By applying an electric field to a boiling dielectric fluid, both the vapor bubble dynamics and the liquid motion are modified.
Electrophoresis is concerned with the conduction of electric charge in an electric field.
Dielectrophoresis is the translational motion of neutral matter caused by polarization effects in a non-uniform electric field. Electroconvection is the mixing of the thermal boundary layer caused by the temperature dependence of the dielectric constant. An experimental investigation of the effect of EHD on single phase natural convection and on bubble dynamics in saturated nucleate pool boiling of HCFC-123 was conducted to elucidate the nature of the electric forces, and quantify the extent of heat transfer enhancement. Single phase natural convection experiments from a horizontal heated platinum wire in a pool of liquid R-123 with an applied uniform electric field were conducted. As a result, a new correlation for predicting EHD enhancement of natural convection from a heated horizontal cylinder based on the dimensionless electric Rayleigh number was developed.