Investigations on the propagation of free surface boiling in a vertical superheated liquid column

Some experimental studies on boiling propagation in a suddenly depressurized superheated vertical liquid column are reported. The propagation velocity of this phase change has been measured using an optical method. This velocity is strongly dependent on liquid superheat, liquid purity and test section size. The measured velocities of less than 5 ms-1 are significantly lower than the sonic velocity. Present observations suggest that the dominant mechanism for boiling propagation is convection