Heat transfer in rectangular microchannels during volumetric heating of the substrate

Convective heat transfer in microchannels with rectangular and square cross sections are analyzed for volumetric heat generation in the substrate due to an imposed magnetic field. Gadolinium was used as the substrate material and water as the working fluid. Gadolinium is a magnetic material that exhibits high temperature rise during adiabatic magnetization around its transition temperature of 295 K. A thorough investigation for velocity and temperature distributions was performed by varying channel aspect ratio, Reynolds number, and heat generation rate in the substrate. With the increase in Reynolds number, the outlet temperature decreased and the average Nusselt number increased.