Contributed by the Heat Transfer Division for publication in the JOURNAL OF HEAT TRANSFER. Manuscript received by the Heat Transfer Division April 19, 2001; revision received March 21, 2002. Associate Editor: C. Th. Avedisian.
Heat transfer enhancement using an applied electric field has fascinating application perspective since it can realize a good enhancement effect at the expense of only a little cost of energy. Many fundamental studies have been carried out in this field and the emphasis of the study has been gradually turning to application study. The electrohydrodynamic (EHD) enhancement of the forced convective heat transfer refers to the coupling of an electric field with the fluid field in a dielectric fluid medium: The net effect is production of electrically induced secondary motions that destabilize the thermal boundary layer near the heat transfer surface.
The effect of electrohydrodynamics on the phase-change heat transfer has been under investigation for...
