Sub-atmospheric pressure pool boiling of water on a screen-laminate enhanced surface

Saturated pool-boiling experiments at one atmosphere and sub-atmospheric pressure assess the utility of fine filament screen-laminate enhanced surfaces as effective bubble nucleation sites and bubble generators. Experiments were conducted on vertically oriented 4 cm² copper test surfaces in saturated distilled water at pressures of 0.2 atm., 0.3 atm., 0.5 atm., and 1 atm. Boiling performance characteristics are documented. It is found that boiling performance can be significantly improved by application of a multiple layer fine filament screen laminate to the heat transfer surface. In the present work, enhancement of up to 22 times that of the unenhanced surface was obtained at a superheat of 8 K and a pressure of 0.2 atm.