Flow Boiling of Isopentane From a Structured-Porous Copper Fin

Flow boiling experiments in isopentane assess the utility of porous fin structures consisting of stacked and bonded layers of fine-weave woven copper. Porous fins are horizontally oriented in a vertical channel with flow through the fin. Experiments are conducted over the 1bar to 3bar pressure range with channel Reynolds number ranging from 1,000 to 5,000. The results indicate that these porous fins provide stable boiling with fin-base area heat fluxes ranging to 0.6 MW/m² at a moderate superheat and channel Reynolds number.