Molecular Dynamics Study on Explosive Boiling of Thin Liquid Argon Film on Nanostructured Surface Under Different Wetting Conditions

Abstract

Molecular dynamics (MDs) simulations have been performed to investigate the boiling phenomena of thin liquid film adsorbed on a nanostructured solid surface with particular emphasis on the effect of wetting condition of the solid surface. The molecular system consists of liquid and vapor argon and solid platinum wall. The nanostructures which reside on top of the solid wall have shape of rectangular block. The solid–liquid interfacial wettability, in other words whether the solid surface is hydrophilic or hydrophobic, has been altered for different cases to examine its effect on boiling phenomena. The initial configuration of the simulation domain comprises a three-phase system (solid platinum, liquid argon, and vapor argon), which was equilibrated at 90 K. After equilibrium period, the wall temperature was suddenly increased from 90 K to 250 K which is far above the critical point of argon and this initiates rapid or explosive boiling. The spatial and temporal variation of temperature and density as well as the variation of system pressure with respect to time were closely monitored for each case. The heat flux normal to the solid surface was also calculated to illustrate the effectiveness of heat transfer for different cases of wetting conditions of solid surface. The results show that the wetting condition of surface has significant effect on explosive boiling of the thin liquid film. The surface with higher wettability (hydrophilic) provides more favorable conditions for boiling than the low-wetting surface (hydrophobic), and therefore, the liquid argon responds quickly and shifts from liquid to vapor phase faster in the case of hydrophilic surface. The heat transfer rate is also much higher in the case of hydrophilic surface.