Pool Boiling Heat Transfer of Water on Copper Surfaces With Nanoparticles Coating

Abstract

Saturated pool boiling heat transfer is investigated experimentally on a copper substrate with copper nanoparticle coatings at atmospheric pressure, in terms of critical heat flux (CHF) and heat transfer coefficient (HTC). Experiments are carried out on the substrate surface with a diameter of 12 mm using DI water as the working fluid. The coating is formed by stacking copper nanoparticles generated by an aerosol method. The aerosol nanoparticles are generated by a spark discharge generator with nitrogen gas as carrier gas and size-selected prior to electrostatic deposition. The thickness of the coating is quantified by the deposition time. In the present study, copper particles with diameter 35± 5 nm are selected, considering better coverage on the surface, while the deposition time is controlled as 4h and 8h, respectively. The boiling curves and heat transfer coefficient of MS-1 (4h deposition) and MS-2 (8h deposition) were compared with the BS (bare surface). The results show that CHFs of MS-1 and MS-2 are increased by 24% and 36%, respectively compared with the BS, while heat transfer is enhanced as well. High speed visualization tells that the coating provides more active nucleate sites and the hydrophobicity of the coating helps bubbles departure from the surface at low and moderate heat flux. At high heat flux, a hollow well occurs on MSs to supply liquid effectively to avoid dryout. Therefore, CHF and heat transfer are both improved.