Morphed inception of dynamic Leidenfrost regime in colloidal dispersion droplets

Abstract

Droplet impact on a heated substrate is an important area of study in spray cooling applications. On substrates significantly hotter than the saturation temperature, droplets immediately hover on its vapor cushion, exhibiting the Leidenfrost phenomenon. Here, we report the phenomena wherein addition of Al2O3 nanoparticles to water significantly increases the onset of dynamic Leidenfrost temperature (TDL) and suppresses the overall Leidenfrost regime. We experimentally revealed that the onset of TDL delays with increasing the nanoparticle concentration of the colloidal dispersions at a particular Weber number (We). But, for a constant concentration, the onset of TDL decreases with an increase in impact We. In contrast to water droplets, the colloid droplets exhibit vigorous spraying behavior due to the nanoparticulate residue deposition during the spreading and retraction stages. Further, the residue on the heated substrate changes the departure diameter of the vapor bubbles during boiling, prevents bubble coalescence and vapor layer formation, and reduces the propensity to attain dynamic Leidenfrost regime. With the aid of scaling analysis of TDL with impact We, we have explored the thermo-hydrodynamic behavior of impacting colloid droplets on a superheated substrate. Finally, we have also segregated the different boiling regimes of colloid droplets over various impact We.