Condensation heat transfer enhancement via electric fields

Vapor condensation is a process of phase-change which has been widely used in energy-intensive industrial applications including power generation, water harvesting and thermal management of electronics. For lots of electronic systems, heat pipes which are defined as a kind of passive cooling device with a two-phase flow have received considerable attention in recent decades and are widely used in the fields of cooling electronics. Therefore, enhancement of condensation heat transfer can potentially strengthen the ability of heat pipes to remove heat generated by electronics. Here, we show that condensation on a copper pipe by using electric fields to control the fluid and promote condensation of droplets can actively and effectively improve condensation heat transfer performance. We experimentally demonstrated a maximum of 57% higher overall heat flux with electric fields compared to the same conditions but without the electric fields. The results hopefully offer an avenue to improve the cooling ability of heat pipes for electronic systems by introducing active electric fields.