Recent Research in Molecular-to-Large-Scale Heat Transfer With Multiphase Interfaces and Their Applications

Abstract

Heat and mass transfer across multiphase interfaces, or liquid-vapor/gas-solid phase boundaries, represent the most fundamental transport phenomena in diverse applications, which include boiling, two-phase flow, and spray and coating processes, to name a few. The collection of research papers in this special issue of the Journal of Heat Transfer, which is indeed topically timely in the current “energy crisis” debate, articulates the current efforts in characterizing the interfacial behavior and advancing the associated basic science as well as applied understanding. The reported work addresses long-standing unresolved issues in ebullient phase-change, capillary-forces driven convection, drop evaporation and/or thin-film cooling, and newer developments that are primarily driven by reductions of spatial scales.