High heat flux cooling for spacecraft electronics

TLDR: In this article, an experimental investigation of flow boiling in a curved channel has been performed to ascertain its value in electronics cooling applications, and results have been obtained for flow velocities of 1 to 5 m/s and subcooling of 0.5 to 40 K.

Abstract: An experimental investigation of flow boiling in a curved channel has been performed to ascertain its value in electronics cooling applications. Results have been obtained for flow velocities of 1 to 5 m/s and subcooling of 0.5 to 40 K. These results were compared to those of straight channel under identical velocity and subcooling conditions. The critical heat flux of the curved channel was found to be greater than that of the straight channel. In some cases the increase was found to be marginal, however. An unexplained temperature shift in the nucleate boiling regime was experienced during some experiments. Because this shift only occurred for the first test of the day, it is thought to be related to the incipience phenomenon often experienced in pool boiling experiments. Finally, true incipience overshoot and nucleate boiling regime hysteresis were found to be negligible.