Session: Raymond Viskanta Memorial Symposium-06: Thermal Management and Phase Change

Paper Number: 117257

117257 - Enhancing Phase Change Processes Using Engineered Interfaces 

Interfacial interactions are ubiquitous in multiple industries including energy, water, agriculture, medicine and transportation. In this talk, we show how surface/interface chemistry, morphology, thermal and electrical properties can be engineered across multiple length scales for significant performance enhancements in a wide range of phase-change processes such as condensation, boiling and solidification. These approaches can involve both passive and active manipulation of the interface. We will describe a wide range of passive interfaces that can enhance the performance of condensation & boiling heat transfer as well as mitigate icing and scaling. Consideration is given to the phenomena across length scales: from nucleation-level to macroscopic adhesion. Furthermore, many practical issues such as the role of impurities and their impact on performance will be quantified. We will also describe active approaches such as photothermal traps for thermal confinement for mitigating icing, and space-charge driven non-Laplacian electric fields for water capture from cooling towers to solve important problems at the Energy-Water Nexus. Globally, about a third of non-Ag water consumption happens through cooling towers. We will demonstrate how cooling tower systems can be optimized for combined power and water utilization. Manufacturing and scale-up related challenges and how they can impact the adoption of these technologies will be presented. We will also discuss some of the entrepreneurial efforts to translate these technologies into useful products and markets.

Presenting Author: Kripa Varanasi Massachusetts Institute of Technology