Phase change phenomena on water repelling and biphilic surfaces

Water-repelling surfaces have been studied for many decades. Hydrophobic and superhydrophobic surfaces are beneficial in phase change heat transfer applications, specifically during condensation because of the enhanced heat transfer and during freezing because of the anti-freezing properties. The current study is focused on enhanced phase change phenomena on superhydrophobic and biphilic surfaces. Hydrophobic surfaces that enable dropwise condensation exhibit 5-10X higher heat transfer. Coalescence induced droplet jumping on superhydrophobic surfaces further increases the heat transfer by 30%. Here, biphilic surfaces consisting of hydrophilic spots on a superhydrophobic background are studied for enhanced condensation. Water droplets nucleating at the hydrophilic spots grow to sizes defined by the biphilic geometry, followed by coalescence and departure. A high fidelity model that captures departure dynamics during droplet jumping on biphilic surfaces and predict the overall condensation heat transfer has been developed. By controlling the spatial geometry and length scale of the hydrophilic spots, enhanced (10X) jumping-droplet condensation heat transfer is obtained. In terms of freezing and frost formation, understanding the mechanisms of frost formation is essential to a variety of Heating, Ventilating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVAC&R) applications. When water vapor in the ambient condenses on a chilled substrate in the form of liquid water and then freezes, it is known as condensation frosting. The dominant mechanism governing the spread of condensation frosting is inter-droplet ice bridge frost wave propagation. When a subcooled condensate water droplet freezes on a hydrophobic or superhydrophobic surface, neighboring droplets still in the liquid phase begin to evaporate. The evaporated water molecules deposit on the frozen droplet and initiate the growth of ice bridges directed toward the water droplets being depleted. Neighboring liquid droplets freeze as soon as the ice bridge connects. In this study, the significance of individual droplet freezing on frost wave propagation is studied. 10X slower frost wave propagation speeds on superhydrophobic surfaces are observed. Furthermore, at larger length scales, during bulk freezing of water, it has been shown that superhydrophobic surfaces offer no delay in freezing. Although frosting delay has been shown with superhydrophobic surfaces, complete elimination of frosting has not been achieved. Given enough time, frosting will initiate and spread to cover the entire surface. In the HVAC&R sectors, the most common approach to remove frost from a surface (defrost) is to reverse the system cycle direction and heat the working fluid. However, water retention on the heat exchanger surface during defrosting decreases the long term heat transfer performance. In this study, the defrosting behavior of superhydrophobic and biphilic surfaces comprising of spatially distinct superhydrophobic and hydrophilic domains is used to accelerate defrosting. During defrosting, biphilic surfaces are shown to exhibit enhanced surface cleaning with no water retention. Furthermore, an ultra-efficient method to defrost a surface covered with ice/frost by focusing energy at the substrate-ice interface is studied. To remove ice/frost efficiently, only the interfacial layer adhering the ice/frost to the solid surface is melted by using a localized ‘pulse’ of heat, allowing gravity or gas shear in conjunction with the ultra-thin lubricating melt water layer to remove the ice/frost. A high fidelity numerical model is developed to simulate pulse defrosting. This work not only provides a fundamental understanding of phase change processes on superhydrophobic and biphilic surfaces, but also elucidates its applications for a plethora of energy industries.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2019

Author dc:creator

• Chavan, Shreyas Atmaram

Contributors dc:contributor

• Miljkovic, Nenad
• Jacobi, Anthony M.
• Hrnjak, Predrag S.
• Ewoldt, Randy H.
• Enright, Ryan

• Biphilic Surfaces
• Condensation
• Frosting
• Defrosting
• Heat Transfer

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2019 Shreyas Chavan

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/105172

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F105172