Experimental study on subcooled pool boiling heat transfer under hypergravity

Abstract

The pool boiling heat transfer experiment was conducted with pure water under subcooled and saturation conditions, both in hypergravity (1–3 g) and normal gravity (1 g) at atmospheric pressure. A turntable was employed to simulate the hypergravity environment. Subcooling was varied at four different levels: 2 °C, 5 °C, 8 °C, and 10 °C, corresponding to gravity levels ranging from 1 g to 3 g. Heat transfer enhancement was observed in the fully developed region under saturation conditions, whereas it was less pronounced in the natural convection region. Specifically, increasing the subcooling degrees leads to an expansion of the natural convection region, where the effects of hypergravity become noticeable at higher heat flux levels. The effect of hypergravity diminishes as the bubble detachment diameter in the fully developed region decreases with increasing subcooling degree, implying that the main effect of hypergravity on heat transfer is due to its influence on the bubble behavior. Additionally, a detailed analysis is presented to further explain the effect of hypergravity on heat transfer, focusing on the bubble dynamical behavior and the impact of buoyancy under hypergravity conditions.