Experimental study of boiling on nanostructured surfaces

• Main Author: Muhammad Abul Barakaath
• Other Authors: Tuan Tran
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2022
• Subjects: Engineering::Mechanical engineering
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/158918
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

One of the most efficient heat transfer methods is through nucleate boiling where it is beneficial in many industrial applications for the purpose of cooling electronic devices and much more. Hence, there is a lot of research being done in this area to continuously enhance the heat transfer rates in nucleate boiling. It is known that the modifications of surface roughness have a positive impact of the enhancement of the heat transfer rate. There has been past research that has been done using smooth surface and surfaces with coatings. However, not much has been done in the areas of fabricated well-arranged nanostructured surfaces. This report will focus on the study of enhancement of boiling heat transfer using fabricated nanostructured surfaces with various thickness. The first part of the report will be on the fundamentals of boiling where the Nukiyama’s boiling curve will be explored in detail. There will also be detailed explanation on the principles behind the nucleate boiling region as well as explain the various mathematical models of Zuber and Rohsenow in boiling. Thereafter, there will be detailed explanation of the assembly and procedures of the experimental setup. Sample test experiment was first conducted using smooth silicon. The mathematical models were then compared against sample experimental data to use it as a validation before experiment van be conducted on the nanostructured surface. Proper analyses were done on the collected data in terms of critical heat flux, Leidenfrost point, surface temperature and surface area enhancement ratio. Finally, it was concluded that through the experiments conducted on nanostructured substrates, it was found that fabricated nano pillar surface with higher thickness provides better enhancement for better heat transfer. This ultimately can be beneficial in industrial application for cooling systems.