THERMAL SCIENCE

International Scientific Journal

STUDY ON HEAT TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS OF Z-TYPE PARALLEL MULTI-BRANCH PIPE GROUP

ABSTRACT
The Z-type parallel multi-branch pipe groups are widely utilized to deliver fluid in cooling high-power electronic equipment. The CFD software is commonly used to perform numerical simulations of these systems. This study examines the effects of varying inlet flow rates, branch pipe diameters, and main pipe diameters on flow characteristics and heat transfer. The flow deviation coefficient and temperature distribution were used to assess the flow uniformity in branch pipes and the heat transfer efficiency of cold plates. The findings reveal that increasing the inlet flow rate enhances flow inhomogeneity but decreases the overall temperature of the cold plate. Similarly, increasing the branch pipe diameter strengthens flow inhomogeneity without significantly affecting the cold plate's temperature distribution. Conversely, increasing the main pipe diameter exacerbates the uneven flow distribution and results in more local hot spots on the cold plate. Based on these simulation results, an optimized design for Z-type parallel multi-branch pipe systems can be developed to improve flow uniformity and heat transfer efficiency.
KEYWORDS
PAPER SUBMITTED: 2024-09-10
PAPER REVISED: 2024-11-05
PAPER ACCEPTED: 2024-11-12
PUBLISHED ONLINE: 2024-12-07
DOI REFERENCE: https://doi.org/10.2298/TSCI240910269X
CITATION EXPORT: view in browser or download as text file
THERMAL SCIENCE YEAR 2025, VOLUME 29, ISSUE Issue 4, PAGES [2547 - 2559]
REFERENCES
  1. Kubo, T., Ueda, T., On the Characteristics of Divided Flow and Confluent Flow in Headers, Transactions of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, 12 (2008), 52, pp. 802-809
  2. Ahn, H., et al., Flow Distribution in Manifolds for Low Reynolds Number Flow, Journal of Mechanical Science & Technology, 12 (1998), Jan., pp. 87-95
  3. Lee, J. K., Lee, S. Y., Distribution of Two-Phase Annular Flow at Header-Channel Junctions, Experimental Thermal & Fluid Science, 28 (2004), 2-3, pp. 217-222
  4. Zhu, Z. Y., Experimental and Visualization Study on Gas-Liquid Two Phase Flow Character in Distribution Headers, North China Electric Power University (in Chinese), Beijing, China, 2015
  5. Chen, F., et al., An Optimization Method for Uniform Flow Distribution in the Manifold of Server Cabinet, Energy Science & Engineering, 9 ( 2021), 3, pp. 390-401
  6. Griffini, G., Gavriilidis, A., Effect of Microchannel Plate Design on Fluid-Flow Uniformity at Low Flow Rates, Chemical Engineering & Technology: Industrial Chemistry‐Plant Equipment‐Process Engineering‐Biotechnology, 30 (2007), 3, pp. 395-406
  7. Kim, D., et al., Effects of Manifold Geometries on Flow Uniformity in Microchannel Device, Journal of Mechanical Science & Technology, 25 (2011), Jan., pp. 3069-3074
  8. Acrivos et al., Flow Distributions in Manifolds, Chemical Engineerring Science, 10 (1959), 1-2, pp. 112-124
  9. Amador, C., et al., Flow Distribution in Different Micro-Reactor Scale-Out Geometries and the Effect of Manufacturing Tolerances and Channel Blockage, Chemical Engineering Journal, 101 (2004), 1-3, pp. 379-390
  10. Kim, N. H., Han, S. P., Distribution of Air-Water Annular Flow in a Header of Parallel Flow Heat Exchanger, International Journal of Heat & Mass Transfer, 51 (2008), 5-6, pp. 977-992
  11. Fang, Y., et al., Investigation on the Transient Thermal Performance of a Mini-Channel Cold Plate for Battery Thermal Management, Journal of Thermal Science, 30 (2021), Aug., pp. 914-925
  12. Shen, M., Gao, Q., Structure Design and Effect Analysis on Refrigerant Cooling Enhancement of Battery Thermal Management System for Electric Vehicles, Journal of Energy Storage, 32 (2020), 101940
  13. Hosseini S M et al., Classification of Turbulent Jets in a T-Junction Area with a 90-deg Bend Upstream, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 51 (2008), 9-10, pp. 2444-2454
  14. Gong, Z., et al., A Study of the Effects of the Micro-Channel Cold Plate on the Cooling Performance of Battery Thermal Management Systems, Thermal Science, 26 (2022), 2B, pp. 1503-1517
  15. Sharma, M. K., et al., Flow Distribution of Multiphase Flow in Parallel Channels. Handbook of Multiphase Flow Science and Technology, Springer Nature Singapore, Singapore, 2023, pp. 1241-1277

2025 Society of Thermal Engineers of Serbia. Published by the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International licence