Effect of additive manufacturing-based surface modification on pool boiling heat transfer: a review

Enhancement of the critical heat flux (CHF) and heat transfer coefficient (HTC) during liquid boiling is essential to improve the performance of modern heat exchange devices. It is seen that optimal geometric configurations of surfaces lead to maximum HTC/CHF values during the boiling of various liquids. Nowadays, additively manufactured surface methods have high stability and durability, increasing their usage under high temperatures and long-term boiling conditions. In this direction, this article summarizes existing works addressing the augmentation of pool boiling by surface modification using additive manufacturing (AM) techniques to fulfill the demand for precise and efficient heat exchangers, particularly in microelectronics, medical equipment, and high thermal loads. It is observed that the boiling parameters, such as coefficient HTC and CHF, are significantly improved using AM-fabricated geometries. In addition, design freedom, mass customization, waste material depreciation, and the capacity to build complicated structures are the key features of this emerging process. Hence, this paper provides the use of various AM fabricated geometries/surfaces to improve the performance of heat exchangers during water pool boiling.