Navigation Links
On the boil: New nano technique significantly boosts boiling efficiency
Date:6/26/2008

the microscale cavity, which in turn prevents any further nucleation from occurring at that specific site.

Koratkar and his team found that by depositing a layer of copper nanorods on the surface of a copper vessel, the nanoscale pockets of air trapped within the forest of nanorods "feed" nanobubbles into the microscale cavities of the vessel surface and help to prevent them from getting flooded with water. This synergistic coupling effect promotes robust boiling and stable bubble nucleation, with large numbers of tiny, frequently occurring bubbles.

"By themselves, the nanoscale and microscale textures are not able to facilitate good boiling, as the nanoscale pockets are simply too small and the microscale cavities are quickly flooded by water and therefore single-use," Koratkar said. "But working together, the multiscale effect allows for significantly improved boiling. We observed a 30-fold increase in active bubble nucleation site density a fancy term for the number of bubbles created on the surface treated with copper nanotubes, over the nontreated surface."

Boiling is ultimately a vehicle for heat transfer, in that it moves energy from a heat source to the bottom of a vessel and into the contained liquid, which then boils, and turns into vapor that eventually releases the heat into the atmosphere. This new discovery allows this process to become significantly more efficient, which could translate into considerable efficiency gains and cost savings if incorporated into a wide range of industrial equipment that relies on boiling to create heat or steam.

"If you can boil water using 30 times less energy, that's 30 times less energy you have to pay for," he said.

The team's discovery could also revolutionize the process of cooling computer chips. As the physical size of chips has shrunk significantly over the past two decades, it has become increasingly critical to develop ways to cool hot spots and transfer lingeri
'/>"/>

Contact: Michael Mullaney
mullam@rpi.edu
518-276-6161
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Source:Eurekalert  

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2 3

Related biology technology :

1. New technique producing small things in large quantities
2. New DNA-based technique for assembly of nano- and micro-sized particles
3. NIH Announces Advanced Cell Technologys Single Cell Embryo Biopsy Technique as a Means to Derive Embryonic Stem Cells to be Considered for Federal Funding
4. New technique can be breakthrough for early cancer diagnosis
5. University of Leicester scientists discover technique to help friendly bacteria
6. Glycominds Joins Biomolecular Photonic (BMP) Consortium to Develop New Molecular Imaging Technique
7. Doping technique brings nanomechanical devices into the semiconductor world
8. Cardica and Intuitive Surgical to Host Educational Symposium on Advanced Techniques and Technologies in Robotic Coronary Revascularization and Mitral Valve Repair
9. DNA technique yields 3-D crystalline organization of nanoparticles
10. Unique infrared technique finds applications in nanoscience
11. Assembly technique for tiny wires may eventually help detect cancer and other diseases
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
Related Image:
On the boil: New nano technique significantly boosts boiling efficiency
On the boil: New nano technique significantly boosts boiling efficiency