Effects of ambient pressure on the instability of a liquid boilng explosively at the superheat limit

Journal Article · Thu May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1986 · J. Heat Transfer; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3246940· OSTI ID:5536437

Frost, D; Sturtevant, B

The effect of ambient pressure on the intrinsic instability of rapid vaporization in single droplets boiling exposively at the limit of superhead has been studied experimentally and theoretically. The instability that distortsthe evaporating interface and substantially enhances the mass flux at atmospheric pressure is suppressed at high pressure. The radiated pressure field is two orders of magnitude smaller from stabilized bubbles than from unstable. At intermediate pressures bubble growth occurs in two stages, first stabe, then unstable. The Landau-Daarrieus instability theory predicts absolute stability at atmospheric pressure for a spherical bubble whereas the theory for planar interfaces yields results in general agreement with observation. The sensitiviy of the instability to temperature suggests that small temperature nonuniformites may be responsible for quantitative departures of the behavior from predictions.

• Research Organization: Graduate Aeronautical Laboratories, California Institute of Technology, Passadena, CA 91125
• DOE Contract Number: AS03-80ER10634
• OSTI ID: 5536437
• Journal Information: J. Heat Transfer; (United States), Journal Name: J. Heat Transfer; (United States) Vol. 108:2; ISSN JHTRA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
420400* -- Engineering-- Heat Transfer & Fluid Flow
ALKANES
BOILING
BUBBLE GROWTH
BUTANE
DROPLETS
ETHERS
EVAPORATION
FLUIDS
HEATING
HYDROCARBONS
INSTABILITY
LIQUIDS
MEDIUM PRESSURE
NUCLEATE BOILING
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PARTICLES
PENTANE
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
PRESSURE EFFECTS
SUPERHEATING
SURFACE PROPERTIES
SURFACE TENSION