Electric field effects on film boiling on a wire

Experimental results concerning pool film boiling on a wire under the action of an externally imposed electric field are reported. The working fluid was saturated R113 at atmospheric pressure, the heaters were platinum wires of 0.2, 0.3, and 0.6 mm diameter. An electrostatic field of cylindrical geometry was created around the wire by means of a 60-mm-diameter cylindrical cage in order to assess electrohydrodynamic (EHD) effects on boiling. Voltages up to 15 kV d.c. were applied. The results showed that two different film boiling regimes, separated by an additional boiling crisis, can exist in the presence of an electric field. The first regime, at low wire superheat, is strongly influenced by the electric field, showing a remarkable heat transfer enhancement with increasing voltage. The second one, at higher superheat, is weakly dependent on the field strength and almost coincident with the zero field one. The two film boiling regimes are separated by a transition characterized by a hysteresis cycle, similar to the one between nucleate boiling and first film boiling regime.