Effects of polymer additives on pool boiling phenomena

The addition of small amount of soluble polymer makes the boiling behavior significantly different from that of pure water. The polymer additives reduce the tendency of coalescence between vapor bubbles. Consequently, they become smaller in size, larger in number, and tend to stay on the heating surface in a relatively orderly manner. No significant improvement in heat transfer rate caused by the polymer additives was observed in this work; the critical burn out heat flux was reduced slightly.