systems, the developing laminar flow multiple channel
system provides a better overall performance than the fully
developed single channel.
Other geometries
Rahman and Gui (1993) investigated the single phase heat
transfer characteristics of liquid water and R-l 1 through meso-
scale trapezoidal channels etched in a Silicon wafer. Electric
circuits (for heating the liquid) as well as the channels were
KOH etched on a 700 |im thick Si wafer. Two different flow
arrangements were studied. In the 'I-pattern' (see Fig lg), the
fluid was distributed to twelve 46-mm-long channels in paral-
lel, etched over an area of 34 mm x 46 mm on the wafer. The
inlet and outlet manifolds were rectangular (2 mm x 34 mm),
and their depth was equal to that of the channels. A total of 13
resistance heating elements were connected in parallel over an
area of 36 mm x 47.5 mm, with the idea of generating a uni-
form heat flux. The 'U-pattern' (see Fig lh), on the other
hand, consisted of a single path spanning the length of the wa-
fer, yielding twelve passes between the inlet and the outlet.
For each flow arrangement, test articles with different channel
depths were fabricated. Single phase data were presented only
for the I-pattern. In the laminar regime (Re < 2300), the meas-
ured Nusselt numbers for water and R-l 1 were larger than the
predictions of an analytical solution for laminar, thermally de-
veloping flow through a rectangular channel. The large rela-
tive roughness of the channels (roughness ~ 5 jam, e/Dh ~
0.015) was thought to be responsible for this increased heat
transfer; the rough channel surface repeatedly breaks up the
thermal boundary layer and keeps it from developing, accord-
ing to Rahman and Gui.
The study of Rahman and Gui (1993) was refined and ex-
tended by Gui and Scaringe (1995), who reported local and
 Appl Mech Rev vol 53, no 7, July 2000 Mehendale et at. Fluid flow and heat transfer at micro- and meso-scales
average single phase Nu data for the electrical heating of water
as it flowed through I-pattern test articles described earlier.
Experimental friction factors were determined by deducting
the estimated dynamic losses from the total pressure drop. The
data corresponding to Re < 1400 deviated only about 10%
from the analytical predictions for laminar, hydrodynamically
fully developed flow. For Re > 1400, the experimental friction
factors increased progressively above the analytical predic-
tions, indicating the beginning of a transition to turbulent flow.
The authors speculate that the large relative roughness (e/D/. ~
0.015) may be responsible for the shift in Rec from 2300 to
1400. Local Nusselt number data were presented for two dif-
ferent channel/header designs. The experimental data were
about 8% higher than approximate analytical predictions for
laminar, thermally developing (but hydrodynamically fully
developed) flows at a location 4 mm downstream of the inlet
header, and this difference increased to 40% at a location 4
mm upstream of the exit header. It should be noted that the
analytical predictions assumed a uniform heat flux from all
four sides of the channel, whereas in the Si wafer, the top sur-
face of the channels was formed by a plexiglas slab and was
not heated. Considering this difference between the experi-
mental and analytical boundary conditions, the analytical so-
lution based on realistic boundary conditions would yield
lower Nusselt numbers, thus increasing the difference between
the measured and predicted Nusselt numbers to greater than
40%. The authors ascribe this enhanced heat transfer to pre-
existing turbulence at the channel entrance, which delays the
development of the thermal boundary layer. The authors have
also presented average Nu data for the complete heat exchang-
ers. The measured mean Nusselt numbers were up to 30%
higher than analytical predictions for laminar flow. In the tran-
sition regime (Re > 1400), the data were found to He almost
midway between the analytical limits corresponding to fully
turbulent flow and laminar flow.
The limitations of fragility and lack of versatility in de-
sign, which are inherent in conventional silicon microchan-
nel coolers, motivated Campbell et al (1995) to study copper
microchannel coolers. Copper micro- and meso-channels
with passage widths of 32 and 63.5 jim were fabricated using
two different designs. The conventional design used simple
short rectangular passages, while the impingement design
employed a confined two-dimensional internal jet. The ther-
mal performance of the copper coolers was found to be supe-
rior to that of comparable silicon coolers at greatly reduced
Conductive
epox Glass
Heat
exchanger
"\Plexiglass
Fig 2. Cross sectional view of experimental assembly, Kuan (1996).
Downloaded From: http://appliedmechanicsreviews.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 11/02/2017 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use
181
pumping powers (up to 20% less). The 32 jjm impingement
model copper microchannel cooler was found to yield the
best thermal performance among those studied.
Yang and Webb (1996a) measured the heat transfer coef-
ficients for the turbulent flow of subcooled liquid R-12
flowing in rectangular, plain, and internally finned tubes
with hydraulic diameters of 2.64 and 1.56 mm, respectively
(see Fig Id and le). The Reynolds number ranged from
2300-25000. For a fixed Re (based on D/,), the enhancement
in the heat transfer coefficient for the internally finned tube
over the plain tube was found to be proportional to the inter-
nal surface area increase provided by the microfins. For both
tube geometries, the heat transfer coefficients were up to
10% lower than the predictions of the Petukhov et al corre-
lation based on the hydraulic diameter.
Yang and Webb (1996b) also measured the adiabatic, sin-
gle-phase liquid pressure drop for R-12 flow through the
same tubes. They found the friction factors for the plain and
microfm tubes to be uniformly 14% and 36% higher, respec-
tively, than those predicted by the Blasius equation.
Kuan (1996) fabricated meso- heat exchangers on a sili-
con wafer (Fig 2). The mesochannels were 250 jim deep (H)
and 63 (im wide (W), with a channel wall thickness of 37 [lm
(channel geometry is not clear). The thermal resistance be-
tween the heater and the water inlet was measured and the
experimental results were found to be in reasonable agree-
ment with a previous theoretical study for mesochannel heat
exchangers.
Webb and Zhang (1997) performed experiments to meas-
ure friction and heat transfer data in meso-channel passages
with hydraulic diameters of 0.96 mm (circular, Fig If) and
1.31 mm (rectangular, similar to Fig Id but with nine parallel
channels). The single-phase friction factor data for the tur-
bulent flow of liquid R134a were found to be in good agree-
ment with the Blasius correlation. Heat transfer coefficients
for cooling subcooled liquid were well predicted by the
Petukhov equation (within 10%). The heat transfer data
were also found to agree reasonably well with the Dittus-
Boelter correlation, in contrast to the results reported by
Wang and Peng for smaller rectangular channels.
Streaming Conduction
Chi amilei wall Flow current cumnt
T A
O m O
_ d_ <_ O T #
. b oo o 0 o
fi o 0 A A Counterion
o O
o Cojpn
Q
Diffuse Double Layer
^Compact Layer
Fig 3. Schematic representation of the electric double layer at the
channel wall
 182 Mehendale et at. Fluid flow and heat transfer at micro- and meso-scales Appl Mech Rev vol 53, no 7, July 2000
Table 2. Summary of experimental single-phase studies - Nu and/correlations and Re range
Authors Re Range Re, JiJeonv Nu/NUcoov Correlations Remarks
Wuand 100-15000 350-900 1.3-3.5 (lam) Not Studied / = (110 8) Re'1 for Re < 900 Abnormally high relative
Little 1.1-5.0 (turb) / = 0.165(3.48-logRe) 2 ' 4 roughness.
(1983) Questionable method of esti-
for 900 < Re < 3000
mating relative roughness.
/ = (0.195 0.017) Re"011
for 3000 < Re < 15000
Wuand 400-20000 1000-3000 Not Studied <l,Re<650 N u = 0.00222 Pr' 4 Re 109 Asymmetrically rough sur-
Little (lam);>l,650< faces. Data compared to
(1984) Re < 1000 (lam); for Re > 3000 (turb) smooth tube correlations for
1.38-1.69 (turb) laminar flow, h based on Tm
and Toa.
Pfahler et 0.01-70, Not 0.75-1 (lam) Not studied Not reported Rarefaction effects may be-
a/(1991) isopropa- applicable come important at A ~ l p m .
nol; Different Re ranges consid-
0.02-60, ered for comparmgy7/cov as a
silicone function of/);,.
oil; 0.01-
100, gas
Choi et al 30-20000 2300 0.73-0.81 (lam) >1 (lam) - I Rarefaction effects may cause
(1991) 0.7-0.9 (turb) 7.25-16.2 (turb) / = 6Re4 f [. + 30f[ DC* 11
J
low/in laminar flow. Incon-
sistent explanation for in-
for Re < 2300 (lam); C a =307 crease in h and decrease i n /
in turbulent flow.
/ = 0.14 Re0-182
for 4000 < Re < 18000 (turb)
Nu = 9.72xl0 J , Re U 7 Pr" : '
for Re < 2000 (lam)
Nu = 3.82xlO- 6 Re' % Pr" 3
for 2500 < Re < 20000 (turb)
Yu et al 224-19423 2000 0.77-0.81 (lam) 8.5-15.3 (turb) f = 50.13/Re for Re < 2000 (lam)
(1995) 0.95-0.98 (turb) f = 0.302/Re0'25 for 6000 < Re <
20000 (turb)
Nu = 0.007Re u Pr a2 for 6000 < Re <
20000 (turb)
Adams et 3200- Not appli- Not studied 1.1-1.8 (turb) NU = NUG,,(1+F) Correlation predicts zero en-
a/(1998) 23000 cable hancement for Do = 1.164
mm. At vanishingly small di-
F = 7.6xlO" 5 Re 1 -
ameters, the enhancement is a
function of Re alone.
where Do =1164 pm, and Nua, is Nu
from Gnielinski correlation (1976)
Mala and 80-2100 300-900 1.07-1.34 Not studied dp/dx= 121.77 Re1072 Two approaches to explain
Li (1999) for Re < 650 data: influence of roughness
and early transition to
dp/dx= 19.25 Re u 2 0 4
turbulence.
for 650 < Re < 1500
dp/dx = 0.1341 Re20167
for Re > 1500
Tucker- 730 Not re- Not reported Not studied Not reported Pioneering experimental
man and ported study of microchannel heat
Pease transfer.
(1981)
Peng et al 50-4000 200 0.47 (lam, Rec) < 1 (lam) Significant effect of H/W, D
f
(1994) 0.03 (turb, 0.41 (turb) = T5*'> Cf., = f(H/W)(lam) on/, h. Smaller Dh -> lower
Re = 4000) Re198 Rec and lower transition
range, h based on Tm, which
f = - % = - ; Cr,,= f(H/W) (turb) could possibly explain the
Re 1 ' 72 low h except for the channel
Nu = CH,i Re0'62 Pr1" (lam) with Dh = 240 urn.
Nu = CH., Re4'5 Pr"3 (turb)

An important consideration in the flow through very small
channels (less than a few micrometers) could be the presence
and influence of an electric field. Most solid surfaces have
electrostatic charges. Even if the liquid has very few ions, the
arrangement of the electrostatic charges on the solid surface
and the balancing counter-ions in the liquid will establish an
electric field called the electric double layer (EDL) (see Fig 3).
In the compact layer near the solid surface, about 0.5 nrn thick,
the ions are almost immobile because of the presence of the
strong solid surface electric field. In the diffuse double layer,
the thickness of which ranges from a few nanometers to sev-
eral hundreds of nanometers, the ions are mobile. The motion

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 Appl Mech Rev vol 53, no 7, July 2000 Mehendale et ah Fiuid flow and heat transfer at micro- and meso-scales 183
Table 2 (continued). Summary of experimental single-phase studies - Nu and/"correlations and Re range
Authors Re Range Re, ./Vconv Nu/Niw Correlations Remarks
Wang and 80-4000 1000-1500 Not studied 0.35 (turb) 08 3 /z based on Tm, which could
Nu = 0.00805Re ' Pr"
Peng explain low h. Dittus-
(1994) (fully developed turbulent flow) Boelter (D-B) used for com-
parison though Re < 4000.
Harms et 173-3169 and = 1500 = 1,<1 at low >1(N=1) Not reported Abnormally high relative
al(1999) 1383-12900 Re (N = 68) < 1 (N = 68) roughness for N = 68.
Rahman 900-3000 2300 Not reported > 1 (lam) Not reported Surface roughness thought
and Gui to be responsible for en-
(1993) hanced heat transfer by
breaking up developing
boundary layer.
Nu,= 0.1833Re0'5795 (laminar)
If!

833.5-9955 1400 0.9-1.1 (lam) 1.08-1.40 (lam, local) One of the first studies as-
< 1.30 (lam, mean) Nu,=0.03314Re0'8170 (transi- cribing enhanced h in meso-
tional); Pr=7-ll, channel as- scale channels to channel
pect ratio=2.5-3.6, e/Di, = 0.015 entrance effects, pre-
existing turbulence in flow
and delayed thermal bound-
ary layer development due
to surface roughness.
Campbell Not reported Not studied Not reported Not reported Not reported "Impingement" model not
etal described in paper and
(1995) therefore unclear.
Yang and 2500-23000 1.14 (plain) 0.9-1.0 h based on Ti, T0,.
Webb / = 0.0676 R e ^ ' 2 2
1.36 (mierofin) Petukhov used for compari-
(1996 son though
a,b) / = 0.0814 Ren"'22 4000 < Re < 21000.
Webb and 5000-25000 0.989-1.038 1.05-1.12 h based on Ti, Tout.
/ = 0.0605 Re^'22
Zhang Petukhov and D-B used
(1997) 7Vw=0.0172Re a84 Pr" 3 for comparison though
5000 < Re < 25000.
Kim etal 200-3500 2500 0.97-1.37 Not studied Not reported
(1998)
Adams et 3900-21400 Not Not studied 0.90-1.10 Not reported Correlation proposed in
al(1999) applicable Adams et al (1999) con-
firmed for irregular geome-
tries.

of ions in the EDL in the liquid flow direction causes the
streaming current to flow in the downstream direction. The ac-
cumulation of ions downstream causes the upstream conduc-
tion current. The movement of ions in the EDL causes the liq-
uid to be pulled with the ions. Thus, the liquid flow and the as-
sociated heat transfer are affected by the presence of the EDL.
Mala et al (1997) analyzed the effects of the EDL on liquid
flow and heat transfer through microchannels between two
parallel plates. The depth of the channels was very small com-
pared to the channel width (HAV - 0). The EDL and stream-
ing potential were found to act against the liquid flow, result-
ing in an apparent viscosity several times higher than the bulk
viscosity of the liquid. Further, the presence of the EDL re-
sulted in a predicted flow velocity (and hence Re) lower than
that in conventional theory, thus affecting the temperature dis-
tribution and reducing Re and heat transfer.
Yang et al (1998) extended the analysis of Mala et al
(1997) by considering a two-dimensional Poisson-Boltzmann
equation to describe the electrical potential distribution in a
rectangular channel. The maximum velocity in the channel
and the volumetric flow rate were much lower than in classi-
cal Poiseuille flow. Because of the decrease in the flow rate,
the temperature in the microchannel was found to increase.
The fRe factor was higher than the predictions of conven-
tional theory because of the electric field. The local Nusselt
number was as much as 10% lower because of EDL effects.
EDL effects on microchannel flow and heat transfer may be-
come unimportant when the channel size exceeds 40 jam.
Mala et al (1997) reported measurements of the flow of
distilled water and aqueous solutions through silicon and
glass microchannels between parallel plates. The height of
the channels ranged from 10 to 280 |im. The results indicated
that, depending on the channel height and the electrical
properties of the channel surface, the measured flow rate of
the distilled water was up to 80% lower than that predicted
by using the classical Poiseuille equation.
Kim et al (1998) fabricated fluid conduits using ceramic
tape and thick film technologies (refer to the section on micro-
fabrication technologies for process details). Various conduit
geometries (typically with a rectangular cross section and
widths ranging from 100 to 400 |jm), ranging from straight
segments with various angles between them to arcs and spi-
rals, were machined. They measured the pressure drop of un-
treated tap water as a function of conduit geometry and flow
rate in straight and L-shaped channels and compared it to the
theoretical predictions for incompressible flow in various con-
duits. For straight conduits, the experimental Poiseuille num-
ber (same as fRe) was greater than the theoretical value for
most channels. The relative difference was as high as 37% for
the 200 x 400 \xm rectangular channel. Part of this discrepancy

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 184 Mehendale et ah Fluid flow and heat transfer at micro- and meso-scales Appl Mech Rev vol 53, no 7, July 2000
Table 3. Summary of experimental two-phase studies*
Reference Channel Geometry Channel Size Hydraulic Surface Test Fluid Heat source or Sink
Range Diameter (um) Roughness
H x W o r Hx e/Dh
W, or D (um)
Peng et al Rectangular 200 x 100-300 x 133-343 Not reported Water methanol Electrical resistance heating
(1996) 400 mixture
Ravigururajan Rectangular 1000x270 425 Not reported R124 Electrical resistance heating
(1998)
Bowers and Circular 2540 and 510 2540 and 510 Not reported R113 Thick-film resistor powered by
Mudawar(1994) a 0-240 V. A.C. variac
Tongefa/(1997) Circular 1050-2440 1050-2440 Not reported Distilled water Electrical resistance heating
Trano/(I996) Circular 2460 2460 Not reported R12 Electrical resistance heating
Rectangular 1700x4060 2400
Rahman and Gui Trapezoidal 217 x 436-270 x 338-388 = 0.013- Water, Rl 1 Resistive heaters
(1993) 415 0.015
Yang and Webb Rectangular plain (P), See Figure l.d, 2637(P) Not reported R12 Water Cooling
(1996) microfin (M) l.e and text 1564 (M)
* The entries in Tables 3 and 4 are in the same order as they appear in the textby geometry and chronologically, respectively.

was attributed to the fact that the authors did not account for
the conduit entrance and exit losses.
In order to test the validity of the hypothesis of Adams et
al (1998) that the smallest hydraulic diameter down to which
the Gnielinski correlation applies is about D0 = 1.167 mm,
Adams et al (1999) obtained Nusselt number data for turbu-
lent forced convection of water flowing through a channel
with Dh = 1.131 mm (within 2.5% of D0) as it was electri-
cally heated. The flow passage was created using the elec-
trode discharge machining technique. It was designed to
simulate the interior sub-channels of a triangularly arranged
rod bundle with rod diameters of 3.2 mm and a pitch-to-
diameter ratio of 1.15 (see Fig li). Local fluid temperatures
were calculated based on an energy balance between the test
section inlet and the axial locations of thermocouple probes
used to measure the wall temperature. The experimental Nu
data were closely predicted by the Gnielinski correlation; all
the data fell within 10% of the predicted values. The results
suggest that the size limit reported by Adams et al (1998) for
the applicability of traditional correlations for Nu in turbu-
lent single phase flow is also valid as a hydraulic diameter
limit for noncircular channels.
Cuta et al (1995) fabricated mesoscale heat exchangers
and reported preliminary heat transfer data. Two different
designs were developed:
1. 54 channels, each 1000 um deep by 270 um wide and
2.052 cm long, were cut in a copper substrate by conven-
tional machining. In one of the two copper test articles,
four diagonal cuts were made across the parallel channels
to open lateral flow paths between the channels.
2. 166 channels, each 100 um x 100 um and 2.052 cm long,
were chemically etched in a Si wafer 2.3 mm thick.
Heat loads were simulated by attaching an electrical resis-
tance heater to the back of the test article. For the Si test arti-
cles, only single-phase tests with distilled water were re-
ported, while for the metal heat exchangers, results were re-
ported for the single-phase flow of distilled water and the
single- and two-phase flow of R-124. For water flowing
through the metal test articles, a maximum heat flux of 99.1
W/cm2 was realized. At a flow rate of about 209 ml/min, the
pressure drop was about 20.7 kPa. With R-124 as the test
fluid, measurements at power levels similar to those in the
distilled water tests showed noticeably higher surface tem-
peratures because of the lower specific heat of R-124. A
comparison was made between the surface temperatures at a
flow rate of 100 ml/min through the metal test article with
diagonal cuts and the Si test article. The results showed that
the temperatures were generally lower in the Si heat ex-
changer, for which there are two reasons. First, only water
(with a higher specific heat than R-124) was used as the test
fluid in the Si heat exchangers. Second, the thermal conduc-
tivity of Si is greater than that of copper, so that the heat
flows more easily through the Si substrate, leading to a lower
surface temperature for the same.
A comparative and critical study of the single-phase in-
vestigations summarized above reveals some interesting
facts. In Peng et al (1994) and Wang and Peng (1994), the
heat transfer coefficient is based on the fluid inlet tempera-
ture and not the bulk temperature. This interpretation leads to
a lower estimate of the heat transfer coefficient compared to
that based on the bulk temperature. This fact could partially
explain Nu/Nuconv < 1 for most of the channels they investi-
gated. Similarly, Yang and Webb (1996a), Webb and Zhang
(1997), and Adams et al (1998) based their heat transfer co-
efficients on the fluid inlet and outlet temperatures.
In Wang and Peng (1994), Re < 4000, whereas the Dittus-
Boelter correlation they have used for comparison applies only
for Re > 10000. In Yang and Webb (1996a), 4000 < Re <
21000, and in Webb and Zhang (1997), 5000 < Re < 25000,
but these studies use the Petukhov correlation as a basis for
comparison, and it is valid only for 10000 < Re < 500000.
Finally, it would be interesting to study the effect of flow
passage geometry on the data. Considering the circular chan-
nels employed by Choi et al (D = 3, 7, 9.7, 53 and 81.2 um)
and the trapezoidal ones used by Pfahler et al (D/, = 0.5
through 39 um), it is seen that both achieved JIfiam < 1. How-
ever, comparison of the performance of the bigger channels
used by Choi et al with the trapezoidal channels used by Wu
and Little (1983) (46 < Dh < 83 urn) indicates that the latter
authors obtained much larger friction factors; this is mostly
due to the abnormally rough surfaces (e/A, = 0.05-0.30) they

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 Appl Mech Rev vol 53, no 7, July 2000 Mehendale et al: Fluid flow and heat transfer at micro- and meso-scales
Table 4. Summary of two-phase studies
Reference Re range I'tcOQV
Peng et al, (1996) Not reported Not reported
Ravigururajan (1998) 4656-39900 Not reported
Bowers and 86-768 0.70-1.30
Mudawar(1994)
Tong etal (1997) 44000-183000 0.85-1.15 (single phase)
Tranera/(1996) 690.5-9841 (circular) Not studied
507.7-5828 (rectangular)
Rahman and Gui 450-2250 Not studied
(1993)
Yang and Webb 6000-50000 (Equivalent 0.8-1.2
(1996) Re)
used. Thus, comparative data for channels of various
geometries with the same Dh are scarce.
Two-phase studies
There are fewer studies of two-phase flow than of single-
phase flow in micro- and meso-channels. Below we present
some recent studies on two-phase flow through meso-
channels. For various channel geometries, investigations of
adiabatic pressure drop, evaporation, and condensation ap-
pear in that order.
The two-phase studies described below are summarized in
Tables 3 and 4. Information related to channel geometries,
test fluid, and heat sink or source information is presented in
Table 3, and that related to the Re range, N u , / correlations,
and remarks for the same studies are presented in Table 4.
Rectangular channels
Wambsganss et al (1991) studied two-phase flow patterns
and transitions in the adiabatic flow of air-water mixtures in
a horizontal rectangular Plexiglas channel with a cross-
section of 19.05 x 3.18 mm. Total mass fluxes of 50 to 2000
kg/m2s and mass qualities of 2.5 x 10*5 to 1.0 were tested.
Two channel orientations were studied: long sides of the
rectangle oriented vertically (aspect ratio AR = 6) and hori-
zontally (AR = 1/6). Two-phase flow patterns and associated
transition boundaries were determined from visual observa-
tions of the two-phase flow and from photographs made with
a strobe flash. In an attempt to develop an objective method
for identifying transition boundaries, the observed and pho-
tographed flow patterns were interpreted according to
changes in the pressure drop across the channel and changes
in the pressure-time signals. A given total mass flux was es-
tablished and the development of various flow patterns was
studied as the mass quality (or superficial gas velocity) was
increased. Plug, slug, bubble, and annular flows were ob-
served in the channel for both orientations. Stratified and
wavy flows were observed only in the orientation with AR =
6, but not in the other. Of all transitions, the transition to slug
flow was the best defined experimentally because of a
marked discontinuity in the plot of the two-phase multiplier
versus the mass quality at this point. The researchers also
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185
Nu/NUccv Correlations
Not reported Not reported
Not reported Not reported
Not reported f \-0.54
^ = 0.16^--19U
Ghfg [D)
Not studied
f 1 fa = (, / P / ) ' . singlephase
, subcooled boiling;
AP0 (4,, J 114,J
C = 0.4 for L/Dh = 50, C = 1.35 for small L/Dh
Not reported Not reported
<4 Not reported
0.8-0.9
- = 0.435 ReJL12
// '
developed flow maps and compared them to maps for larger
circular pipes, capillary tubes, and larger rectangular chan-
nels. They conclude that, while qualitative agreement existed
between their results and those of previous investigations,
these earlier maps could not, in general, be applied to predict
flow patterns in the small rectangular channel.
Wambsganss et al (1992), using the same rectangular
channel and experimental apparatus employed by Wambs-
ganss et al (1991), measured two-phase pressure gradients in
the adiabatic flow of air-water mixtures over the same range of
parameters. The pressure drop data exhibited a local maximum
at a quality of 0.2%, corresponding to a flow pattern transition
from bubble or plug flow to slug flow. Preliminary tests in a
rectangular channel with half the cross-sectional area showed
similar results. The data were compared to the two-phase fric-
tional pressure drop predictions of the Friedel (1979) and
Chishohn (1967, 1973) correlations. In general, the Friedel
correlation overpredicted the data for mass fluxes less than
200 kg/m2's and underpredicted them at higher values. For the
low mass fluxes, the overprediction was large and the error
generally unacceptable. At high values of mass flux, the error
was in the range 40% for the most part. A comparison of the
data to the Chishohn correlation indicated that the use of a
constant value of the coefficient C = 21 would provide good
agreement for mass fluxes greater than 400 kg/m2's. For pre-
dicting data down to mass fluxes of 50 kg/m2s, the C parame-
ter in the Chishohn correlation was correlated as a function of
the mass flux and the Martinelli parameter X. Except for the
lowest mass flux tested (50 kg/m2s), the predictions using the
modified C parameter had an average error of less than 19%,
compared to actual measurements for mass fluxes less than or
equal to 400 kg/m2s. The authors propose that the Chisholm
correlation, as modified by them, is valid, over the flow and
quality range of interest, to plate-fin heat exchangers.
In related work, the characteristics of the transition of
two-phase plug or bubble flow to slug flow in small hori-
zontal channels were further explored by Wambsganss et al
(1994). They found that when the static RMS pressure was
plotted as a function of the mass quality, the transition from
bubble or plug flow to slug flow was accompanied by a clear
 186 Mehendale et at Fluid flow and heat transfer at micro- and meso-scales
and abrupt increase in the RMS pressure. The authors have
substantiated the transition by a local change in the slope of
the curve of two-phase pressure drop, plotted as a function of
either the Martinelli parameter X or the mass quality. For
high mass fluxes, the change in the slope was distinguished
by a local peak. To study the geometry dependence, some
tests were also performed with a small diameter (6.38 mm)
tube. The general behavior of the small rectangular and cir-
cular channels was found to be similar.
Peng et al (1996) investigated subcooled flow boiling heat
transfer characteristics of binary mixtures in mesochannel
plates/structures having four to eight channels in parallel and
hydraulic diameters of 133 to 343 jam. The liquid flowing
through the channels was heated electrically from the chan-
nel sides and bottom. Water-methanol mixtures of various
concentrations were used as the test fluid. They found that
there was an optimum concentration at which the flow boil-
ing heat transfer reached a maximum value. Generally, mix-
tures with small concentrations of the more volatile compo-
nent augmented the heat transfer, while those with larger
concentrations decreased the heat transfer, as compared to
pure, volatile fluid. These characteristics were affected by
liquid flow velocity and subcooling. Increasing the number
of channels for the same flow improved the heat transfer sig-
nificantly; however, this augmentation diminished as the
channels became smaller. It should be noted that the heat
transfer coefficient was based on the inlet fluid temperature.
The heat transfer coefficient at the onset of flow boiling and
in the partial nucleate boiling region was greatly influenced
by the liquid concentration, mesochannel size, flow velocity,
and subcooling. However, these parameters had very little
effect on the heat transfer coefficient in the fully nucleate
boiling regime. No comparison of data to the predictions of
conventional two-phase correlations was provided.
Ravigururajan (1998) studied subcooled and saturated
flow boiling in turbulent flow of R124 in meso- heat ex-
changers. The test channels (see Fig la) were 1 mm deep by
270 urn wide. Two channel configurations were tested: par-
allel and diamond. Subcooled boiling tests were performed
on the diamond arrangement alone. The heat transfer coeffi-
cient increased on increasing the flow rate for inlet subcool-
ing greater than 8C, and decreased from 12000 to 9000
W/m2K when the wall superheat was increased from 10C to
80C. Similar trends were observed for the heat flux. In satu-
rated flow boiling, heat transfer coefficients higher than for
macro-scale channel flow were obtained (Nu/Nuconv - 2 . 7
with respect to the Chen (1966) correlation at a wall super-
heat of 10C). The saturated flow boiling experiments were
conducted with an average inlet subcooling of 5C. The heat
transfer coefficient decreased with increasing vapor quality.
For flow rates exceeding 125 ml/min, the heat transfer coef-
ficient remained approximately constant in the diamond
channel heat exchanger. An interesting result is that the pres-
sure drop decreased rapidly with an increase in h, decreasing
marginally when the heat flux was reduced, and increasing
with an increase in the vapor quality. No explanation for this
apparently counter-intuitive result was offered.
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Appl Mech Rev vol 53, no 7, July 2000
Kasza et al (1997) studied the microscale nucleate boiling
of water in a small, rectangular, heated channel, 500 mm
long, with cross sectional dimensions of 2.5 x 6.0 mm. The
channel cross section was selected to be of the same nominal
size as the individual vapor bubbles predicted for water in
order to study confinement effects. Slightly subcooled water
entered the channel at nominally 1 atm pressure and was
electrically heated on the channel bottom. They presented
flow visualization data depicting discrete bubble/bubble and
bubble/wall interactions for moderate and high heat fluxes.
The video of flow visualization sequences indicated that
when flow boiling was confined in a small channel, very in-
tense mixing of the flow occurred because of the rapid
growth dynamics and increased nucleation frequency of
bubbles. It was also observed that when large vapor slugs
were formed at higher fluxes and moved through the chan-
nel, thin liquid films were formed. The films caused both the
bubble size and generation frequency to increase at the wall
nucleation sites. The authors believe that these phenomena
are responsible for boiling heat transfer behaving differently
in small channels than in large channels. They also presented
quantitative data on nucleate bubble growth behavior for a
single nucleation site in the form of growth rates, bubble
sizes and frequency of generation in the presence and ab-
sence of a thin liquid-wall layer. The bubble size was meas-
ured in terms of sphericity, defined as the ratio of horizontal
and vertical bubble dimensions. It was found that the vapor
bubbles residing under a slug at the time of coalescence were
flattened and grew considerably larger than bubbles not un-
der the vapor slug. The authors believe that the flattened na-
ture of the bubbles growing under a vapor slug caused in-
creased heat transfer because of increased area of micro-
layer (a very thin layer of liquid existing at the base of a nu-
cleating bubble and the wall). With a slug present over the
nucleation site, die measured bubble generation frequency
was considerably higher than when there was no slug over
the nucleation site. Based on the observations that both bub-
ble size and generation frequency are greater at a nucleation
site under a vapor slug than when no slug is present, the
authors have postulated that heat transfer at the surface is
greater with a slug present. However, why a greater number
of bubbles form under a slug has not been explained. In
small channels, vapor bubbles grow to about the same size as
the channel, and only a few are needed to coalesce and form
a slug leading to enhanced heat transfer coefficients. Interfa-
cial vapor/liquid velocities associated with bubble growth
and interactions were also measured and were found to often
exceed the mean channel velocities.
Circular channels
An experimental study of pressure drop and critical heat flux
(CHF) for R-l 13 flowing through rnultiport circular channels
with hydraulic diameters of 2.54 mm and 510 (im was un-
dertaken by Bowers and Mudawar (1994). Different inlet
subcooling and flow rates were studied. The study revealed
flow boiling to be an effective means of achieving high heat
fluxes (q > 200 W/cm2), coupled with low flow rates (Q < 65
ml/min) and low pressure drop (Ap < 0.35 bar). The CHF did
 Appl Mech Rev vol 53, no 7, July 2000 Mehendale et ah Fluid flow and heat transfer at micro- and meso-scales
not exhibit dependence on the inlet subcooling at low flow
rates, which was attributed to the fluid reaching saturation
temperature a short distance into the heated section of the
channel. The authors also modeled the pressure drop through
the channels using a homogeneous two-phase flow assump-
tion, and were able to predict the pressure drop within
30%. For the 510 micron heat sink, acceleration accounted
for about 75% of the total pressure drop, compared to ap-
proximately 90% for the 2.54 mm heat exchanger. These re-
sults are not surprising, considering the low mass velocities,
resulting in relatively low frictional losses.
Pressure drop characteristics of highly subcooled flow
boiling of distilled water in small diameter tubes were stud-
ied and evaluated by Tong et al (1997). The tube inside di-
ameters ranged from 1.05 to 2.44 mm (see Fig lc). Mass
fluxes ranged from 25000 to 45000 kg/m2s, exit pressures
from 4 to 16 bar, and inlet temperatures from 22 to 66C.
CHF levels of 50-80 MW/m2 were attained. Both single-
phase and two-phase pressure drops were found to increase
with increasing mass flux and length/diameter ratio, but to
decrease with increasing internal diameter. Further, inlet
temperature and exit pressure had a significant effect on the
two-phase pressure drop. Experimental results agreed well
with other investigations under similar conditions. The
authors also presented pressure drop correlations for pre-
dicting single-phase and subcooled boiling pressure drop in
small diameter tubes under different heat fluxes.
Boiling heat transfer experiments were performed in a
small circular channel {Dh = 2.46 mm) and a small rectangular
channel (Dh = 2.40 mm) by Tran et al (1996) (see Figs, lc and
la, respectively). The brass channels were resistance heated by
passing a DC current through the channel wall. Laminar and
turbulent boiling heat transfer of R12 over a heat flux of 3.6 to
129 kW/m2, a mass flux of 44 to 832 kg/m2s, and qualities up
to 94% were investigated. At all but the lowest wall superheats
(greater than 2.75C), heat transfer was found to depend on the
heat flux and not on the mass flux. This result implies that the
nucleation mechanism dominates over the convection mecha-
nism for vapor qualities ranging from 20% to 80%. The exis-
tence of nucleation-dominated boiling is contrary to situations
in conventional heat exchangers where the convection mecha-
nism is dominant at qualities typically greater than 20%. This
dominant nucleation mechanism contributed to enhanced heat
transfer in small channels over the predicted large-channel re-
sults. For very low wall superheats, the heat transfer was de-
pendent on mass flux and not heat flux, implying a convection
dominant region. The transition between nucleation and con-
vection-dominated heat transfer was found to be rather sharp
and occurred at significantly smaller values of wall superheats
than predicted for larger diameter tubes. The authors also
compared the data to the predictions of the conventional-sized
tube boiling correlations of Kandlikar (1991), Jung and
Radermacher (1991) and Liu and Winterton (1990). All three
correlations underpredicted the data and overpredieted the
wall superheat at transition to nucleation-dominated heat
transfer. The Stephan and Abdelsalam (1980) correlation was
found to predict the data well at wall superheats greater than
6C. A comparison between heat transfer coefficients in cir-
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187
cular and rectangular channel geometries showed very little
difference in tubes with the same hydraulic diameter.
Other geometries
Rahman and Gui (1993), employing the Si heat exchangers
described earlier, also conducted flow-boiling experiments
with R-ll and R-12 as the test fluids. For the flow of R-ll
through an I-pattern (see under Single Phase Studies, Other
Geometries), the measured average Nusselt numbers were up
to more than twice the predictions for single phase thermally
developing laminar flow and up to 30% greater than the val-
ues predicted by a two-phase heat transfer correlation. The
Nusselt numbers for nucleate boiling were also greater than
the Nusselt numbers for liquid forced convection heating at
the same Re. It should be noted that the two-phase correla-
tion was developed for turbulent flow and hence, does not
really apply to flow in the laminar regime. Because of the
small cross-sectional area of the channel, the bubbles formed
on nucleation soon filled the channel, and consequently, the
transition from bubbly to slug flow was very rapid. For the
flow of R-12 through a U-pattern, the two data points ob-
tained for the Nu were up to about 4 times the prediction of
the two-phase correlation. With R-12 as the test fluid, evapo-
ration was rapid relative to R-ll. The authors have also re-
ported that because of the intermittent nature of the flow, it
was difficult to attain and maintain a steady-state condition.
Yang and Webb (1996a) investigated turbulent condensa-
tion for R12 at 65 C in extruded aluminum tubes with and
without internal fins (see Fig Id and le). The hydraulic di-
ameter was 1.564 mm for the microfin tube and 2.637 mm
for the plain tube. The fins were 200 \\m high (H), with a
pitch (W + 5) of 400 jim. The condensation coefficient was
proportional to the 0.2 power of the heat flux and increased
with increasing mass velocity and vapor quality. The Shah
correlation (1979) grossly overpredieted the heat transfer co-
efficient data; the best prediction was given by the Akers et
al correlation (1959). At low mass velocities, the plain tube
data were close to the predictions of Akers et al. However, at
high mass velocities, the data were 10-20% lower than the
predicted values. Notice that the Akers et al correlation as-
sumes annular flow. Since the flow patterns in meso- heat
exchanger passages are expected to be influenced by surface
tension forces, a model which is based on the observation of
the actual flow patterns should give better predictions of the
two-phase pressure drop and h. The curves of condensation
coefficients versus vapor quality were steeper for the micro-
fin tube, especially for low mass velocities and qualities
greater than 0.5. The authors proposed that this enhancement
was caused by surface tension drainage forces in addition to
the vapor shear.
Yang and Webb (1996b) investigated two-phase adia-
batic, turbulent pressure drop in the same tubes used by
Yang and Webb (1996a). The pressure drop in the microfin
tube was higher than that in the plain tube at the same mass
velocity and vapor quality. The two-phase pressure drop data
were as low as 28.5% of the pressure drops predicted by the
Chisholm correlation, which uses the Lockhart-Martinelli
two-phase multiplier. However, the equivalent mass velocity
 188 Mehendale et at. Fluid flow and heat transfer at micro- and meso-scales Appl Mech Rev vol 53, no 7, July 2000
Table 5. Microfabrication techniques (adapted from Madou, 1997).*
Microfabrication Materials Typical min/max feature size Tolerance Aspect ratio Reference
Technique Um H/W
Non-traditional (involve photolithography-defined masks)
Dry etching Most solids Minimum submicron, maxi- 0.1 10 Manos(1989)
mum wafer size.
LIGA PMMA, Ni, Au, ce- 10 x 10 cm or more, 0.2 um. 0.3 >100 Ehrfeld(1990)
ramic, etc
Photofabrication Plastic, glass (ceramic) Maximum 40 x 40 x 0.6 cm 20 Trotter(1991)
UV transparent re- Polyimide, SU-8, AZ- Minimum 3 um, maximum wa- 0.5 10 Anhefa/(1993)
sists 4000 fer size.
Traditional (do not involve photolithography-defined masks)
Ultrasonic Machin- Hard and brittle mate- 50 um-75 mm holes 10 (lateral toler- Bellows and Kohls
ing rials ance) (1982)
Electron beam ma- Hard materials < 0.1 mm < 10% feature size 10 (typical) Taniguchi(1984)
chining
Electrodischarge Hard, brittle materials Rods 20nm diameter and 3 mm 1 (lateral toler- >100 Saito(1984)
wire cutting length ance)
Ultra-precision ma- Form stable materials Submillimeters to meters 0.01 Boothroyd and
chining Knight (1989)
Focused ion beam Very pure IC materials From submicrons to millimeters 0.05-0.1 Vasile(1993)
machining
Stereo Lithography Polymeric photosensi- lOxlOx 10mm Minimum solidi- Dcuta(1994)
tive materials fication unit 5 x 5
x3
Laser beam Hard materials Holes from 10 um to 1500 um 1 50 Helvajian(1995)
machining at all angles
' The entries in Table 5 are in the same order as they appear in the textaccording to need for photolithography-defined masks and chronologi-
cally, respectively.
(defined as the mass velocity of the all-liquid flow that has R12 and R134a through tubes of hydraulic diameter 1.41
the same wall shear stress as the actual two-phase flow) con- mm and 1.56 mm, the model predicted 95% of the data
cept proposed by Akers et al provided a very good correla- within 16%.
tion (within 20%) to the test data.
A semi-empirical model to predict the condensation coef-
MICROFABRICATION TECHNIQUES
ficient inside microfin tubes (see Fig le) was proposed by AND TECHNOLOGY
Yang and Webb (1997). When refrigerant is condensed in
such tubes, surface tension pulls the condensate to the base Flow channels or fins comprising a heat exchanger can be fab-
of the fin. The resultant heat transfer coefficients averaged ricated from a broad variety of materials including glasses,
over the total surface area are calculated as plastics/polymers, metals, ceramics, and semiconductors. Mi-
cromachined channel fabrication technologies fall in three
2
h = (hLar + f>iy ^f +'fh categories: bulk micromachined, surface micromachined, and
(1)
other methods (such as molding). In bulk micromachining,
where subscript u refers to the unflooded area, / to the features are sculpted in the bulk of materials such as silicon,
flooded area, hshear is the heat transfer coefficient caused by quartz, glass, etc, by anisotropic etchants. The minimum fea-
vapor shear, and hst is that caused by surface tension. ture size is a few microns, with a tolerance of 1 {Om (Madou,
At high vapor qualities, the film is very thin, and the heat 1997). In surface micromachining, micromachined features
transfer coefficient on the part of the fins exposed to vapor is are built up layer by layer on the surface of a substrate. The
very high. Surface tension drainage force provides an en- nature of the deposition process involved determines the
hancement in addition to the effect of vapor shear. At low thickness of the deposited layer over the substrate, which in
vapor qualities, the fins are flooded by condensate (Au > 0) turn decides the vertical dimension of the feature. When se-
and the curvature of the liquid-vapor interface is nearly con- lecting the manufacturing technology for compact heat ex-
stant; hence, no surface tension force exists there. Because changers, the important factors to consider are:
the entire fin perimeter is flooded and acted upon by vapor 1. Desired channel cross-sectional areas, aspect ratio and
shear alone, the condensation coefficient is, in this case, cal- other geometric constraints.
culated by the use of existing correlations for plain tubes. 2. Compatibility of channel interior surface materials with
The enhancement caused by surface tension increases as the the working fluids.
refrigerant mass velocity is reduced. Moreover, microfin ge- 3. Complexity of fabrication (hence the yield and cost).
ometry strongly affects surface tension; a smaller fin tip ra- 4. Interior wall roughness.
dius provides a stronger surface tension drainage force. The 5. Maximum pressure and temperature ratings of various
vapor shear model is based on the use of the equivalent mass materials used, including those applied for bonding.
velocity proposed by Akers et al (1959). The surface tension A brief summary of the methods that can be used for manu-
effect was analytically derived. Using data for the flow of facturing ultra-compact structured surfaces is presented next.

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 Appl Mech Rev vol 53, no 7, July 2000 Mehendale et ah Fluid flow and heat transfer at micro- and meso-scales 189

Table 5 outlines these microfabrication techniques, suitable rials such as polymers and metals. Metallic structures fabri-
materials, process capabilities, and important references. cated using LIGA are ideally suited for thermal applications.
Dry etching involves etching of the solid surface in the gas A large number of potential applications of LIGA have been
phase, physically by ion bombardment, chemically by a investigated, including microchannels, electrical/optical in-
chemical reaction with a reactive species at the surface, or by terconnects, micron-sized nozzles, micro-filtration mem-
using combined physical and chemical mechanisms. Very pre- branes, micro-valves, etc.
cise pattern transfer is possible, resulting in a resolution better Given the cost of the LIGA equipment, various pseudo-
than 0.1 |im. Deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) and cryogenic LIGA processes are under development. They involve repli-
dry etching are two promising silicon etching techniques for cation of molds created by alternate means such as deep dry
manufacturing microstructures with very high aspect ratios. etching, cryogenic dry etching, and thick UV-sensitive re-
DRIE relies on high-density plasma source and an alternating sists such as polyimides.
process of etching and polymer deposition, while in the latter Photofabrication is a process whereby ultraviolet exposure
technique, the wafer is cooled to cryogenic temperatures. through a mask results in a strong modification of the solubil-
The LIGA process (Lithographie, Galvanoformung und ity in an optically clear layer. It is suitable for glass, plastic, or
Abformung) has the capacity to create a variety of shapes ceramic. This permits a direct photochemical production of
from different materials, with the added benefit of unprece- quite thick three-dimensional structures without the need for
dented aspect ratios and absolute tolerances (Becker et al, masking during acid etching. By exposing a photosensitive
1986). In this technique, a primary polymethyl methacrylate glass plate to UV radiation and etching in hydrofluoric acid
(PMMA) template is produced using synchrotron radiation after heat treatment, a variety of microstructures can be made.
lithography. A PMMA resist is applied to a 3 mm thick sub- A lateral tolerance of 20 (im has been reported. Photofabrica-
strate (austenite steel or copper plated with gold, titanium, or tion machining is an attractive and less expensive alternative
nickel) and is then hardened by heating. The irradiation pro- to LIGA for fabrication of microstructures with a high aspect
cess (see Fig 4a) involves exposing the PMMA resist to syn- ratio. Nozzles in ink-jet printers, fluidic elements, color filters
chrotron X-rays through an X-ray absorbing mask. Exposure and microlens are made from photosensitive glass.
to X-rays alters the solubility of the resist, making the ex- Deep UV photoresists, such as polyimides, can be either
posed part more soluble to a solvent. The resist is then directly used as structural material or to enable the molding
chemically developed to remove the material exposed to the
X-rays (see Fig 4b). The resulting cavities within the resist
layer are filled with nickel metal by an electroplating process
(see Fig 4c) and nearly perfect metallic replicas are thus ob-
tained. On the removal of the remaining resist, a precision
nickel component in the image of the two-dimensional mask, PMMA Resist | i
but with a defined depth, remains. This can then be used as a Substrate -*' '
mold for mass production. Secondary plastic templates de-
(a) Irradiation
signed for serial production are produced by the process of
reaction injection molding, as shown in Fig 4d and Fig 4e.
The metal structure, which is now the mold insert, is covered
by a gate plate in which injection holes needed for introduc-
ing the molding polymer are drilled. Soft-annealed alumi- (b) Development
num gate plates are usually employed. After the molding
polymer hardens, a form-locking connection is established at
the injection holes between the produced part (ie, the secon-
dary template) and the gate plate. This permits unmolding of (c) Galvanoforming
the produced part from the insert (see Fig 4f). The gate plate
can be used directly as a galvanoforming electrode for the
deposition of metal in the secondary plastic templates. The
PMMA primary templates were found to exhibit deviations
in critical dimensions of less than 0.1 jam for structural
heights of several hundred jam. The LIGA process can be (d) Mold Fabrication
expected to be superior to other methods for fabricating mi-
!
crostructures with high aspect ratios if stringent requirements Molding ' " . ;V- '."""f'-i"1'""15^-'-;!
are imposed on the resolution, the aspect ratio, the structure M a s s i". .':... '.:'':.' . _ : _ !
height, and the parallelism of the walls in the mass produc- (e) Mold Filling
tion of microstructures of complex shape. Using the LIGA
process, a structure height of 20-200 microns, feature size
ranging from 2 microns to several millimeters, and a peak-
Structure ^ Unmolding
to-valley wall roughness of 30-50 nm are attainable. This
manufacturing technique can be applied to a variety of mate- Fig 4. Process steps of the LIGA technique, Becker et al. (1986).

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 190 Mehendale et al: Fluid flow and heat transfer at micro- and meso-scales
of a variety of high aspect ratio microstructures in a wide va-
riety of moldable materials. By using multiple coats of spun-
on resist, thick plates up to 200 microns are possible. By us-
ing UV lithography on these plates, very high aspect ratio
structures (height to width aspect ratio of 10), steep edges,
and a feature size of 3 jim have been obtained.
In ultrasonic machining, also called ultrasonic impact
grinding, high frequency vibrations are delivered to a tool
embedded in abrasive slurry to create accurate cavities of
virtually any shape. Almost any hard material can be ultra-
sonically machined. Since this method is non-thermal, non-
electrical, and non-chemical, it produces virtually stress-free
shapes even in hard and brittle workpieces. The operating
cost is reasonably low but the material removal rates are
quite slow. Holes as small as 76 torn have been drilled, but
250 jam holes are the norm in production applications. Chan-
nels and holes have been ultrasonically machined in a poly-
crystalline silicon wafer.
Electron beam machining is another fast growing thermal
technique. In this method, a stream of focused, high-velocity
electrons from an electron gun is used to melt and vaporize
the workpiece material. Typical tolerance is 10% of feature
size. Today, scanning electron-beam lithography remains the
only demonstrated method for microfabrication in the sub-
100 nm regime (Madou, 1997).
Electrodischarge wire cutting is an adaptation of the tra-
ditional electrodischarge machining technique. It can be used
to cut complex two- and three-dimensional shapes from
electrically conducting hard and brittle material. The cutting
electrode is a continuously moving thin molybdenum-steel
wire, 0.15 to 0.03 mm in diameter. A lateral tolerance of 1
micron is possible. Kuo et al (1991) used the electrodis-
charge wire cutting technique to make micropipes with an
inner diameter of 23 p:m and an outer diameter of 186 urn.
Ultra-high precision machines with single crystal dia-
mond tools have made submicrometer precision machining
Ceramic tapes in prefired or
green state
CNC, laser or chemical
machining of layers
T FOULING AND SCALING
Stacking machined
ceramic tape layers to
form 3D structures
Sintering and bonding
ceramic tape layers
(e)
Fig 5. Fabrication of ceramic conduits in ceramic tapes, Kim et al
(1998): (a) to (c) individual layers before sintering, (d) cross section
of the finished component, and (e) process steps of the ceramic tape
technology
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Appl Mech Rev vol 53, no 7, July 2000
possible. Tools featuring 0.01 Lim resolution are available.
The manufacturing accuracy of the workpiece is determined
by the resolution of the machine. This technique can be used
for precision cutting of nonferrous metals, polymers and
crystals, hardened ferrous metals, and high temperature al-
loys. Ultra-precision manufacturing is widely used in com-
mercial manufacturing of computer hard disks, photocopier
drums, VCR scanning heads, etc.
Focused ion beam machining is a mechanical machining
technique in which the drill bit is replaced with a stream of
energetic ions. A very bright liquid metal ion source (eg,
Gallium) is used and the ion beam is focused to a submicron
diameter. Tolerances in the range of 50-100 nm are possible.
However, this very expensive technique can be used only
with very pure IC materials and is used experimentally
merely for demonstration of its capabilities.
Stereo lithography is a technique for manufacturing mi-
crostructures with very complex shapes, including curved
surfaces. Light exposure solidifies a special liquid resin into
the desired 3D shape. It is an important alternative to LIGA
in cases where the 3D-shape versatility outweighs accuracy.
Ikuta et al (1994) have reported a minimum solidification
unit size of 5 x 5 x 3 |im.
Laser beam machining uses a coherent monochromatic
and highly collimated light beam as the cutting tool. With la-
ser-induced etching, truly three-dimensional complex struc-
tures can be made in hard materials without the need for
masks. Holes from 10 |im to 1.5 mm at all angles are possi-
ble with 1 (im tolerance. Laser beam machining is used ex-
tensively for cutting complex profiles in very hard materials
like tungsten and diamond without problems of tool wear.
Narrower trenches and larger aspect ratios are possible with
a laser-based scribe than with the current mechanical stylus.
Bau et al (1998) and Kim et al (1998) have discussed
the potential of ceramic tape technology for meso-electro-
mechanical devices. Ceramic MEMS technology is the con-
vergence of layered manufacturing and thick film technolo-
gies. In the green (pre-fired) state, ceramic tapes are soft, pli-
able and easily machined. CNC, laser or chemical machining
can be used to fabricate fluid conduits and many layers can
be stacked together to form complex, three-dimensional
structures. Figure 5 depicts an L-shaped conduit with a rec-
tangular cross section fabricated in three layers of a ceramic
tape before sintering, as well as the cross section of the fin-
ished component.
Heat exchanger fouling is a generic term used for a variety of
situations where the channel cross-sections are reduced either
due to clogging or scale formation in the channel walls (Phil-
lips, 1990). Channel walls can erode because of chemical
etching or physical wearing out of the inner wall surface. With
micro-/meso- channels, fluids must be clean and non-fouling
(such as refrigerants, air, etc). Even then, dust particles from
the surface and/or minute impurities in the clean working flu-
ids can be entrained in the fluid and can reduce or clog the mi-
croVmeso- channels. Partial or full clogging of the flow pas-
sages can be avoided by using appropriate filters. The com-
mon industrial practice is to have the filter size one-third the
 Appl Mech Rev vol 53, no 7, July 2000 Mehendale et ah Fluid flow and heat transfer at micro- and meso-scales
size of the passage. No specific mention of the fouling prob-
lem is found in the literature for micro-/meso- heat exchang-
ers. This may be because of the effective use of filters and
non-fouling fluids. It may also be possible that, since these
micro-/meso- heat exchangers are new and some of them are
experimental, the problem of fouling/scaling of the channel
walls which develops gradually with aging or with specific
fluids may not have been encountered and reported yet.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
1. The differences in the channel surface roughness can ex-
plain the disparity in friction factor and heat transfer data in
some studies. Again, since the heat transfer coefficients are
based on the inlet and/or the outlet fluid temperature and
not the bulk temperature in almost all studies, comparison
of the results to conventional correlations based on the bulk
temperature is problematic. Some authors have employed
conventional correlations out of the range of Reynolds
numbers intended for their use. As shown in the study by
Pfahler et al, rarefaction effects could become significant
for gas flow in channels with D/, ~ 1 (Jm. Thus, the contin-
uum flow theory and the N-S equations based on it do not
apply. However, it is still not clear down to what hydraulic
diameters conventional theory applies.
2. With the exceptions of the studies of Choi et al and Kim
et al, most single-phase studies indicate that laminar flow
starts changing to turbulent flow at Rec < 2300, depending
on Dh. Transition is assumed to occur when the slope of
the/versus Re curve changes markedly; this conclusion is
not based on actual observations of the flow pattern. In
order to rule out the possibility of a different flow, a vis-
ual confirmation of the transition is necessary.
3. The studies of Yang and Webb indicate that the condens-
ing heat transfer in internally finned tubes about 1.5 mm
in hydraulic diameter is enhanced as a result of the con-
densate film being drained by the force of surface tension.
However, it is not clear at what channel sizes the surface
tension first becomes dominant, and how low Dh could be
to continue the enhancement caused by surface tension
before it deteriorates. More studies are needed to shed
light on this phenomenon.
4. Contrary to the behavior of the condensing coefficient,
the boiling heat transfer coefficient decreases as Dh de-
creases below 3 mm. The reason for these opposite trends
is not clear. Further experiments of boiling heat transfer in
sub-millimeter channels are necessary to explore the po-
tential enhancement of the heat transfer coefficient with
decreasing channel size.
5. The studies of Peng et al show that in meso- heat ex-
changers, the boiling heat transfer is markedly different
from that in macroscale channels. Under conditions that
would normally result in nucleation in larger channels, no
bubbles were seen in the meso- heat exchangers. How-
ever, the liquid could apparently absorb much more heat
than its sensible heat, leading to heat transfer rates poten-
tially greater than those attained in nucleate boiling in
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191
larger channels. This phenomenon is favorable for de-
signers of ultra-compact heat exchangers.
6. The few studies of the EDL indicate that it could signifi-
cantly affect fluid flow and heat transfer in channels less
than 100 urn. The EDL manifests itself in reduced flow
rates, increased pressure drop and reduced h. In order to
prevent the adverse electric field effects on the fluid flow
through micro- and meso-scale channels, it may be neces-
sary to employ non-polar or deionized working fluids.
7. No information is available on fouling/scaling in micro-
/meso- heat exchangers for reasons outlined in the section
on fouling and scaling.
AREAS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
Our assessment of the open literature leads us to suggest re-
search in the following areas in order to shed further light on
the physics of fluid flow and heat transfer in microchannels
and thereby enable the production of better equipment:
1. Flow visualization needs to be undertaken for single-phase
and two-phase flow in the micro-/meso- heat exchangers.
Visualization of single-phase flow would help identify ei-
ther the initiation of unsteady laminar flow or the initiation
of transition from laminar to turbulent flow. Visualization
of two-phase flow would enable identification of flow pat-
terns and facilitate flow modeling and the correct applica-
tion of pressure drop and heat transfer correlations.
2. Inconsistencies in the friction and heat transfer data need
to be reconciled. In particular, the effect of the surface
relative roughness needs to be quantified.
3. Specific studies are essential to quantify when rarefaction
becomes important in micro-/meso- heat exchangers and
to what extent.
4. In two-phase flow, the maldistribution of phases in mul-
tiport micro-scale heat exchangers could be a major
problem (see Webb and Zhang, 1997). Different designs
of inlet and outlet headers need to be studied. This study
should be helpful in designing headers to minimize the
flow maldistribution problem.
5. Surface tension and electrokinetic effects on heat transfer and
friction in microchannels merit a more focused investigation.
6. Finally, validated models for two-phase pressure drop and
the heat transfer coefficient over a wide range of relevant
parameters are needed.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to acknowledge DARPA DSO, con-
tract #DABT63-97-C-0069, for their support of this work. The
first two authors are likewise indebted to Profs D Beebe, C
Bullard, P Hrnjak, N Miller, M Philpott, and M Shannon of
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, all of whom
are conducting research related to mesoscale heat exchangers.
Their enthusiasm and generosity in this collaborative
project have made the research exciting and fun. Finally, the
first author would like to acknowledge his wife Madhura for
helping with the figures and tables.
 192 Mehendale etal: Fluid flow and heat transfer at micro- and meso-scales Appl Mech Rev vol 53, no 7, July 2000
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SS Mehendale earned his M Tech and PhD degrees from the Indian Institute ofTechno logy, Bombay and the University of
Maryland at College Park respectively, both in Mechanical Engineering with specialization in Thermal and Fluids Engi-
neering. For his PhD dissertation research, he experimentally and theoretically investigated the oil return problem in re-
frigeration systems. Upon graduation from the University ofMaryland in I 998, he worked for two years as a research as-
sociate in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
(UIUC). At UIUC, he conducted research on the design, development, and testing ofmicro- and meso-scale heat exchang-
ers for use in miniature air-conditioning systems. Mehendale is currently working at Delphi Harrison Thermal Systems,
Lockport, NY, as a Senior Contact Engineer.

Anthony M Jacobi is associate professor ofmechanical engineering at the University ofIllinois, Urbana-Champaign. Af-
ter earning a PhD from Purdue University in 1989, he joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. In
1992, he moved to the University ofIllinois, where he currently teaches and conducts research related to heat transfer and
flUid mechanics with end-use energy applications. Jacobi is Associate Director ofthe Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
Center, an NSF Industry-University cooperative research center with more than 20 industry partners. He also serves as
Associate Editor of the ASHRAE International Journal of HVAC&R Research, and as Associate Technical Editor of the
ASME Journal of Energy Resources and Technology.

Ramesh K Shah has been with Delphi Harrison Thermal Systems, General Motors C01P, in Lockport, New York since
ceptfOr two years during 1995-97 when he was Professor and Chairman, Department ofMechanical Univershy
Kentucky, Lexington KY. He received his BEfrom Gujarat University, India, and MS, Engineer, and PhD
University. He worked fOr Air Preheater Company and Avco Lycoming before completing his graduate
ASME at local and national levels, he is the Past Chairman ofthe Heat Transfer Division and aformer Te(~/llll'Cal
Journal of Heat Transfer. He is Co-Founder and former Editor-in-Chiefofan internationaljournal: ExperUnlentaI
Fluid Science. Shah is the President ofthe ASME Board on Communications, and President ofthe c1' ,rrh"U

ences on Experimental Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermadynamics. He has published extensive,1y
exchangers and laminar internalflow fOrced convection Shah is a Fellow ofthe ASME and
ASME and other achievement awards.

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