Heat transfer enhancement of a loop thermosyphon with a hydrophobic spot-coated surface

Abstract

Heat transfer characteristic of a closed two-phase thermosyphon with enhanced boiling surface is studied and compared with that of a copper mirror surface. Two-phase cooling is widely used in application of thermal engineering and considerably more efficient than single-phase liquid cooling. The evaporator surfaces, coated with a pattern of hydrophobic circular spots (0.5 - 2 mm in diameter and 1.5 - 3 mm in pitch) on Cu substrates, achieve very high heat transfer coefficient and low incipience temperature overshoot with water as working fluid. Sub-atmospheric boiling on the hydrophobic spot-coated surface shows a much better heat transfer performance. Tests under heat loads 30 W to 260 W reveal the coated surfaces enhance nucleate boiling performance by increasing the bubbles nucleation-site density. The surface with hydrophobic spots with diameter 1 mm and pitch 1.5 mm achieves the maximal heat transfer enhancement with the minimum boiling thermal resistance as low as 0.03 K/W. A comparison of three evaporator surfaces with identical wettability patterns but with different surface topographies and coating thicknesses is carried out experimentally. The results show superior heat transfer rates and wear resistance on the surface coated with HNTs spots thanks to the large contact angle, great thickness, and durability of the coating layer.