Thermodynamic analysis of entropy generation due to energy transfer through circular surfaces under pool boiling condition

Pool boiling is a well-known heat transfer mechanism which is accomplished by submerging a heating surface in a pool of stationary liquid. The role and share of different energy transfer mechanisms in pool boiling can be determined through entropy generation analysis. In this paper, entropy generation due to energy transfer through circular surfaces is analyzed and the optimized thermodynamic system is achieved. Furthermore, two models of total heat flux (linear and nonlinear) are developed for pool boiling heat transfer in which the effect of different parameters such as nucleation site density, contact angle, Prandtl number (Pr) as well as surface diameter are considered. The obtained results reveal the enhanced heat flux and entropy generation as the consequences of increased wall superheat temperature, contact angle, Prandtl number and surface diameter. The developed model is validated by comparing the obtained results with respective experimental data and semi-analytical results. In addition, results exhibit that the maximum entropy generation is observed at $$\Delta T = 15 \,{\text{K}}$$ and $$Pr = 3.5$$ which was equal to 4.06 W m−1 K−1 and 3.78 W m−1 K−1 for Model 1 and Model 2, respectively.