Comparison of water boiling models against recent experimental data, with special emphasis on the bubble ebullition cycle

Abstract

Using recently collected data which was measured with state-of-the-art techniques, models for nucleation site density, bubble departure diameter, and nucleation frequency were compared against the acquired data. The particular focus of this work is on the ebullition cycle and associated bubble nucleation frequency, looking at the models proposed by M.Z. Podowski. In my analysis, I took the average values for the growth and dwell times directly from the data, rather than from the models for those parameters. The results of those investigations showed that the basic principles approach for considering the parameters of the ebullition cycle held up pretty well with the experimental data, with Ti(t), the temperature curve during the ebullition cycle, corresponding remarkably well with the data curves. However, one parameter which was always overvalued was T(0*) - the predicted temperature of the start of the dwell phase. It was generally 1-2 degrees Celsius higher than the experimental value. For a fully rigorous analysis of the ebullition models in future works, it is recommended that all parameters be predicted rather than pulled from the data, particularly of the growth and dwell times.