Investigation of heat transfer improvement through nucleate boiling by applying the LIF technique

Thermal management has been a critical practice for efficient cooling in various applications, from power plants to electronic industries. Among different cooling strategies, nucleate boiling is one of the preferences due to high latent heat during phase change. A cyclic process initiation, growth, and departure is a core mechanism in nucleate boiling that effectively removes the overheat from the heated surface. Enhancing the performance of heat removal in nucleate boiling, therefore, requires increases in bubble size and departure frequency. This study investigates bubble growth and associated heat transfer characteristics of four engineered fins in water under a subcooled condition, including flat, dimpled, holed, and nanoparticle-coated surfaces. Time-dependent bubble size, departure diameter, growth rate, and departure frequency are estimated using high-speed imaging. A comprehensive study comparing bubble dynamics parameters allows us to determine the fin structure for the efficient mass and heat transfer during bubble growth, subsequently helping us optimize the heat sink for electronic cooling. With an array of optimized fins, a heat sink is designed and tested for the cooling of an electric battery.