Leidenfrost Phenomenon and Rewetting of Hot Vertical Tubes by Bottom Flooding Using Nanofluids

Abstract

Leidenfrost (LF) and rewetting (RWT) phenomenon are both closely related and involved for the cooling of a very hot object utilizing a suitable cooling agent. The present study focusses on the influence of different parameters on both LF and RWT phenomenon of vertical tubes by bottom flooding. The various parameters primarily include the quantity or injection rate of the coolant (CLNT), type of CLNT and initial temperature of the heated substrate. For both the phenomena, a critical comparison of the findings between nanofluids (NFs) and water has been presented. In case of the LF phenomenon, as a small mass of liquid comes into contact with a heated solid, the dynamics of the vapor layer formed in between the solid and the liquid governs the rate of evaporation of the liquid. The vapor layer vibration leads to the formation of different shapes which are orderly random in occurrence and has been investigated in details. In another event, during the RWT phenomenon, as the CLNT enters the heated solid, different flow regimes are observed to form which has been investigated in details. The temperature responses of the vertical tubes have been utilized to construct the boiling curves from which the surface heat flux can be easily estimated.

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gayatri Paul

Gayatri Paul received her bachelor’s degree in Production Engineering from Jadavpur University in 2006, Master of Science in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur in the year 2010 and PhD from Department of Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur in 2015. She has worked as a National Post-Doctoral Fellow (funded by DST-SERB) for two years in CSIR-CMERI, Durgapur. Currently, she working as a post-doctoral fellow in IIT Kharagpur. She has published 16 research articles, 2 book chapters, 6 conference proceedings and participated/presented her research work in more than 12 conferences and meetings. Her areas of research interest include NFs, tribology, boiling, RWT, nanomaterials, and magnetic NFs.

Prasanta Kumar Das

Prasanta Kumar Das is currently the Dean of Postgraduate Studies and Research and A. S. Davis chair professor of thermodynamics in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. He is a renowned academician and researcher in the fields of Thermo-fluids Science in Mechanical Engineering with thirty-five years of experience. His research field is diverse encompassing multiphase flow, heat transfer, energy systems, thermo-hydraulics of nuclear systems, fuel cell, computational fluid dynamics, sensors and instrument development, and product development in healthcare system. He has more than 200 publications in reputed international journals and has more than ten patents. He has provided consultancy to many public and private industries. He is the recipient of Prof. K. N. Seetharamu medal for his lifelong achievements in heat transfer. He was an associate editor of ASME Journal of Heat Transfer and he is fellows of Indian National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Sciences, India.

Indranil Manna

Indranil Manna is an educationist and materials engineer with wide ranging research interests covering structure–property correlation and modeling in nanometric metals and ceramics, laser/plasma assisted surface engineering, nano/ferro-fluid, and bainitic steel. He has been teaching at IIT Kharagpur since 1985. He worked as a guest scientist in different renowned institutions and universities abroad like Max Planck Institute at Stuttgart, Technical University of Clausthal, Liverpool University, Nanyang Technological University, and University of Ulm. He has over 260 journal publications and received several awards including TWAS prize for Engineering Science. He was the INAE Distinguished Industry Professor, President of the Materials Science Section of Indian Science Congress, and INAE Visvesvarya Chair Professor. He is a Fellow of all the science (INSA, IASc, NASI) and engineering (INAE) academy in India, and of TWAS and APAM. He received DSc (hc) from Kalyani and Kazi Nazrul Univ and distinguished alumnus award from IIEST and IIT Kharagpur. Earlier, he served as the Director of IIT Kanpur and CSIR-CGCRI, Kolkata.