Proceedings of 2008 ASME Summer Heat Transfer Conference

HT2008-56342
August 10-14, 2008, Jacksonville, Florida USA


Two phase Analysis of Heat Transfer and Dispersion of Nano
Particles in a Microchannel

Seyed Mojtaba Mousavi Nayinian
K.N.Toosi University of Technology, Iran
Aerospace@kntu.ac.ir

Mehrzad Shams
K.N.Toosi University of Technology, Iran
Shams@kntu.ac.ir

Hossein Afshar
K.N.Toosi University of Technology, Iran
Ho_afshar@yahoo.com

Goodarz Ahmadi
Clarkson University, USA
Ahmadi@clarkson.edu


Abstract:
The effect of different parameters on dispersion of nanoparticles i n a microchannel in slip
flow regime is studied. The equations of particle motion and energy balance are solved
numerically and the effect of particle diameter, starting position of particles in microchannel ,
and slip coefficient on dispersion of particles is discussed. Radiative heat flux in energy
equation and drag force, Saffman lift force, Brownian force and gravitational force in
momentum equation are included. The results show that the Brownian force has considerable
effect on particle motion in microchannel. Particles temperature at the outlet can be
controlled by variation of their diameter and starting position in microchannel.

Keywords: Two Phase Flow, Nanoparticle, Microchannel, Brownian Force, Saffman Lift
Force, Heat Transfer

Introduction
Two phase modeling of nanoparticles is of
ionterest for many medical and engineering
applications including dust and aerosol
control, fire fighting systems, treating skin
diseases and tumors. The nanoparticles
coated with the suitable antibodies are used
as labels to detect the malignant tumors
and to get adsorbed on the surface of the
tumor cells. Many nanoparticles respond to
an externally applied field including
magnetic field or focused light and others.
The nanoparticles convert the absorbed
energy of the external field to heat and
destroy the cell to which they are adsorbed

to [1]. Therefore, the tumor shrinks or are
totally destroyed under the controllable
power of the external field.
G. Aguilar et al.

(2002), studied the
modeling and characterization of cryogen
spray cooling for application to port wine
stain laser therapy

[2]. The patients are
treated with laser pulses that induce
permanent thermal damage to the target
blood vessels. However, absorption of
laser energy by melanin causes localized
heating of the epidermis, which may result
in complications, such as hypertrophy,
scarring, or dyspigmentation. By applying
a cryogen spurt in the form of very tiny
particles to the skin surface for an
appropriately short period of time

(10 to

100 milliseconds), the epidermis can be
precooled prior to the application of the
laser pulse and, therefore, reduce or
eliminate undesirable skin damage.

Lin and Yang (2005) simulated the heat
transfer problem when the Alanine tissue is
heated by the gold nanoparticle in the field

of molecular dynamics [3]. They
HT2008-56342
Proceedings of 2008 ASME Summer Heat Transfer Conference
HT2008
August 10-14, 2008, Jacksonville, Florida USA
1 Copyright 2008 by ASME


2
investigated two kinds of problems. One is
the Alanine tissue heated by the constant
heat source and the other is by the time-
varying heat source. The numerical results
show that a temperature jump exists
around the source and the temperature
profiles drop to the environmental
temperature within a very short distance. It
concludes that only a small region around
the nano-scale heat source is affected by
the heating process. Therefore, the results
of the nanoparticle-heating method could
be applied to the clinical therapy of tumor,
and the normal cells are destroyed only
within a smaller region when compared
with those of chemotherapy or surgical
treatment.
The classical continuum theory is not
suited for the analysis of nano-scale
processes because the particle motion
becomes the major influencing actor in the
nano-scale system. In addition, some
macro-scale processes do not existein the
nano-scale regimes such as the no-slip
condition and the local heat equilibrium. A
special phenomenon that is observed in the
nano-scale is the thermal jump

[4].
Most reported investigations in the field of
fluid flow in microchannels, are concerned
with fluid flow and dispersion of
nanoparticles in microchannels in
continuum regime. In particular, fluid
flow and dispersion of nanoparticles in the
slip flow regime is not well understood. In
most macro-scale applications, the fluid
flow in channels is in turbulent flow
regime but in micro-scale and nano-scale
applications, most fluid flows are in
laminar regime.
The Knudsen number is the ratio of mean
free path over flow characteristic length
which defines flow characteristics when
the flow dimensions approach the
molecular mean free path. The Knudsen
number, which is a non dimensional
quantity, is defined as
L
Kn

=


(1)
Where L is the flow characteristic length,
(hydraulic diameter in a microchannel),
and is the molecular mean free path.
Flow regime is defined according to the
value of Knudsen number.
Continuum Flow
3
10

s kn

Slip Flow
1 3
10 10

s s kn

Transitional Flow
10 10
1
s s

kn

Free Molecular
Flow
) 10 ( O kn >


Tian and Ahmadi (2007) reported the
results of their studies on transport and
deposition of nano- and micro-particles in
turbulent flow fields. They conducted a
series of numerical simulations to study the
transport and deposition of nano and
micro-particles in a turbulent duct flow

using different turbulence models [5].
For nanoparticles, the Brownian force is
considerable. In addition, the Stokes drag
needs to be modified.
Ahmadi et al.

(1991) studied the Brownian
dispersion of submicrometer particles in
the viscous sublayer. The particles were
released from a point source in the viscous
sublayer of a turbulent shear flow near a
smooth wall. The effect of particles
diameter, distance of point source from the
wall and the particle-to-fluid density ratio
on dispersion of particles was studied

[6].
The Knudsen number for nanoparticles
traveling in air at standard atmospheric
conditions, based on the particle diameter

is greater than 0.1 and the particles are in
transitional regime. Therefore, the
correction factor for the Stokes drag should
be considered.

Karr and Owen (2007) studied the drag
force of nanoparticles in the transitional
flow regime and introduced the proper
correction factor for the Stokes drag
coefficient

[7].
In this study, an Eulerian-Lagrangian
approach is used and the airflow condition
and nano-particle dispersion in
microchannels were studied. .

Governing Equations
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3
The momentum equation for particles in x
and y directions are given as
) (
1
1
t n u u
dt
du
p f
p
+ =
t


(2)



g
m
Saffman F
t n v v
dt
dv
p
L
p f
p
+
+ =
) (
) (
1
2
t


(3)
Here
f
u is the fluid velocity,
p
u is the
particle velocity, is the molecular mean
free path, C
c
is the Cunningham correction
factor to the S

tokes drag [7] given as
999 . 0 , 558 . 0 , 142 . 1
exp 1
= = =
]
]
]

'

+ + =
o

o
Kn
Kn C
c


(4)

Heret is the particle relaxation time and is
defined as
u
p
t
18
2
d C
c p
=

(5)
The Saffman lift force is given by

[8].
'
|
|

'

=
dy
du
Sgn
dy
du
u u d saffman F
f f
p f
f L
5 . 0
2 5 . 0
) ( 615 . 1 ) ( v p


(6)
In this equation,
f
p is the fluid density and
v is the fluid kinematic viscosity.
In Eqs. (2) and (3), n
i
(t) is the Brownian
random force that is evaluated at each time
step using Eqs. (7), (8) and (9)

[9].
t
S
G t n
i i
A
=
0
) (
t


(7)

c
C S d
kT
S
2 5 2
0
216
p t
v

=

(8)

f
p
S
p
p
=

(9)
Here G
i
is a zero mean, unit variance
Gaussian random number,

T is the fluid
temperature in Kelvin, and
K
j
k
23
10 * 38 . 1

= is the Boltzmann
constant.
To calculate the particle velocity for a
channel flow shown in figure

1 in each
time interval, the fluid velocity should be
known. From analytical solution, the
velocity profile for slip flow in a
microchannel is given as

Eq. (10) is the solution to the momentum
equation for particles in x and y directions

given by Eqs. (2) and (3). Here y is the
distance from channel center line and
v
o is
the tangential momentum accommodation
coefficient (TMAC) which is set according
to

experimental data [10].
The volume fraction is set to be less than

0.5% and it is assumed that the
temperature variation of particles will not
cause any variation in the fluid
temperature.
The energy equation for particles is given
as

) (
4 4
p f p p
p p c
p
p
p
T T A
T T A h
dt
dT
c m
+
=

c


(11)
where C
p
is the particle specific heat, T
p
is
the particle temperature, h
c
is the
convection heat transfer, T
f
is the fluid
temperature,
p
c is the particle emissivity
coefficient and
8
10 67 . 5

= o is the
Stefan-Boltzmann coefficient.
The Reynolds number and the Prandtl
number of nanoparticles is less than unity,
so the Nusselt number is

[1

1]
2 = Nu

(12)
The temperature of nanoparticles in each
time step is evaluated from
]
]
]
]

+
|
|

'

'

'

=
Kn
h
y
dx
dp h
u
v
v
f
o
o
u
2
8 1
2
2
2


(10)
Copyright 2008 by ASME


4

|
|

'

|
|

'

A
+ =

+
4 4
1
6
p
n
p p
n
p
p
f
p p p
n
p
n
p
T T T T T
d
k Nu
d c
t
T T
o c
p


(13)
where k
f
is the fluid conductivity
coefficient.

Results

Dispersion of nanoparticles in a 2-D
microchannel with constant wall
temperature is studied. Air temperature is

set at 800K. The particles-to-fluid density
ratio is assumed to be

9046. In this
analysis, channel height and length,
respectively,

are 4 micron and 1mm. The
temperature and velocity of nanoparticles
at chan

nel entrance is set to 300K

and 8.69
m/s, respectively. The pressure difference

in microchannel is 100 KPa. The fluid flow
in the microchannel is assumed to be fully
developed. The Reynolds number based
on the microchannel hydraulic diameter
and the mean velocity for all cases studied
is less

than 10 so that the flow is laminar.
Dispersions of particles with diameters of

500, 200, 100 and 50 nanometers are
shown, respectively, in figures

2, 3

, 4 and
5. In these cases, the tangential
momentum accommodation coefficient is
set to unity. As the diameter of particles
decreases, the particle Brownian diffusion
rapidly increases. Particles temperature at
the microchannel outlet is equal to the fluid

temperature of 800K.

Figures 6 and 7
show the temperature variation of particles
as they travel in the microchannel. The

temperature of 50nm and 100nm particles
reach the fluid temperature after traveling

less than 4 micrometers but the 500 nm
particles reach the fluid temperature after

traveling about 100 micrometers.
The effect of convection and radiation heat
transfer on temperature variation of
particles with different diameters is shown

in table 1. Obviously radiation effect on
larger particles is more than smaller ones
but after comparison of radiation effect
with convection effect, it is concluded that
radiation effect can be neglected for
particles with

less than 500nm in diameter.

Dispersion of 50 and 500 nanometer
particles that are released from different
sources in the microchannel is shown in
figures 8 and 9, respectively. Since the
initial velocity of particles is more than the
local fluid velocity, the Saffman lift force

causes 500 nanometer particles to travel
out of the shear flow near the wall but this
force does not have a noticeable effect on
the tr

ajectory of 50 nanometer particles.
Variation of Saffman Lift force on

particles with 500 nanometers in diameter

for TMAC=1 and TMAC=0.2 is shown in

figure 12. Reduction of TMAC from unity

to 0.2 causes an increase on the fluid
velocity in the microchannel according to

equation (10), so the particles velocity
(which is constant and

equal to 8.69 m/s) at
the entrance of the microchannel will be
less than the local fluid velocity. This
velocity difference for

500nm particles
released near the upper wall causes a
positive Saffman Lift force and makes
them travel closer to the wall.
Trajectory of nanoparticles for TMAC

equal to 0.2 is shown in figures

10 and 11.
Reduction of TMAC causes more velocity
slip and thinner shear layer. So,

500
nanometer particles can travel near the
wall. Comparison of figures 8,

9, 10 and 11
shows that the reduction of TMAC makes
the particles to follow the stream lines.

Conclusions
In general, the Brownian force has
considerable effect on nanoparticle
motions in a microchannel. Particles
temperature at the outlet can be controlled
by variation of their diameter, starting
position and slip coefficient in a
microchannel.
Other forces such as weight and Saffman
lift force can have important effect
depending on the flow conditions.

Nomenclature
Melocualr mean free path
L Charactristic length if the flow
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5
Kn Knudsen number
u
p
Particle velocity in x direction
v
p
Particle velocity in y direction
u
f
Fluid velocity in x direction
v
f
Fluid velocity in y direction
t Particle relaxation time
n
i
(t) Brownian force per unit of mass
m
p
Mass of the particle
C
c
Correction factor for Stokes drag
f
p Fluid density
p
p Particle density
v Fluid kinematic viscosity
Fluid dynamic viscosity
d Particle diameter
G
i


A random number between 0-

1 with
Gaussian distribution

T Fluid temperature in Kelvin

T
p
Particle temperature in Kelvin
h Half of microchannel width
y Distance from the center of channel
v
o Tangential momentum
accommodation coefficient (TMAC)
o Stefan-Boltzmann coefficient
k Boltzmann coefficient
k
f
Fluid thermal conductivity
coefficient
C
p
Particle specific heat
h
c
Convection heat transfer
p
c Particle emissivity coefficient
Nu Nusselt number

References

[1] I. Hilger, R. Hergt, W.A. Kaiser, IEEE
Proc.

Nanobiotechnol. 152 (1) (2005)
33

39.

[2] Guillermo Aguilar; "On the Modeling
and Characterization of Cryogen Spray
Cooling for Application to Port Wine
Stain Laser Therapy";

9th Latin
American Congress in Heat and Mass
Transfer, San Juan, Puerto Rico,

October 20-

22, 2002

[3] David T.W. Lin a, Ching-yu Yang, "The
heat transfer analysis of nanoparticle
heat source in alanine tissue by
molecular dynamics", International
Journal of Biological Macromolecules

36 (2005) 225231

[4]

Peng, X. F., and Wang, B. X., Proc. 10th
International heat transfer conference,

Brighton, UK, Aug, 14-

18, pp.159-

177,
1994

[5] L. Tian, G. Ahmadi, "Particle deposition
in turbulent duct flowscomparisons of
different model predictions", Aerosol

Science 38, 377

397, 2007

[6] H. Ounis, G. Ahmadi, and J. B.
McLaughlin; "Brownian Delusion of
Sub micrometer Particles in the Viscous
Sublayer"; Journal of Colloid and
Interface

Science, 143(1):266{277,

1991.

[7] Gerald Karr and Miles Owen, "Drag of
Nano-Particles in the Transitional Flow
Regime

", Rarefied Gas Dynamics: 25-th

International Symposium, 2007,1112-
1127

[8] P.G.Saffman; "The Lift on a Small
Sphere in a Slow Shear Flow"; J. Fluid

Mech., 22:385{400, 1965

[9] A. Li and G. Ahmadi; "Dispersion and
Deposition of Spherical Particles from
Point Sources in a Turbulent Channel
Flow"; Aerosol Science and

Technology, 1992

[10] Timothe Ewart, Pierre Perrier, Irina A.
Graur and J. Gilbert Molans, "Mass
flow rate and tangential momentum
accommodation coefficient from
experiments in a single micro tube",

Rarefied Gas Dynamics: 25-th

International Symposium, 2007, 567-
572


[11] "NANOFLUIDICS science and
technology", S.K.Das, S.U.S.Choi,
W.Yu, T.Pradeep, John Wiley & Sons,
2007
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Fig

ure 1.

2D Microchannel

Figure 2. Trajectory of 500 nm particles

Figure 3. Trajectory of 200 nm particles
200
300
400
500
600
700
800

0.0E+00

1.0E-06

2.0E-06

3.0E-06

4.0E-06

5.0E-06

6.0E-06
X (m)
P
a
r
t
i
c
l
e

T
e
p
m
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
k
)

50nm 100nm
Figure

6. Temperature variation of 50 and

100nm particles in the microchannel

200
300
400
500
600
700
800

0.0E+00

2.0E-05

4.0E-05

6.0E-05

8.0E-05

1.0E-04
X (m)
P
a
r
t
i
c
l
e

T
e
p
m
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
k
)

200nm 500nm

Figure 7. Temper

ature variation of 200 and

500nm particles in the microchannel


Figure 4. Trajectory of 100 nm particles

Figure 5. Trajectory of 50 nm particles
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7












































Particle Diameter Convection Effect (%) Radiation Effect (%)

50nm 99.9953 0.0047

100nm 99.9896 0.0104

200nm 99.9788 0.0212

500nm 99.9468 0.0532



Figure 8. Dispersion of 50 nm particles in

the microchannel (TMAC=1)

Figure 10. Dispersion of 50 nm particles in

the microchannel (TMAC=0.2)

Table 1. Effect of convection and radiation on temperature variation of particles

Figure 9. Dispersion of 500 nm particles in

the microchannel (TMAC=1)

Figure 11. Dispersion of 500 nm particles

in the microchannel (TMAC=0.2)

-3.E-12

-2.E-12

-1.E-12

0.E+00

1.E-12

2.E-12

3.E-12

4.E-12

5.E-12

6.E-12

0.0E+00

2.0E-05

4.0E-05

6.0E-05

8.0E-05

1.0E-04
X (m)
S
a
f
f
m
a
n

L
i
f
t

F
o
r
c
e

(
N
)

500nm-TMAC=1

500nm-TMAC=0.2
Figure

12. Variation of Saffman Lift
force for different TMAC
Copyright 2008 by ASME