Boiling phenomena with surfactants and polymeric additives: A state-of-the-art review

This paper presents a state-of-the-art review with respect to studies of boiling phenomena of aqueous surfactant and polymeric additive solutions in the literature. Both nucleate pool boiling and flow boiling are concerned. First, the effect of surfactants and polymeric additives on the physical properties of aqueous surfactant and polymeric additive solutions is discussed. The measurement results of surface tensions and viscosities of aqueous surfactant and polymeric additive solutions by the authors and other researchers are presented to show the variation of the physical properties and interfacial phenomena affected by the concentrations and/or temperatures of surfactant and polymeric additive solutions. Then, a comprehensive review of boiling phenomena including both nucleate pool boiling and flow boiling with surfactants and polymeric additives is presented. It covers both experimental studies on boiling characteristics of various aqueous surfactant and polymeric additive solutions and theoretical studies on the boiling mechanisms such as the effect of surfactants and polymeric additives on nucleation process, bubble dynamics and interfacial phenomena by the methods of visualization and modeling. In addition, as one of the related interesting topics, the study of drag reduction by the addition of surfactants and polymeric additives in fluid flow is also mentioned. According to this review, several research directions related to boiling phenomena with surfactants and polymeric additives have been identified. Especially, a cross-research area on boiling phenomena with surfactants and polymeric additives in confined spaces and microchannels (micro-scale boiling heat transfer) has been emphasized because the study on this topic is very scarce but very important. To identify the main research needs on this cross-research topic, a brief review of boiling phenomena in confined spaces is also presented. Incorporated with the characteristics of boiling phenomena with surfactants and polymeric additives in large spaces, some scientific hypotheses of boiling phenomena of aqueous surfactant and polymeric additive solutions in confined spaces have been proposed based on an analysis of boiling patterns (bubble behavior). It is suggested that experimental work be done to explore this research area and to verify these hypotheses as well in the future. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.