The Characterization of Heat Transfer in a Microchannel Heat Exchanger Exposed to Electromagnetic Radiation

Beamed energy is a potential power source for a variety of applications. One of the potential applications is using beamed energy as a power source for a heat exchanger. Analysis of such a system requires coupling the electromagnetic response with the thermal response. A microchannel heat exchanger exposed to high frequency electromagnetic waves has been modeled to determine the wall heating due to the application of electromagnetic radiation. This was accomplished by coupling ANSYS HFSS and ANSYS Fluent software programs. The exit temperatures achievable as well as the thermal variations associated with electromagnetic radiation were determined. For this work, constant and temperature-dependent material properties were analyzed as well as different boundary conditions and geometries. Results from this work suggest that material selection is essential. In order to ensure good heat exchanger design one must evaluate the frequency and magnitude of the incoming wave against the material properties of the heat exchanger rather than only considering the thermal properties.