Regimes of Intensified Heat Transfer during Evaporation of Thin Horizontal Liquid Layers at Reduced Pressures

The influence of structures formed during the evaporation and boiling of a liquid (n-dodecane) in thin horizontal layers on heat transfer has been analyzed. Structures shaped with the shapes of funnels and craters are formed at low pressures in liquid layers with thicknesses above the capillary constant under the action of a vapor recoil force. Increasing pressure leads to the onset of bubble boiling. It is established that the formation of these structures in the regime of intense evaporation at low reduced pressures leads to an about 70% increase in the heat-transfer coefficient at analogous layer thicknesses in comparison to the case of bubble boiling.