CAREER: Universal Dynamics of Thermal Fluctuations in Pool Boiling and Their Role in Predicting Critical Heat Flux

University Of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis MN

Investigators

Abstract

Boiling is a highly efficient heat transfer mechanism widely used in power plants, micro-electronics, and industrial heat exchangers. In recent years, microfabrication technology used for manufacturing electronics has been adapted to create extremely fine-scale roughness on boiling surfaces, tremendously enhancing their heat transfer performance. However, all surfaces are prone to contamination that can cause physical and chemical changes on the surface. This can lead to dramatic, unpredictable shifts in their performance, with the result that the margin of safety from overheating and failure becomes unknown during long-term operation. The present study develops a new framework for understanding the boiling process that enables assessment of the safety margin in real time, even as the surface degrades. Besides improving safety, this may promote adoption of more advanced heat transfer enhancement techniques, while providing a better fundamental understanding of the boiling phenomenon. As part of the project, an exhibit appropriate for middle schoolers will be developed jointly with the Bell Museum of Minnesota, to illustrate chaotic phenomena such as the ‘butterfly effect’, which has certain parallels with the chaotic boiling process. The PI will also develop modules for outreach activities that bring middle school students to campus for STEM-oriented workshops. The proposed research will develop a model for the Critical Heat Flux (CHF) phenomenon, in which a vapor film blanketing the surface leads to thermal runaway. The model will seek to reproduce observed nonlinear phenomena such as intermittency of measured quantities. A theoretical framework will be developed that enables non-dimensionalization of the boiling curve, leading to a more universal understanding of the conditions leading to CHF. Specifically, nucleation site interactions will be incorporated into bubble growth models in order to reproduce the experimentally observed intermittency in quantities. This intermittency is expected to give rise to long-term temporal correlations that can be represented by the Hurst exponent. Experimental data will be analyzed using a multifractal framework, and are expected to display the predicted universal behavior, independent of system parameters. The study will explore whether the Hurst exponent behavior is independent of surface roughness, allowing it to be used as a real-time observable quantity that acts as a signature of impending failure. In order to understand the reasons for the observed trends and assist in model development, the wicking flow under a departing bubble will be characterized using high-speed thermometry and total internal reflection microscopy. These will yield further information on conditions immediately preceding the onset of CHF and dryout. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.