Experimental study on the enhancement of free convection heat transfer under the action of an electric field

Abstract In this paper, the electrohydrodynamic (EHD) enhancement of free convection heat transfer is studied experimentally. A smooth copper heating surface is submerged in R113 liquid, the heat fluxes ranging from 4461 W/m 2 to 17805 W/m 2 , and a high voltage ranging from 1 kV to 5 kV are applied on the heating surface. High speed photography is used to record the images of electroconvection. The results show the relationship between the intensity of the electric field, the height of the electroconvection layer and the enhancement of the heat transfer coefficient. Electric field can enhance free convection heat transfer, with the increase of the electric field the fluid disturbance on the heating surface increases obviously, and with the increase of the heat fluxes the enhancement of electric field gradually decreases.