Experiments were performed on air and evaporative spray cooling of plain and microporous coated surfaces on flat and cylindrical heaters. Micron-size aluminum particles were used to build the microporous structures on the heated surfaces. To analyze the evaporative cooling, heat transfer curves were obtained in the form of the wall temperature difference versus heat flux. The heat transfer coefficients were also determined as a function of heat flux. Three water flow rates (1.25, 1.75 and 2.40 ml/min) were tested for the flat heater and one rate (3.0 ml/min) for the cylindrical heater, maintaining the air pressure of 7 psig (48 kPa) at the inlet of the nozzle. The effect of different particle sizes in the coating was also tested to optimize the microporous coating technique. Spraying water droplets on the microporous coating surface enhanced the heat removal due to the capillary pumping phonomenon through the microporous cavities connecting each other. The evaporative spray cooling increased the heat transfer coefficient by up to 4001% relative to that of the uncoated surface cooled by dry air, and this enhancement was maintained at high heat fluxes by using microporous surfaces. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.