Pool boiling heat transfer and bubble dynamics over micro-pin-finned surface under microgravity

For high-efficiently solving the power dissipation problem of electronic components on the spacecraft, experiments were performed using micro-pin-finned structure as heater surface in subcooled nucleate pool boiling of FC-72 under microgravity condition utilizing the drop tower Beijing. Micro-pin-fins with the dimensions of 50 μm×120 μm (thickness × height) were fabricated on the surface of square silicon by using the dry etching technique. The micro-pin-finned silicon chip was heated by means of controlling heating voltage for the desired heat flux. At the same time, video of the bubble behavior was obtained by using high speed camera. The results showed that micro-pin-fins can increase the effective nucleate boiling sites number and the heat transfer performance efficiently, which stems from the sufficient supply of fresh liquid to the heater surface due to the capillary force independent of gravity. The steady nucleate pool boiling heat transfer on micro-pin-finned surface can be obtained at high heat fluxes and is greatly enhanced compared with smooth surface in microgravity.