Bubble formation and heat transfer process during saturated film boiling in the electric field

A coupled volume-of-fluid, level set and smoothed physical parameter (VOF+LS+SPP) method is applied to understand the bubble formation and heat transfer process during saturated film boiling in a uniform direct-current or alternating-current electric field. Numerical simulation results indicate, under the direct-current electric field, the increase in electric field intensity results in shorter bubble formation distance, higher bubble release rate and higher space averaged Nusselt number. Moreover, the existence of electric field enhances the heat transfer at the wall. It is also found under the alternating-current electric field, the variation of Nusselt number has a small oscillation for low angular frequency, while the oscillation disappears for high angular frequency. The film boiling process in alternating-current electric field can be approximated by a uniform direct-current electric field whose intensity is its effective value.