High-speed video and infrared thermometry were used to obtain time-and space-resolved information on bubble nucleation and heat transfer in pool boiling of water. The bubble departure diameter and frequency, growth and wait times, and nucleation site density were directly measured for a thin, electrically-heated, indium-tin-oxide surface, laid on a sapphire substrate. These data are very valuable for validation of two-phase flow and heat transfer models, including computational fluid dynamics with interface tracking methods. Here, detailed experimental bubble-growth data from individual nucleation sites were used to evaluate simple, commonly-used, but poorly-validated, bubble-growth and nucleate-boiling heat-transfer models. The agreement between the data and the models was found to be reasonably good. Also, the heat flux partitioning model, to which our data on nucleation site density, bubble departure diameter and frequency were directly fed, suggests that transient conduction following bubble departure is the dominant contribution to nucleate boiling heat transfer.

Infrared thermometry was used to obtain first-of-a-kind, time- and space-resolved data for pool boiling phenomena in water-based nanofluids with diamond and silica nanoparticles at low concentration (<0.1 vol.%). In addition to macroscopic parameters like the average heat transfer coefficient and critical heat flux [CHF] value, more fundamental parameters such as the bubble departure diameter and frequency, growth and wait times, and nucleation site density [NSD] were directly measured for a thin, resistively heated, indium-tin-oxide surface deposited onto a sapphire substrate. Consistent with other nanofluid studies, the nanoparticles caused deterioration in the nucleate boiling heat transfer (by as much as 50%) and an increase in the CHF (by as much as 100%). The bubble departure frequency and NSD were found to be lower in nanofluids compared with water for the same wall superheat. Furthermore, it was found that a porous layer of nanoparticles built up on the heater surface during nucleate boiling, which improved surface wettability compared with the water-boiled surfaces. Using the prevalent nucleate boiling models, it was possible to correlate this improved surface wettability to the experimentally observed reductions in the bubble departure frequency, NSD, and ultimately to the deterioration in the nucleate boiling heat transfer and the CHF enhancement.

Layering of water molecules on the surface of alumina nanoparticles in an alumina/water nanofluid is studied using nuclear magnetic resonance ͑NMR͒. The data suggest that a thin ordered layer ͑ϳ1.4 nm͒ of water molecules surrounds each nanoparticle. This ordered layer increases the nanoparticle effective volumetric fraction; however, the nanofluid thermal conductivity appears to be unaffected by this layer, and in good agreement with Maxwell's effective medium theory. Furthermore, the NMR data suggest that the nanoparticles do not enhance, but rather stifle micromixing in the base fluid.

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