The bubble growth on and departure from a superheated wall has been simulated by an improved hybrid lattice Boltzmann method. The Briant's treatment of partial wetting boundary was introduced and the new hybrid model was validated by the single bubble growth on and departure from the superheated wall. The results showed that parametric dependencies of the bubble departure diameter were in good agreement with the experimental correlation from some recent literatures. This new model was also employed to simulate twin-bubble growth, coalescence on and departure from a horizontal superheated wall. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.