Percolative scale-free behavior in the boiling crisis

TL;DR

This paper reports the first experimental evidence of scale-free bubble behavior during boiling crisis and introduces a percolation model to predict and potentially prevent boiling failure.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental observation of scale-free behavior in boiling crisis and develops a continuum percolation model for prediction and surface engineering.

Findings

First experimental observation of scale-free bubble footprints.

A percolation model explains the emergence of scale-free behavior.

A criterion for predicting boiling crisis is proposed.

Abstract

We present the first experimental observations of scale-free behavior in the bubble footprint distribution during the boiling crisis of water, in pool and flow boiling conditions. We formulate a continuum percolation model that elucidates how the scale-free behavior emerges from the near-wall stochastic interaction of bubbles and provides a criterion to predict the boiling crisis. It also offers useful insights on how to engineer surfaces that enhance the critical heat flux limit.