Pool boiling on surfaces where sliding bubble mechanism plays an important role has been studied. The heat transfer phenomenon for such cases has been analysed. The model considers different mechanisms such as latent heat transfer due to microlayer evaporation, transient conduction due to thermal boundary layer reformation, natural convection and heat transfer due to the sliding bubbles. Both microlayer evaporation and transient conduction take place during the sliding of bubbles, which occurs in geometries such as inclined surfaces and horizontal tubes. The model has been validated against experimental results from literature for water, refrigerant R134a and propane. The model was found to agree well for these fluids over a wide range of pressures. The model shows the importance of the contributions of the different mechanisms for different fluids, wall superheats and pressures. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.