The effective use of focused shadowgraphy for single bubble nucleate pool boiling investigations

Abstract

Nucleate pool boiling is known for its high heat transfer coefficients. Despite being widely implemented, the prediction of nucleate pool boiling mechanisms remains complex and single bubble heat transfer analysis is helpful to simplify the problem. Owing to the interesting bubble behaviour during nucleate pool boiling, publications tend to focus on the bubble dynamics while the experimental setup is only briefly discussed. Small but critical information on the experimental setup is often omitted, which makes it challenging or even impossible to reproduce or compare experimental data. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to provide a systematic approach to using focused shadowgraphy for the investigation of single bubble dynamics using R245fa. A pool boiling experimental setup has been built and equipped with temperature, pressure and heat flux sensors, as well as a high-speed camera and light source. The nucleate pool boiling takes place at a single cavity on a copper block. The influences of the heat transfer surface area, light source, and diffuser films were investigated to provide a systematic approach to the use of focused shadowgraphy for the investigation of single bubble dynamics.