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Effect of force fields on pool boiling flow patterns in normal and reduced gravity

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Abstract

This paper reports the observations of boiling flow patterns in FC-72, performed during a microgravity experiment, recently flown aboard of Foton-M2 satellite, in some instances with the additional aid of an electrostatic field to replace the buoyancy force. The heater consisted of a flat plate, 20 × 20 mm2, directly heated by direct current. Several levels of liquid subcooling (from 20 to 6 K) and heat fluxes up to 200 kW/m2 were tested. A complete counterpart test, carried out on ground before the mission, allowed direct comparison with terrestrial data. The void fraction in microgravity revealed much larger than in normal gravity condition: this may be attributed to increased bubble coalescence that hinders vapor condensation in the bulk of the subcooled fluid. In several cases, an oscillatory boiling behavior was detected, leading to periodical variation of average wall overheating of some degrees. The electric field confirmed to be very effective, even at low values of applied voltage, in reducing bubble size, thus improving their condensation rate in the bulk fluid, and in enhancing heat transfer performance, suppressing the boiling oscillations and preventing surface dryout.

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Abbreviations

g :

terrestrial gravity acceleration (m/s2)

HV:

applied dc high voltage (V)

k :

thermal conductivity (W/m K)

q″ :

wall heat flux (W/m2 K)

R :

heater electric resistance (Ω)

R 0 :

heater electric resistance at reference temperature (Ω)

t :

time (s)

T :

temperature (°C)

T 0 :

reference temperature (°C)

T bulk :

fluid bulk temperature (°C)

T sat :

saturation temperature (°C)

T w :

wall temperature (°C)

α :

temperature coefficient (K−1)

ΔT sat :

wall superheat, T wT sat (K)

ΔT sub :

fluid subcooling, T satT bulk (K)

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Acknowledgments

The organization of such a complex endeavor as an orbital spaceflight involves so many people that is impossible to thank them individually here. The contribution of Foton Mission Manager, Antonio Verga, of ESA, is gratefully acknowledged in place of them all. The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance of the personnel of the industrial contractors VDD, DTM and Kayser Italia, and in particular they are indebted to Fabrizio Chimenti, of KI, who cooperated with them throughout all the phases of this long campaign. This activity was funded by ESA (MAP AO-099-045) and partly by Italian Space Agency (ASI).

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Di Marco, P., Grassi, W. Effect of force fields on pool boiling flow patterns in normal and reduced gravity. Heat Mass Transfer 45, 959–966 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-007-0328-6

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