During pool boiling, a significantly high heat flux leads to the transition from nucleate boiling to film boiling, where a vapor film forms over the boiling surface, drastically increasing thermal resistance. This transition at the critical heat flux (CHF) results in an abrupt increase in surface temperature and can lead to catastrophic failure of the boiler. However, reported CHF values vary greatly, even for smooth surfaces of the same material; for example, the CHF values on flat silicon and silicon dioxide surfaces vary across studies by up to 49% and 84%, respectively. Here, we address this discrepancy by accounting for hydrocarbon adsorption on boiling surface. Hydrocarbon adsorption on smooth boiling surfaces decreases surface wettability, hindering the ability to maintain liquid contact with the surface and, thus, lowering the pool boiling CHF. To investigate hydrocarbon adsorption kinetics under ambient conditions and the subsequent effect on CHF, we cleaned flat silicon dioxide samples with argon plasma to remove hydrocarbon contaminants and then exposed them to laboratory air for different periods of time before conducting pool boiling experiments. Pool boiling results along with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data showed that the amount of adsorbed hydrocarbon increased with exposure time in air, which resulted in a decrease in wettability and, accordingly, a decrease in CHF. This work has important implications for understanding the spread in CHF values reported in the literature and may serve as a guideline for the preparation of boiling surfaces to achieve consistent experimental results.
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22 June 2020
Research Article|
June 23 2020
Effects of airborne hydrocarbon adsorption on pool boiling heat transfer
Youngsup Song
;
Youngsup Song
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
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Lenan Zhang
;
Lenan Zhang
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
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Zhen Liu
;
Zhen Liu
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rice University
, Houston, Texas 77005, USA
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Daniel J. Preston
;
Daniel J. Preston
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rice University
, Houston, Texas 77005, USA
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Evelyn N. Wang
Evelyn N. Wang
a)
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: enwang@mit.edu
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: enwang@mit.edu
Appl. Phys. Lett. 116, 253702 (2020)
Article history
Received:
May 05 2020
Accepted:
June 05 2020
Citation
Youngsup Song, Lenan Zhang, Zhen Liu, Daniel J. Preston, Evelyn N. Wang; Effects of airborne hydrocarbon adsorption on pool boiling heat transfer. Appl. Phys. Lett. 22 June 2020; 116 (25): 253702. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0012839
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