How roughness and thermal properties of a solid substrate determine the Leidenfrost temperature: Experiments and a model

Understanding and regulating the Leidenfrost temperature is of great importance for practical applications such as spray cooling. In this study, nonnegligible cooling effects of Leidenfrost drops on surfaces with small thermal diffusivities are observed with an IR camera. The influence of thermal properties and surface roughness on the Leidenfrost temperature is investigated experimentally and explained by a simple theoretical model.