Bubble Dynamics and Heat Transfer During Pool Boiling on Wettability Patterned Surfaces

Surfaces with spatial wettability patterns have been proven to enhance heat transfer coefficient and critical heat flux in pool boiling. To understand the physical mechanism behind this phenomenon and obtain the correlation among some critical parameters (bubble departure frequency, bubble size, nucleation site density, surface tension), pool boiling experiments were conducted. A Pyrex glass with a layer of indium-tin-oxide was used as the substrate. Hydrophobic patterns will serve as nucleation sites. Experiments were conducted in deionized water under atmospheric pressure at a relatively low heat flux. The processes of nucleation, growth, and departure of individual bubbles were visualized by using a high speed camera through the bottom of the heater surface. It has been found that the patterned surface performed the best in heat transfer for subcooled pool boiling when compared with hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces. The nucleation site density of the biphilic surface was much higher, when compared with that of the homogeneous surface. The individual bubbles always nucleate on the edge of the hydrophobic and hydrophilic area, and then move onto the hydrophobic pattern. Most of the individual bubbles detach from the wettability patterned surface in the diameter range from 300 µm to 450 µm (around 77.3%). The bubble departure periods scatter in the range from 80 ms to 1500 ms.     

Visualization of boiling structures in high heat-flux pool-boiling

The present paper presents experimental results of observation of liquid-solid contact and bubble behaviors around the critical heat flux of saturated and subcooled pool boiling on a plate of single crystal sapphire. The observation was conducted from the backside of a rectangular boiling surface and also from the side and backside of a boiling surface with a narrow width. The main results obtained are summarized as follows. The bubble base area is almost dry and lateral coalescence of bubbles forms coalescent dry areas. As the wall superheat increases, liquid-solid contact becomes like a canal meandering through dry areas. The dependency on the surface superheat of the contact-line length density (CLLD) which is defined as the total length of the boundary between wetted and dry areas in a unit area is almost the same as the boiling curve, and the value of CLLD at CHF is not strongly dependent on boiling liquid and subcooling. The relation of the number density of dry areas and their equivalent diameter in the large dry area region at CHF is not dependent on boiling liquid and subcooling, and it is similar to that of dropwise condensation.     

Simultaneous visualization of dry spots and bubbles for pool boiling of R-113 on a horizontal heater

A new experimental attempt was made to simultaneously observe the dynamic behaviors of bubbles and dry spots in the vicinity of boiling surface. Also, the two-dimensional bubble structures were obtained separately. From the visualization results, the formation of bubbles and dry spots occurs simultaneously. At critical heat flux (CHF), the surface rewetting is repeated by the local nucleate boiling around the large vapor film. At just after CHF, nucleate boiling at the locally wetted region is extinguished, resulting in the dryout of the whole heater surface. Therefore, we conclude that CHF is initiated from the locally limited nucleate boiling activity rather than any hydrodynamic instability.     

Numerical prediction of critical heat flux in pool boiling with the two-fluid model

Three-dimensional numerical simulations of the atmospheric saturated pool boiling are performed with the aim of predicting the critical heat flux. The two-phase mixture in pool boiling is described with the transient two-fluid model. The transient heat conduction in the horizontal heated wall is also solved. Dynamics of vapor generation on the heated wall is modeled through the density of nucleation sites and the bubble residence time on the wall. The heater’s surface is divided into zones, which number per unit area equals the density of nucleation sites, while the location of nucleation site within each zone is determined by a random function. The results show a replenishment of the heater’s surface with water and surface wetting for lower heat fluxes, while heater’s surface dry-out is predicted at critical heat flux values. Also, it is shown that the decrease of nucleation site density leads to the reduction of critical heat flux values. Obtained results of critical heat flux are in good agreement with available measured data. The presented approach is original regarding both the application of the two-fluid two-phase model for the prediction of boiling crisis in pool boiling and the defined boundary conditions at the heated wall surface.     

High-Speed Visualization of Bubble Behaviors for Pool Boiling of R-141b

A visualization study on the behavior of bubbles has been carried out for pool boiling of R141b on a horizontal transparent heater at pressure 0.1 MPa. The behaviors of bubbles were recorded by a high-speed camera placed beneath the heater surface. The departure diameter, departure time of bubbles and nucleation site density at different heat flux were obtained. The visualization results show that bubble departure diameter and departure time decrease , while the nucleation site density increases as the heat flux increases. It is also observed that there is no liquid recruited into the microlayer in the experiment. Based on the experimental results, boiling curve for R141b was predicted by using the dynamic microlayer model. As a result, the agreement between the predictive result based on the dynamic microlayer model and the experiment data for boiling curve of R141b is good at high heat flux.     

Saturated flow boiling heat transfer of R-407C and associated bubble characteristics in a narrow annular duct

Experiments are conducted here to investigate how the channel size affects the R-407C saturated flow boiling heat transfer and associated bubble characteristics in a horizontal narrow annular duct. The gap of the duct is fixed at 1.0 and 2.0 mm in this study. The measured data indicate that the saturated flow boiling heat transfer coefficient increases with a decrease in the duct gap. Besides, raising the imposed heat flux can cause a significant increase in the boiling heat transfer coefficients. However, the effects of the refrigerant mass flux and saturated temperature on the boiling heat transfer coefficient are milder. The results from the flow visualization show that the mean diameter of the bubbles departing from the heating surface decreases noticeably at increasing R-407C mass flux. Moreover, the bubble departure frequency increases at reducing duct size and at a high imposed heat flux many bubbles generated from the cavities in the heating surface tend to merge together to form big bubbles. Meanwhile comparison of the present heat transfer data for R-407C with R-134a in the same duct and with some existing correlations is conducted. Furthermore, correlation for the present R-407C saturated flow boiling heat transfer data is proposed. Additionally, the present data for some quantitative bubble characteristics such as the mean bubble departure diameter and frequency and the active nucleation site density are also correlated.     

Saturated flow boiling heat transfer and associated bubble characteristics of R-134a in a narrow annular duct

Experiments are conducted here to investigate how the channel size affects the saturated flow boiling heat transfer and associated bubble characteristics of refrigerant R-134a in a horizontal narrow annular duct. The gap of the duct is fixed at 1.0 and 2.0 mm in this study. The measured heat transfer data indicate that the saturated flow boiling heat transfer coefficient increases with a decrease in the gap of the duct. Besides, raising the imposed heat flux can cause a significant increase in the boiling heat transfer coefficients. However, the effects of the refrigerant mass flux and saturated temperature on the boiling heat transfer coefficient are milder. The results from the flow visualization show that the mean diameter of the bubbles departing from the heating surface decreases slightly at increasing R-134a mass flux. Moreover, the bubble departure frequency increases at reducing duct size mainly due to the rising shear stress of the liquid flow, and at a high imposed heat flux many bubbles generated from the cavities in the heating surface tend to merge together to form big bubbles. Correlation for the present saturated flow boiling heat transfer data of R-134a in the narrow annular duct is proposed. Additionally, data for some quantitative bubble characteristics such as the mean bubble departure diameter and frequency and the active nucleation site density are also correlated.     

Subcooled flow boiling heat transfer and associated bubble characteristics of R-134a in a narrow annular duct

Experiments are conducted here to investigate how the channel size affects the subcooled flow boiling heat transfer and associated bubble characteristics of refrigerant R-134a in a horizontal narrow annular duct. The gap of the duct is fixed at 1.0 and 2.0 mm in this study. From the measured boiling curves, the temperature undershoot at ONB is found to be relatively significant for the subcooled flow boiling of R-134a in the duct. The R-134a subcooled flow boiling heat transfer coefficient increases with a reduction in the gap size, but decreases with an increase in the inlet liquid subcooling. Besides, raising the imposed heat flux can cause a substantial increase in the subcooled boiling heat transfer coefficient. However, the effects of the refrigerant mass flux and saturated temperature on the boiling heat transfer coefficient are small in the narrow duct. Visualization of the subcooled flow boiling processes reveals that the bubbles are suppressed to become smaller and less dense by raising the refrigerant mass flux and inlet subcooling. Moreover, raising the imposed heat flux significantly increases the bubble population, coalescence and departure frequency. The increase in the bubble departure frequency by reducing the duct size is due to the rising wall shear stress of the liquid flow, and at a high imposed heat flux many bubbles generated from the cavities on the heating surface tend to merge together to form big bubbles. Correlation for the present subcooled flow boiling heat transfer data of R-134a in the narrow annular duct is proposed. Additionally, the present data for some quantitative bubble characteristics such as the mean bubble departure diameter and frequency and the active nucleation site density are also correlated.     

A fractal model for critical heat flux in pool boiling

In this paper, a fractal model for the high heat flux nucleate boiling region and for the critical heat flux (CHF) is proposed. The expression for the critical heat flux (CHF) is derived based on the fractal distribution of nucleation sites on boiling surfaces. The proposed fractal model for CHF is found to be a function of wall superheat, the contact angle and physical properties of fluid. The relation between CHF and the number of active nucleation sites is obtained from the fractal distribution of active nucleation sites on boiling surfaces. The contact angle and the physical properties of fluid have the important effects on CHF. The predicted CHF from a boiling surface based on the proposed fractal model is compared with the existing experimental data. An excellent agreement between the proposed model predictions and experimental data is found.     

Time periodic flow boiling heat transfer of R-134a and associated bubble characteristics in a narrow annular duct due to flow rate oscillation

An experiment is conducted here to investigate the effects of the imposed time periodic refrigerant flow rate oscillation in the form of nearly a triangular wave on refrigeriant R-134a flow boiling heat transfer and associated bubble characteristics in a horizontal narrow annular duct with the duct gap fixed at 2.0 mm. The results indicate that when the imposed heat flux is close to that for the onset of stable flow boiling, intermittent flow boiling appears in which nucleate boiling on the heated surface does not exist in an entire periodic cycle. At somewhat higher heat flux persistent boiling prevails. Besides, the refrigerant flow rate oscillation only slightly affects the time-average boiling curves and heat transfer coefficients. Moreover, the heated wall temperature, bubble departure diameter and frequency, and active nucleation site density are found to oscillate periodically in time as well and at the same frequency as the imposed mass flux oscillation. Furthermore, in the persistent boiling the resulting heated wall temperature oscillation is stronger for a longer period and a larger amplitude of the mass flux oscillation. And for a larger amplitude of the mass flux oscillation, stronger temporal oscillations in the bubble characteristics are noted. The effects of the mass flux oscillation on the size of the departing bubble and active nucleation site density dominate over the bubble departure frequency, causing the heated wall temperature to decrease and heat transfer coefficient to increase at reducing mass flux in the flow boiling, opposing to that in the single-phase flow. But they are only mildly affected by the period of the mass flux oscillation. However, a short time lag in the wall temperature oscillation is also noted. Finally, a flow regime map is provided to delineate the boundaries separating different boiling regimes for the R-134a flow boiling in the annular duct.     

Direct numerical simulations of pool boiling curves including heater's thermal responses and the effect of vapor phase's thermal conductivity

Effects of heater's thermal properties and vapor phase's thermal conductivity on saturated pool boiling above a large horizontal heater are simulated numerically based on an improved pseudo-potential liquid-vapor phase change lattice Boltzmann model. A transient conjugate heat transfer problem is under consideration, where the conjugate thermal boundary condition is imposed and heater's thermal responses during boiling processes are investigated. Saturated pool boiling curves from onset of nucleate boiling to critical heat flux (CHF), to transition boiling regime to stable film boiling regime are obtained numerically. It is found that the simulated critical heat flux (CHF) agrees reasonably well with existing analytical models. Also, the simulated boiling heat fluxes in stable film boiling regime are shown to be in good agreement with the existing analytical solution. Thus, this improved pseudo-potential liquid-vapor phase change lattice Boltzmann model is quantitatively validated. Simulation results demonstrate that there is significant maldistribution in temperature distribution near the top of heater surface in nucleate boiling regime, CHF point and transition boiling regime. As a result, two-dimensional heat conduction can not be ignored when evaluating heat flux closely beneath the heater's top surface. It is also shown that both heater's thermal conductivity and thermal mass (the product of density and specific heat at constant pressure) have no effect on CHF value as well as the boiling curve in nucleate boiling regime and film boiling regime for a thick heater. However, the transition boiling regime of the boiling curve moves to the left with the increasing heater thermal conductivity and heater thermal mass for a thick heater. Increasing the vapor theraml conductivity has no effect on CHF but would increase boiling heat flux in film boiling regime, and hence shortening the transition boiling regime.     

A Study on Enhancement of Boiling Heat Transfer by Mixed-Wettability Surface

ABSTRACT

The enhancement of pool boiling heat transfer in FC-72 on a novel mixed-wettability surface was experimentally investigated. On the mixed-wettability surface, the micro-pin-finned area and the smooth area were distributed in the form of fractal by using micromaching method (dry etching method). From the comparison with the smooth surface and the micro-pin-finned surface, the mixed-wettability surface could efficiently enhance the heat transfer performance in the nucleate boiling region, and the critical heat flux was also efficiently improved. From the boiling experiment result, it is discovered that a larger heat transfer area does not always lead to a better heat transfer performance. From the peculiar boiling phenomenon of the novel surface, it can be observed that large number of nucleation sites are formed in the micro-pin-finned area, and the small bubbles grow, collide, merge and move rapidly to the nearby smooth channel. When the bubble grows large enough, it will departure quickly under the effect of channel pressure. It can be concluded that the mixed-wettability surface can not only guarantee sufficient nucleation sites, but also facilitate the departure of bubbles and enhance the bubbles' interaction.     

Micro‐bubble emission boiling from horizontal and vertical surfaces to subcooled parallel flow water

Heat removal of more than 10 MW/m² in heat flux has been required in high‐heat‐generation equipment in nuclear fusion reactors. In some conditions of water subcooling and velocity, there appears an extraordinary high heat flux boiling in the transition boiling region. This boiling regime is called micro‐bubble emission boiling (MEB) because many micro‐bubbles are spouted from the heat transfer surface accompanying a huge sound. The study intent is to obtain heat transfer performance of MEB in horizontal and vertical heated surfaces to parallel flow of subcooled water, comparing with CHF of this system. Three types of MEB with different heat transfer performance and bubble behavior are observed according to the flow velocity and liquid subcooling. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 32(2): 130–140, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.10077     

Unified theoretical prediction of fully developed nucleate boiling and critical heat flux based on a dynamic microlayer model

A new dynamic microlayer model has been proposed to predict theoretically the heat flux in fully developed nucleate boiling regions including critical heat flux (CHF). In this model, the heat transfer with boiling is mainly attributed to the evaporation of the microlayers which are periodically formed while the individual bubbles are forming. Since the initial microlayer thickness becomes thinner with the increase of wall superheat, both the local evaporation and the partial dryout speed of the microlayer increase. As a result, the time-averaged heat flux during the period of individual bubble has a maximum point, the CHF, at the predicted continuous boiling curve.     

Thermal Physics and Critical Heat Flux Characteristics of Al2O3–H2O Nanofluids

This study investigates the influence of the thermal physics of nanofluids on the critical heat flux (CHF) of nanofluids. Thermal physics tests of nanoparticle concentrations ranged from 0 to 1 g/L. Pool boiling experiments were performed using electrically heated NiCr metal wire under atmospheric pressure. The results show that there was no obvious change for viscosity and a maximum enhancement of about 5 to 7% for thermal conductivity and surface tension with the addition of nanoparticles into pure water. Consistently with other nanofluid studies, this study found that a significant enhancement in CHF could be achieved at modest nanoparticle concentrations (<0.1 g/L by Al₂O₃ nanoparticle concentration). Compared to the CHF of pure water, an enhancement of 113% over that of nanofluids was found. Scanning electron microscope photos showed there was a nanoparticle layer formed on the heating surface for nanofluid boiling. The bubble growth was photographed by a camera. The coating layer makes the nucleation of vapor bubbles easily formed. Thus, the addition of nanoparticles has active effects on the CHF.     

Enhanced Pool Boiling Performance of Microchannel Patterned Surface with Extremely Low Wall Superheat through Capillary Feeding of Liquid

ABSTRACT

The pool boiling performance plays a key role in the development of high heat flux dissipating applications. The high critical heat flux and low wall superheat are two of the critical factors that affect the long-term life of devices. In this paper, enhanced pool boiling performance can be achieved by well-designed microchannels in copper surfaces using a precision diamond dicing method. The microchannel patterned surface with the channel length of 0.4 mm obtains a critical heat flux of 169.8 W/cm², which has a 193% enhancement compared to the plain surface. Besides, the extremely low wall superheat of 3 K has been achieved, and thus the heat transfer coefficient reaches 51.8 W/cm²·K, about 738% larger than that of the plain surface. Herein, the microcavity has increased the nucleation site, the surface can promote the bubbles escape, and then the channel can continuously supply the liquid. Hence, the extremely low wall superheat at high heat flux occurs due to the rapid bubble departure and enhanced capillary feeding of liquid replenishment to active nucleation sites on the surface. The above results provide an effective way for the realization of high-performance two-phase microchannel patterned heat sinks via optimizing the microstructure geometry.     

The effect of fouling on nucleate pool boiling of small wires

Pool boiling experiments with small diameter wires were conducted in earth gravity and microgravity conditions. Bare wire and fouled wire with a scale deposition of calcium carbonate was used. The wettability on the scale wire was higher than that on the bare wire. Though more vigorous bubbling was observed on the scale wire when compared to that on the bare wire at the same heat flux, the boiling curve for the scale wire was approximately the same as that on the bare wire. However, the critical heat flux (CHF) on the scale wire was higher than that of the bare wire. On the scale wire, the departure diameter of bubbles was relatively smaller than that on the bare wire. The smaller diameter of bubbles detaching from the scale wire is considered to be due to the high wettability and high nucleation site density. As the result, the coalescence of bubbles near the wire was prevented, and the CHF was delayed and increased on the scale wire when compared to that on the bare wire. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 33(5): 316–329, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20016     

Subcooled flow boiling heat transfer of R-407C and associated bubble characteristics in a narrow annular duct

An experiment is conducted here to investigate how the channel size affects the subcooled flow boiling heat transfer and the associated bubble characteristics of refrigerant R-407C in a horizontal narrow annular duct with the gap of the duct fixed at 1.0 and 2.0 mm. The measured boiling curves indicate that the temperature overshoot at ONB is relatively significant for the subcooled flow boiling of R-407C in the duct. Besides, the subcooled flow boiling heat transfer coefficient increases with a reduction in the duct gap, but decreases with an increase in the inlet liquid subcooling. Moreover, raising the heat flux imposed on the duct can cause a significant increase in the boiling heat transfer coefficients. However, the effects of the refrigerant mass flux and saturated temperature on the boiling heat transfer coefficient are slighter. Visualization of the subcooled flow boiling processes in the duct reveals that the bubbles are suppressed to become smaller and less dense by raising the refrigerant mass flux and inlet subcooling. Raising the imposed heat flux, however, produces positive effects on the bubble population, coalescence and departure frequency. Meanwhile, the present heat transfer data for R-407C are compared with the R-134a data measured in the same duct and with some existing correlations. We also propose empirical correlations for the present data for the R-407C subcooled flow boiling heat transfer and some quantitative bubble characteristics such as the mean bubble departure diameter and frequency and the active nucleation site density.     

Surface wettability control by nanocoating: The effects on pool boiling heat transfer and nucleation mechanism

Experiments were performed to highlight the influence of surface wettability on nucleate boiling heat transfer. Nanocoating techniques were used to vary the water contact angle from 20° to 110° by modifying nanoscale surface topography and chemistry. The bubble growth was recorded by a high speed video camera to enable a better understanding of the surface wettability effects on nucleation mechanism. For hydrophilic (wetted) surfaces, it was found that a greater surface wettability increases the vapour bubble departure radius and reduces the bubble emission frequency. Moreover, lower superheat is required for the initial growth of bubbles on hydrophobic (unwetted) surfaces. However, the bubble in contact with the hydrophobic surface cannot detach from the wall and have a curvature radius increasing with time. At higher heat flux, the bubble spreads over the surface and coalesces with bubbles formed at other sites, causing a large area of the surface to become vapour blanketed. The best heat transfer coefficient is obtained with the surface which had a water contact angle close to either 0° or 90°. A new approach of nucleation mechanism is established to clarify the nexus between the surface wettability and the nucleate boiling heat transfer.     

Understanding of Interactions for Bubbles Generated at Neighboring Nucleation Sites

Bubble dynamics and site interaction are studied numerically by solving conservation of mass, momentum, and energy equations for the liquid and vapor phases. The liquid-vapor interface is tracked by a volume of fluid method. The effects of applied mean heat flux, site-site interactions, orientation of the boiling surface, inclination of nucleating tunnels, and reentrant cavity shape on the bubble dynamics are investigated. With the increase of mean heat flux three separate regimes namely surface tension driven interaction, no interaction and instability driven interaction between the bubbles were shown. Closer nucleation sites fascilitates bubble merging whereas sites away from each other behaves like individual bubble release. Critical spacing between the sites are predicted bifurcating interaction and no interaction zones separately. Site-site interaction patterns are also tested on inclined planes and critical inclination angle has been reported beyond which columnar bubble formation is observed as a result of merging. Using numerical simulation efforts have been also made to check suitability of site inclination and base pocket at the end of the tunnel to generate high heat transfer coefficient. Proposal of reentrant cavity base geometry matches well with literature.