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• Spray cooling tests are performed at various system pressures ranging from 0.1 MPa to 0.5 MPa in a practically oxygen-free environment. • Quenching occurs at higher temperature as the system pressure increases, mainly due to the increase in the saturation temperature. • The rate of heat transfer in the film boiling regimes increases with the system pressure due to the reduction of vapour film thickness. • Partial liquid-solid contact may take place even at sufficiently high surface temperatures. • Predictive models for the onset of quenching and heat transfer rate in the film boiling regime were assessed and found to agree with the experimental observations reasonably well. The present contribution addresses an open question about spray cooling: when does quenching occur? We performed water spray cooling tests with heated iron disks at system pressures ranging from 0.1 MPa to 0.5 MPa. Sample heating was carried out under high vacuum and then spray cooling in an argon environment, minimising the effect of surface oxidisation. The temperature for the onset of quenching was found to increase with the system pressure. We demonstrated that the quenching point could be predicted reasonably well by a mechanistic model that considers the force balance at the interface between the droplet and the vapour film underneath it. The influence of droplet impact velocity was also discussed. From the temperature histories obtained by the cooling tests, the rate of heat transfer in the film boiling regime was evaluated and found to increase with the system pressure. This was due to the increase in the saturation temperature which then led to the reduction of vapour film thickness, as corroborated by a Leidenfrost droplet model. Using the spray parameters, we quantified the amount of heat removed by a single droplet and compared it with theoretical models. Our analysis suggested a potential existence of partial droplet–surface contact even in the film boiling regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The effect of surface wettability on the collision dynamics and heat transfer phenomena of a single water droplet impacting upon a heated solid surface has been studied experimentally. To modify the surface wettability, two modules of stainless steel coated by TiO2 were employed. The first module was induced by ultraviolet irradiation to produce the hydrophilic surface, while the second one was not. The diameter and the depth of coating surface were 30mm and 200nm, respectively. The droplet size was varied from 1.90 to 2.90mm and substrate temperature raised up to 340°C. The interaction of an impact water droplet with a heated solid surface was investigated using a high-speed video camera. As a result, it was found that; (1) in the lower surface temperature region the evaporation time decreases as the static contact angle decreases, (2) the wetting limit temperature decreases with the increase of static contact angle, (3) the ultraviolet irradiation on the TiO2 surface does not change the qualitative behavior of the evolution of wetting diameters, and (4) the maximum wetting diameter increases with the decrease of static contact angle below the wetting limit temperatures. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The interfacial dynamics of the micrometric size liquid droplets during impact onto inclined hot surfaces have been experimentally studied. The inclination angles were varied at 15°, 30°, and 45° from horizontal for surface temperatures were decreasing from 500 °C to 100 °C. The droplet diameters tested were 500 μm and 700 μm. The tested material was stainless steel-grade 304 (SUS 304) with varying surface roughness ranging from Ra 0.04 up to Ra 10. The interfacial dynamics during the impact onto inclined hot surfaces were investigated by using a high-speed video camera with the frame speed of 15,000 fps. The objectives of this study are to provide insight into the dynamic behaviors of contact angles and dependence of importance parameters at various surface temperatures. It was found that depending on the surface temperature the droplet evaporation and its bouncing process play an important role on the droplet detachment mechanisms from the inclined surface. Three transient regions of the interfacial evolution during the micrometric droplets impacting onto oblique hot surface were identified. Moreover, the contribution of the important physical parameters, such as, advancing and receding contact angles on the interfacial dynamics are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]