Surface Roughness and Its Effects on the Heat Transfer Mechanism in Spray Cooling

In the spray cooling of a heated surface, variations in the surface texture influence the flow field, altering the maximum liquid film thickness, the bubble diameter, vapor entrapment, bubble departure characteristics, and the ability to transfer heat. A new method for determining and designating the surface texture is proposed, and the effects of surface roughness on evaporation/nucleation in the spray cooling flow field studied. A one-dimensional Fourier analysis is applied to determine experimentally the surface profile of a surface polished with emery paper covering a spectrum of grit sizes between 0.3 to 22 μm. Heat transfer measurements for liquid flow rates between 1 to 5 l/h and air flow rates between 0.1 to 0.4 l/s are presented. Maximum heat fluxes of 1200 W/cm2 for the 0.3 μm surface at very low superheats were obtained.