Measurement of the onset of nucleate boiling in liquid xenon

Journal Article · 18 February 2021 · Journal of Instrumentation

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/16/02/t02004 · OSTI ID:1778007

Breur, P. A. ^[1]; Ortega, G. S. ^[2]; Rowson, P. C. ^[1]; Saldanha, R. ^[3]; Mong, B. ^[1]; Oriunno, M. ^[1]; Mo, C. ^[4]

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1. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
2. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA (United States)
3. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
4. Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA (United States)

We report the first precision measurement of the superheat temperature required for bubble nucleation in liquid xenon of Δ T_wall,ONB = (16.9±0.5) K and Δ T_wall,ONB = (19.2^+0.4_-1.1) K at pressures of P = (0.98±0.02) bar and P = (1.32^+0.05_-0.01) bar, respectively. Both are measured at a subcooled bulk fluid temperature of ~ 162 K. A dedicated liquid xenon setup is used to measure the temperature at which bubble nucleation first appears on the flat surface of a resistor. The associated average heat flux at the surface of the resistor is determined using fluid dynamics simulations. Future experiments can use these experimental results to determine the likelihood of boiling in liquid xenon and to design effective thermal sinks that prevent bubble nucleation.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-76SF00515; AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1778007
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA--154969
• Journal Information: Journal of Instrumentation, Journal Name: Journal of Instrumentation Journal Issue: 02 Vol. 16; ISSN 1748-0221
• Publisher: Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English