Bubble formation with pool boiling on tubes with or without basic surface modifications for enhancement

Bubble formation is investigated on a single, horizontal copper tube (D=25.4 mm) before and after applying surface modifications in the form of macrocavities with comparatively simple shapes (size: 200 × 100 μm on the tube surface and 50 μm in depth) in order to link bubble formation and heat transfer to the geometric features of the cavities. Two kinds of cavities exist in parallel, one with reduced mouth width (so-called “main structure”) and one without this reduction (“secondary structure”). Pool boiling experiments with different organic liquids have been performed with variation of heat flux and saturation pressure. The resulting bubble formation on the tubes with and without surface modifications is discussed in terms of characteristic parameters such as local distribution and temporal activation behavior of the nucleation sites for bubble formation at active nucleation sites (“primary bubbles”) or for bubbles released from the macrocavities (“secondary bubbles”).