Recent Advancements in Flow Boiling Enhancement Using Enhanced Microchannels: A Comprehensive Review from a Fabrication Perspective

The demand for efficient cooling methods for electronic devices, nuclear reactors, satellites, and other high-heat-flux applications has led to the emergence of microchannels as highly effective cooling passages.Microchannels offer a combination of high heat transfer coefficients and compact size, making them ideal for such applications.However, traditional microchannels face challenges like high wall superheat boiling, flow instability, and low critical heat flux values during flow boiling, covering different types of enhanced microchannels, including flow disruption structures, reentrant cavity structures, porous structures, and nanostructures, and evaluating their flow boiling enhancement performance.Highlighting the typical fabrication methods employed for creating enhanced microchannels, such as etching, micro-mechanical cutting, micro electrical discharge machining, chemical vapor deposition, and 3D printing.The advantages and disadvantages of each fabrication technique are discussed to provide valuable insights for researchers and engineers working on microchannel heat sinks.The paper also identifies challenges and outlines future research directions for enhanced microchannels, crucial for their practical application and commercialization in high-heat-flux dissipation systems.By shedding light on the latest developments in flow boiling enhancement through enhanced microchannels, this review aims to pave the way for safer and more efficient cooling solutions in various industries, including microelectronics, defense, solar, and medical components.