Scalable surface microstructuring by a fiber laser for controlled nucleate boiling performance of high- and low-surface-tension fluids

Nucleate boiling enables effective cooling and heat transfer at low temperature differences between a heated surface and the surrounding fluid. It is utilized in many applications, ranging from large power plants to small microelectronics. To enhance the boiling process by minimization of the surface temperature and increase the maximum attainable heat flux, several approaches for surface modifications were recently developed. However, each of them has at least one important drawback, including challenging and expensive production, mechanical and/or thermal instability or problematic scale-up. Herein, a straightforward, robust and flexible method using a nanosecond fiber laser for production of surfaces with multi-scale micro-cavities (with diameters ranging from 0.2 to 10 µm) is developed. Examination of these surfaces in two very contrasting fluids - water, which is polar, has high surface tension and high latent heat of vaporizationand non-polar, dielectric tetradecafluorohexane (FC-72) with low surface tension and much lower latent heat - confirms that such surfaces enable enhanced heat transfer and controlled boiling in combination with diverse fluids. This demonstration suggests that the developed method has the potential to overcome the current limitations for further miniaturization of microelectronic devices and to increase performance and safety in high heat flux systems

Pool boiling performance of laser-textured surfaces with timedependent wettability

In last years, the direct laser texturing proved as environmentally friendly, scalable, flexible and efficient approach for surface functionalisation by creating appropriate surface features for enhanced boiling performance. When metal surface is laser-processed in open (oxygen-containing) atmosphere, it oxidizes and becomes (super)hydrophilic. However, it is well known that the wettability transition towards (super)hydrophobic state occur, if such a surface is exposed to the presence of hydrophobic contaminants. When water is used as a working fluid, this wettability transition can have a significant effect on nucleate boiling performance, which is investigated in this work

Pridobivanje električne energije preko izkoriščanja naboja v vodnem stolpcu

Zaradi vse večjega pomanjkanja naravnih surovin in hkratnega povečevanja potreb po energiji je želja po učinkoviti izrabi obnovljivih virov energije neprestana. V raziskavi smo preučevali pridobivanje električne energije na podlagi črpanja električnega naboja, ki se tvori ob čepastem toku kapljevine znotraj neprevodne cevi. Na podlagi obstoječih znanstvenih raziskav smo izdelali delujoč koncept ter izvedli meritve pri različnih kemijskih sestavah in električnih prevodnostih testne kapljevine. Poleg različne kemijske sestave smo preverjali tudi vpliv vsebnosti mehurčkov na generacijo električne energije. Kljub nekaterim ugotovitvam, da bo večja električna prevodnost kapljevine zaradi večje koncentracije ionov doprinesla k več večji energiji, rezultati te študije nazorno kažejo, da večji tokovni in napetostni pulz generirajo ravno slabo prevodne kapljevine

Experimental investigation of single-bubble growth during the saturated pool boiling of water and self-rewetting aqueous n-butanol mixtures

Self-rewetting fluids are commonly used in heat pipes, but their performance is not well understood in pool boiling. Here, we performed boiling of n-butanol-water mixtures on thin titanium foil and utilized synchronous high-speed IR and video cameras to capture transient temperature fields and bubble dynamics. At the onset of nucleate boiling, self-rewetting fluids offered higher nucleation site density and smaller bubble diameters compared to water. However, with increasing heat flux, a significant depletion of n-butanol was created in the vicinity of nucleation sites, which caused periodic temporal fluctuations in nucleation temperature and bubble evaporation energy. Average surface temperature and bubble departure diameter for self-rewetting fluids even exceeded the values of pure water. This shows that Marangoni effects cannot overcome limited mass diffusion of more volatile component towards nucleation sites in pool boiling on flat horizontal heaters. Based on our observations, the use of a self-rewetting fluid will not increase the heat transfer coefficient when compared to pure water, which is also known for conventional mixtures with negative temperature-dependent surface tension. Our experiments offer a step towards better understanding nucleate boiling of complex mixtures and a possibility for indirect evaluation of concentration variations based on synchronous high-speed video and IR thermography

Investigation of the scatter in reported pool boiling CHF measurements including analysis of heat flux and measurement uncertainty evaluation methodology

This study investigates the effect of experimental setup design factors on pool boiling CHF, compares spatial temperature gradient calculation methods and analyzes the uncertainty of heat flux and surface superheat. Reported CHF values on smooth copper surfaces, measured for saturated pool boiling of water at atmospheric pressure on flat horizontal samples, are highly scattered, which cannot be explained solely by the measurement uncertainty or the randomness of the boiling process. CHF data for 54 experiments from 47 publications is analyzed using regression analysis and ANOVA to determine which experimental setup design factors influence the CHF value. Methods for estimating the axial temperature gradient in a heating stem are compared using the Monte Carlo method and analytical nonlinear gradients. Heat flux values calculated using temperature measurements in a cylindrical copper heating stem together with either constant or temperature-dependent thermal conductivity and various temperature gradient calculation methods are compared. Overall heat flux and surface superheat measurement uncertainties are analyzed and the impact of contributing uncertainties including that of the thermal conductivity, temperature measurement and distance between thermocouples is reported

Evaluation of enhanced nucleate boiling performance through wall- temperature distributions on PDMS-silica coated and non-coated laser textured stainless steel surfaces

Nucleate boiling was examined on Joule heated stainless steel foils, functionalized by PDMS-silica coating and/or nanosecond-laser texturing. The nucleating bubbles and transient temperature fields were visual- ized through high-speed IR and video recordings. The differences in boiling performance were evaluated through wall-temperature distributions. Results confirmed that smooth surfaces require high activation temperatures and produce larger bubbles, while wall-temperature distributions display higher standard deviations, higher local superheats, and bimodal shapes. Similarly, relatively high activation temperatures were observed on the superhydrophilic surface, where the enhanced liquid replenishment on the active nucleation sites reduces the bubble departure diameters and prevents formation of local hotspots. Consequently, the analyzed temperature distributions have negative skewness and decreased standard deviation. The highest heat transfer coefficient was achieved on a laser textured surface with nonuniform wettability and multi-scale microcavities. Here, nucleation site density was as high as 200 cm-2 at 300 kW/m2 , while wall-temperature distributions demonstrated by far the lowest standard deviation. The temperature distributions also proved that annealed PDMS-silica coating significantly increased the thermal resistance of the entire heater. On the contrary, laser textured surfaces provided an even better boiling performance compared to coated surfaces and did not increase heater\u27s thermal resistance. This additionally endorses the coating-free, direct laser texturing method as a cutting-edge technology in the development of surfaces capable of significantly enhanced boiling heat transfer

Pattern geometry optimization on superbiphilic aluminum surfaces for enhanced pool boiling heat transfer

In this study, the optimal surface pattern of low and high wettability regions for enhanced boiling heat transfer is investigated using aluminum superbiphilic surfaces. Samples are fabricated by combining chemical vapor deposition of a fluorinated silane to turn them superhydrophobic and nanosecond laser texturing to render selected areas superhydrophilic. Triangular lattice pattern of superhydrophobic circular spots is utilized with spot diameters between 0.25 mm and 1.0 mm and pitch values of 0.5-2.5 mm. Pool boiling heat transfer performance of superbiphilic surfaces is evaluated using saturated water at atmospheric pressure. A strong wettability contrast is shown to be important in ensuring high heat transfer performance of wettability-patterned surfaces. Highest heat transfer performance is achieved using 0.5 mm diameter spots with a spot pitch of 1 mm and a corresponding superhydrophobic area fraction of approx. 23%. The optimal pitch value will provide a high density of potentially active nucleation sites but still allow for the development of the thermal boundary layer thus not inhibiting the activation of neighboring spots. The size of (super)hydrophobic spots appears not to have a major influence on the boiling performance when using the optimal spot pitch. The developed superbiphilic surfaces increase the CHF and provide greatly enhanced heat transfer coefficients especially at medium and high heat fluxes, making them suitable especially for high-heat-flux applications

Infrared thermography observations of crystallization fouling in a plate heat exchanger

Heat exchanger performance is significantly reduced in the presence of impurities in one or both fluid streams, frequently by deposits of inversely soluble salts. Accordingly, immense efforts were and still are spent to combat, predict, and investigate such fouling problems to mitigate the reduction of heat transfer performance. In this study, calcium carbonate crystallization fouling in a corrugated plate heat exchanger was investigated. Fouling was monitored using temperature and flow measurements, and, for the first time, coupled with infrared thermography observations. We show a clear and measurable local difference between clean and fouled conditions, regardless of operating conditions. Infrared measurements of temperature permit conclusions about flow distribution and the spatial location of areas with severe fouling. Compared to the clean state, completely skewed isotherms after fouling point out channel blockage and flow obstructions, resulting in large scale flow re-distribution within the channel. The presented results exhibit a clear benefit of this approach for heat exchanger fouling studies and serve as a foundation for future research of dynamic operation, transient response, and computational models