Experimental study on low pressure heat transfer properties of water evaporator with screen separation element

Water evaporator is often used in spacecraft thermal management as heat sink. In a water evaporator, heat is transferred from the microchannels of cooled glycol liquid to the external water, which causes the phase transition of water near external fins. Due to the severe weight requirements of hypersonic vehicles, it is very important to study the heat transfer performance and water utilization of water evaporator. The present study experimentally investigated the boiling heat transfer of water evaporator on external rectangular fins (RF) at low pressure, and the heat transfer of cooled glycol liquid in microchannels with offset strip fins (OSF). At the same time, the experiment explored the effects of three types of screen devices on the heat transfer performance and water utilization efficiency of water evaporators. The heat transfer experiments of water evaporator were conducted at the pressure of 11 kPa. The inlet temperature of hot glycol liquid was controlled 85 °C, and the mass flow rate were at 1500 kg/h and 2500 kg/h, respectively. The experimental results show that when the mass flow rate of ethylene glycol is the same, the water consumption of the water evaporator significantly decreases and the water utilization efficiency increase with the increase of screen density, but it can weaken the boiling heat transfer performance. In addition, the empirical correlation of boiling in low-pressure is modified, and the maximum deviation is within ±10%. The screen separator element and the new modified correlation provide a reference for the design of water evaporator.