The Physics of Boiling at Burnout

The basic elements of a new experimental approach for the investigation of burnout in pool boiling are presented. The approach consists of the combined use of ultrathin (nano-scale) heaters and high speed infrared imaging of the heater temperature pattern as a whole, in conjunction with highly detailed control and characterization of heater morphology at the nano and micron scales. It is shown that the burnout phenomenon can be resolved in both space and time. Ultrathin heaters capable of dissipating power levels, at steady-state, of over 1 MW/square m are demonstrated. A separation of scales is identified and it is used to transfer the focus of attention from the complexity of the two-phase mixing layer in the vicinity of the heater to a micron-scaled microlayer and nucleation and associated film-disruption processes within it

Drag Reduction of Bacterial Cellulose Suspensions

Drag reduction due to bacterial cellulose suspensions with small environmental loading was investigated. Experiments were carried out by measuring the pressure drop in pipe flow. It was found that bacterial cellulose suspensions give rise to drag reduction in the turbulent flow range. We observed a maximum drag reduction ratio of 11% and found that it increased with the concentration of the bacterial cellulose suspension. However, the drag reduction effect decreased in the presence of mechanical shear