Abstract
A microgroove evaporator is expected to realize a high heat transfer coefficient despite its simple structure. However, the theory for designing the groove structure with regard to given thermal transport properties and thus, a high performance micro-grooved evaporator has not been established, so far. In this study, the feasible numerical model for calculating capillary-rise length (mass transfer capability) and evaporation rate (heat transport rate) of single rectangular microgroove was proposed. We found that the calculated transported heat and capillary-rise length in single microgroove are in good agreement with the experimental value under the wide range of conditions. We also designed a high performance microgroove evaporator composed of the combination of different size of grooves. The calculated effective heat flux of the proposed groove stracture suggests a large potential for improving the performance of micro-grooved evaporator.
