Dynamics of a thin liquid film under shearing force and thermal influences

Study of liquid film dynamics promotes understanding the critical heat flux (CHF) of boiling heat transfer, which occurs as the liquid layers (micro-layer and macro-layer) near the heater wall lose their integrity. Since the measurement at micro-scale is a challenge, and further complicated by the chaotic nature of the boiling process, profound knowledge on the thin liquid film dynamics is not well documented in the existing literature. In the present paper, we employ a confocal optical sensor system to study the dynamics and the integrity of a thin liquid film sheared by the co-flowing air from above and heated from below in a horizontal aluminum channel. The results indicate that the entrainment governs the liquid film thinning process under adiabatic or lower heat flux conditions, whereas the evaporation becomes more pronounced in a higher heat flux system. The detailed evolution of liquid film is discussed. Based on our experimental observations, the critical film thickness of an integral film is related to the condition of the heating surface and the heat flux. For a specific surface, the critical film thickness remains constant under a defined heat flux and increases with the increasing heat flux. A spectrum analysis is also implemented to analyze the film instability. It is concluded that the heat flux is the dominant factor to govern the film instability compared with the effect of differential velocities of gas and liquid flow.