An Experimental Study of Boiling in Reduced and Zero Gravity Fields

A pool boiling apparatus was mounted on a counterweighted platform which could be dropped a distance of nine feet. By varying the size of the counterweight, the effective gravity field on the equipment was adjusted between zero and unity. A study of boiling burnout in water indicated that a variation in the critical heat flux according to the one quarter power of gravity was reasonable. A consideration of the transient burnout process was necessary in order to properly interpret the data. A photographic study of nucleate boiling showed how the velocity of freely rising vapor bubbles decreased as gravity was reduced. The bubble diameters at the time of breakoff from the heated surface were found to vary inversely as gravity to the 1/3.5 power. Motion pictures were taken to illustrate both nucleate and film boiling in the low gravity range.