Experimental determination of the role of roughness and wettability on pool-boiling heat transfer of refrigerant

•Establishment and verification of a rig for refrigerants’ pool boiling.•Heat transfer coefficients were obtained for the R134a pool boiling on 6 surfaces with various roughness and wettability under 3 saturation temperatures.•A phenomenon of bubble behavior above the boiling surface was spotted and observed with a high-speed camera.