Effects of Film Thickness on Heat Transfer in Taylor Flows Under Constant Wall Heat Flux Boundary Condition

Numerical simulations of heat transfer in two-phase Taylor flows in microchannels have been performed for different film thicknesses. Film thickness has been changed by adjusting surface tension and consequently Capillary number to investigate effects of film thickness on heat transfer processes under constant wall flux boundary condition. As stated in the early literature, film thickness is an important factor in Taylor flow hydrodynamics and governs the ratio between the portion of liquid which is in circulation and the portion which is bypassed through the thin liquid film around gas bubbles. It has been shown that film thickness has to be considered in the heat transfer correlations for this type of flow. Something which has not been considered in previous research.