Pool boiling heat transfer from vertical heater array in liquid nitrogen

Abstract

The heat transfer from an array of discrete sources is expected to differ from the behavior of a single heat source due to the interaction between the flow induced by individual heat sources. This study details the results from experiments conducted to study the pool boiling heat transfer characteristics from a vertical heater array with flush-mounted heat sources. The lower heaters were found to enhance the heat transfer from upper heaters. The bubble pumped convection due to the lower heaters enhanced the preboiling heat transfer coefficient at the upper heater by as much as 700%. The critical heat flux from the upper heaters was also enhanced up to 15%. Correlations are presented for both these effects. 21 refs.