Boiling visualization on vertical fins with tunnel-pore structures

The paper presents experimental studies of nucleate boiling heat transfer from a system of connected horizontal and vertical subsurface tunnels. The experiments were carried out for water at atmospheric pressure. The tunnel external covers were manufactured out of perforated copper foil (holes diameter 0.3 mm), sintered with the mini-fins, formed on the vertical side of the 10 mm high rectangular fins and horizontal inter-fin surface. The image acquisition speed was 493 fps (at resolution 400 × 300 pixels with Photonfocus PHOT MV-D1024-160-CL camera). Visualization investigations aimed to identify nucleation sites and flow patterns and to determine the bubble departure diameter and frequency at various superheats for vertical tunnels. At low superheat vapor bubbles are generated nearly exclusively by the vertical tunnel. At medium values of superheat, pores of the horizontal tunnel activate.