Spatially and temporally resolved measurements of the temperature inside droplets impinging on a hot solid surface

Heat transfers at the impact of a droplet on a hot solid surface are investigated experimentally. Millimeter-sized water droplets impinge a flat sapphire window heated at 600 °C. The time evolution of the droplet temperature is characterized using the two-color laser-induced fluorescence technique. For that, a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser is used for the excitation of the fluorescence to obtain instantaneous images of the droplet temperature. Water is seeded with two fluorescent dyes, one sensitive to temperature (fluorescein disodium) and the other not (sulforhodamine 640). Owing to a wavelength shift between the dyes’ emissions, the fluorescence signal of the dyes can be detected separately by two cameras. The liquid temperature is determined with a good accuracy by doing the ratio of the images of the dyes’ fluorescence. A critical feature of the method is that the image ratio is not disturbed by the deformation of the impacting droplet, which affects the signals of the dyes almost identically. Experiments are performed in the conditions of film boiling. A thin vapor film at the interface between the droplet and the solid surface prevents the deposition of liquid on the hot solid surface. Measurements highlight some differences in the rate of heat transfers and in the temperature distribution within the droplet between the bouncing and splashing regimes of impact.