Experimental study of the air-atomized spray cooling of high-temperature metal

An experimental study of heat transfer between a hot metallic surface and water droplets sprayed by a commercial flat pattern air-atomized spray nozzle was conducted. A lattice grid was used to measure the local spray density (Q) along the horizontal (X) and vertical (Y) axes of the local spray region. By measuring the temperature evolution inside the test plate, the surface heat flux was calculated by the inverse heat conduction problem. In the case of no obvious run-off flow on the surface, the temperature TCHF and heat flux qCHF at the critical heat flux (CHF) point increased with Q. Besides, the values of TLeid and qLeid for the Leidenfrost point also showed similar variation. When V = 1.11 × 10−5 m3 s−1, the CHF points at locations around the spray center were forced to transfer to higher surface temperature, due to the run-off water flow from the spray center. Based on the results obtained, mathematical correlations were proposed, signifying the dependence of heat flux in different boiling regimes for water flow rates V ≤ 0.83 × 10−5 m3 s−1. The results obtained in this study will provide a theoretical basis for predicting the temperature of the cold-rolled strip during the spray-cooling process and for designing the cooling process.