Pool boiling visualization of Novec-649 and FC-72 on copper microchannels

Saturated pool boiling from copper microchannel surfaces was examined using Novec-649 and FC-72 as working fluids. Parallel microchannels fabricated by machining were about 0.2 mm wide, and 0.2 to 0.4 mm deep and spaced every 0.4 mm. The experiments were carried out at atmospheric pressure. The images of the growing and departing bubbles for the entire surface of the specimen were taken with a Photonfocus PHOT MV-D1024-160-CL camera and an EX-FH20 (Casio) camera. At low superheats, the bubbles departing from enhanced surfaces were spherical in shape and did not coalesce. At higher superheats, the bubbles interacted with each other intensively, forming flattened spherical, funnel-shaped bubbles at the bottom. The visualization study aimed at identifying nucleation sites of the departing bubbles and determining their diameters and frequency at various superheats.