Abstract

In this study, realizing the significant of active nucleation site as an important parameter for predicting heat transfer, the formula of calculating active nucleation site density is given by taking into account the statistical property of active nucleation site on boiling surfaces. In the present approach, the proposed model is explicitly related to the contact angle and wall superheat. It is found that the total number of nucleation sites increases with increasing of the wall superheat. This model contains less empirical constants than the conventional correlations. No additional empirical constant is introduced. An excellent agreement between the proposed model predictions and experimental data is found. The validity of the present model for active nucleation site density is thus verified. The proposed mathematical model can reveal the physical mechanisms of heat transfer in boiling systems.

Keywords:

Active nucleation site, heat transfer, contact angle, statistical property, wall superheat,

References

Competing interests

The authors have no competing interests.

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Copyright

The authors have no competing interests.