About this Research Topic
Phase-change phenomena are ubiquitous around us and are particularly useful in applications where high heat-fluxes are expected, such as peaks in the range of 10MW/m2 in hot-spots in electronics. In this instance, the evaporator and the condenser of loop heat pipes need to be equally effective in order to transfer 10MW/m2 heat loads from the target location and reject to the environment.
To answer this challenge, researchers attempt to improve the performance of both components by introducing non-smooth surfaces, inspired by natural ones such as the lotus leaf or the desert beetle etc. The lotus leaf led to dropwise condensation and further enhancements due to “jumping drops” which leads to a minimal amount of liquid layer to act as thermal resistance. The texture of the desert beetle shell and its dual-wettability has led to higher nucleate boiling heat transfer and critical heat flux.
Thermal physics is paramount to the thermal management of devices and processes and hence lies at the forefront of scientific research. Advances in experimental and computational techniques have allowed new insights into the effect of non-smooth surfaces on phase-change phenomena. This Research Topic will provide a platform to present and enrich approaches used to solve various problems. We hope that the combination of experimental studies on surfaces with characteristic sizes of irregularities in the range from nano to millimeter sizes with numerical calculations will showcase the current understanding of the underpinning mechanisms of ongoing processes and lead to future developments.
This Research Topic aims to highlight the latest developments in phase-change phenomena on non-smooth surfaces. We are especially interested in how non-smooth surfaces affect boiling, condensation, and evaporation mechanisms, and associated enhanced heat transfer. Experimental and analytical/computational (validated against literature) works are welcome. Review papers demonstrating the current state-of-the-art and stating future research directions in each case are particularly welcome.
Topics of particular interest include experimental, simulation, and theoretical work on the following:
• Influence of wettability on phase transition processes
• Enhancement of critical heat flux and nucleate boiling during pool/flow boiling
• Flow boiling in mini/micro channels where non-smooth surfaces improve either the condenser or the evaporator performance (or both)
• Loop heat pipes capable of removal high-heat flux of 2MW/m2 or higher
• Promotion of dropwise condensation heat transfer with or without “jumping drops”
• Efficient fog harvesting with limited ΔT
• Droplet evaporation and associated phenomena on non-smooth or inclined surfaces
• Triple line dynamics during phase transitions on structured surfaces
• Evaporation and boiling of liquid film on rough surfaces
• Interactions of the vapor structures on non-smooth surfaces
• Enhancement of both boiling heat transfer and critical heat flux with functional coatings
To answer this challenge, researchers attempt to improve the performance of both components by introducing non-smooth surfaces, inspired by natural ones such as the lotus leaf or the desert beetle etc. The lotus leaf led to dropwise condensation and further enhancements due to “jumping drops” which leads to a minimal amount of liquid layer to act as thermal resistance. The texture of the desert beetle shell and its dual-wettability has led to higher nucleate boiling heat transfer and critical heat flux.
Thermal physics is paramount to the thermal management of devices and processes and hence lies at the forefront of scientific research. Advances in experimental and computational techniques have allowed new insights into the effect of non-smooth surfaces on phase-change phenomena. This Research Topic will provide a platform to present and enrich approaches used to solve various problems. We hope that the combination of experimental studies on surfaces with characteristic sizes of irregularities in the range from nano to millimeter sizes with numerical calculations will showcase the current understanding of the underpinning mechanisms of ongoing processes and lead to future developments.
This Research Topic aims to highlight the latest developments in phase-change phenomena on non-smooth surfaces. We are especially interested in how non-smooth surfaces affect boiling, condensation, and evaporation mechanisms, and associated enhanced heat transfer. Experimental and analytical/computational (validated against literature) works are welcome. Review papers demonstrating the current state-of-the-art and stating future research directions in each case are particularly welcome.
Topics of particular interest include experimental, simulation, and theoretical work on the following:
• Influence of wettability on phase transition processes
• Enhancement of critical heat flux and nucleate boiling during pool/flow boiling
• Flow boiling in mini/micro channels where non-smooth surfaces improve either the condenser or the evaporator performance (or both)
• Loop heat pipes capable of removal high-heat flux of 2MW/m2 or higher
• Promotion of dropwise condensation heat transfer with or without “jumping drops”
• Efficient fog harvesting with limited ΔT
• Droplet evaporation and associated phenomena on non-smooth or inclined surfaces
• Triple line dynamics during phase transitions on structured surfaces
• Evaporation and boiling of liquid film on rough surfaces
• Interactions of the vapor structures on non-smooth surfaces
• Enhancement of both boiling heat transfer and critical heat flux with functional coatings
Keywords: experimental research, nucleate boiling, droplet condensation, heat transfer, phase-change, non-smooth surfaces, numerical simulation, critical heat flux, evaporation mechanisms, phase transition processes
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