Experimental study of pool boiling characteristic of an aluminized copper surface

Aluminizing is an appealing method of surface modification. Although this method is widely used in industry for surface modification, its effect on boiling heat transfer has not been reported yet. In the present study, effect of aluminizing of a copper surface on its pool boiling characteristic in the presence of De-Ionized water as working fluid is investigated experimentally. To perform the process of aluminizing the copper specimen was sunk in a powder that contained Al2O3, Al, and NH4Cl and was heated thereafter. The experimental results revealed that critical heat flux increases about 37% on aluminized surface compared with untreated copper surface while changes in boiling heat transfer coefficient is inconsiderable. Therefore some undesirable characteristic of copper like oxidation, and relatively low critical heat flux can be diminished by applying this coating method. In addition, AFM images were used to study some surface characteristics such as roughness, surface height and area ratio.