Controlling Bubbles in Boiling Water Could Make Power Plants More Efficient

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The act of boiling water helps us brew coffee and cook pasta—and it’s also what fuels most of the world’s energy sources. But boiling is really all about the bubbles, and until now their formation had been seen as random and haphazard. MIT engineers say they can now control the formation of bubbles, which might change the way power is generated.

When power plants want water to boil more vigorously there have traditionally been only two options: Crank up the heat by employing more energy, or use a chemical other than water that has a lower boiling point. When you’re talking about large-scale power generation, neither option is really that practical.

Perhaps almost as importantly, the concept could help inform the process of liquid cooling, which is used to draw heat away from electronics in environments like data centers. Being able to halt bubble formation, as well as speed things up, could be just as critical to saving resources.