An Analytical and Experimental Investigation of Bubble Waiting Time in Nucleate Boiling

Abstract

<p>An analytical and experimental study of bubble waiting time for dichloromethane boiling on a glass surface is reported in this thesis. Bubble waiting time data for boiling at heat fluxes of approximately 8000, 10000, 12000, 14000, 16500 and 19000 BTU/hr ft² and subcooling values of 1.6, 14.7 and 30.0 ºF is presented.</p> <p>In as much as bubble nucleation theory formulated on the basis of diffusion of heat to the thermal layer predicted results for bubble waiting time that were inconsistent with experimental data, a bubble nucleation theory incorporating both diffusion and convective transport of heat to the liquid in the vicinity of active sites was developed. The bubble waiting time results predicted by this theory agreed very well with experimental observation and therefore the evidence suggests that the convective contribution of heat transfer to the liquid layer adjacent to the heat transfer surface is a significant parameter in bubble nucleation.</p>