Acoustically Enhanced Boiling Heat Transfer

TL;DR

This study investigates how acoustic fields can enhance boiling heat transfer by affecting vapor bubbles, leading to increased critical heat flux, through experiments with a novel single-bubble heater and application to a copper heater.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental setup to study individual vapor bubble responses to acoustic fields and demonstrates their effect on boiling heat transfer enhancement.

Findings

Acoustic fields increase critical heat flux in boiling.

Single-bubble experiments reveal bubble behavior under acoustic influence.

Enhanced boiling performance observed with acoustic excitation.

Abstract

An acoustic field is used to increase the critical heat flux (CHF) of a flat-boiling-heat-transfer surface. The increase is a result of the acoustic effects on the vapor bubbles. Experiments are performed to explore the effects of an acoustic field on vapor bubbles in the vicinity of a rigid-heated wall. Work includes the construction of a novel heater used to produce a single vapor bubble of a prescribed size and at a prescribed location on a flatboiling surface for better study of an individual vapor bubble's reaction to the acoustic field. Work also includes application of the results from the single-bubble heater to a calibrated-copper heater used for quantifying the improvements in CHF.