Pool boiling heat transfer on vertical fins with wire mesh structures

Abstract

Experimental investigations into pool boiling heat transfer on finned arrays with internal tunnels limited by copper wire mesh were conducted. The experiments were carried out for water, ethanol and fluorinert FC-72 at atmospheric pressure. The wire net with mesh aperture of 0.3 and 0.5 mm, sintered with the vertical side of the 10 mm high rectangular fins and horizontal inter-fin surface formed a system of connected tunnels. Tunnel width was 0.6 and 1.0 mm. Substantial enhancement of heat transfer coefficient was observed for the investigated surfaces. In water, ethanol and FC-72 boiling the highest increase in the heat transfer coefficient was obtained for the surface with mesh aperture of 0.5 mm and tunnel width of 0.6 mm. The ratio of boiling heat transfer coefficients for the investigated fins with mesh covering and smooth fins (10 mm height), at the heat flux 100 kW/m2, was about 3 for water and ethanol as working fluids.