Heating surface material's effect on subcooled flow boiling heat transfer of R134a

In this study, subcooled flow boiling of R134a on copper (Cu) and stainless steel (SS) heating surfaces was experimentally investigated from both macroscopic and microscopic points of view. By utilizing a high-speed digital camera, bubble growth rate, bubble departure size, and nucleation site density, were able to be observed and analyzed from the microscopic point of view. Macroscopic characteristics of the subcooled flow boiling, such as heat transfer coefficient, were able to be measured as well. Experimental results showed that there are no obvious difference between the copper and the stainless surface with respect to bubble dynamics, such as contact angle, growth rate and departure size. On the contrary, the results clearly showed a trend that the copper surface had a better performance than the stainless steel surface in terms of heat transfer coefficient. It was also observed that wall heat fluxes on both surfaces were found highly correlated with nucleation site density, as bubble hydrodynamics are similar on these two surfaces. The difference between these two surfaces was concluded as results of different surface thermal conductivities.