Scientists
at the Georgia Institute of Technology achieved a 17% increase in
boiling efficiency by using an acoustic field to enhance heat transfer.
The acoustic field does this by efficiently removing vapor bubbles from
the heated surface and suppressing the formation of an insulating vapor
film.
As
reported in the American Institute of Physics’ journal Physics of Fluids, bubble removal was enhanced because the acoustic
field induces capillary waves on the bubble, causing its contact line to
contract and detach the bubble from the surface. The mechanisms
associated with these interactions were explored using three acoustic
experiments: an air bubble on the underside of a horizontal surface, a
single vapor bubble on the top side of a horizontal heated surface, and
pool boiling from a horizontal heated surface. The researchers were able
to isolate and identify the dominant forces involved in these
acoustically forced motions by measuring the capillary waves induced on
the bubbles, bubble motion, and heat transfer during boiling.
Citation: Acoustically Enhanced Boiling Heat Transfer, Physics of Fluids
Source: American Institute of Physics
