Design of Stable Evaporative Micro-channel Systems Using Expanding Area

A growing bubble can be squeezed for water, and it will then encounter flow instability, which reverses toward upstream in straight micro-channels. To reduce the flow instability, a micro-channel that expands at the downstream end has been found to be effective. In the expanding area, a growing bubble will tend to move downstream because the net surface tension force of a vapor-liquid interface is inversely proportional to the local radius of curvature. We propose a static flow instability model and validate it experimentally. Moreover, we apply the local-instability parameter concept to the real design of a stable evaporative micro-channel with an expanding area. Based on the local-instability model, we establish a static design for stable expanding evaporative micro-channels.