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Heat Transfer to Boiling Liquids

F. H. RHODES and C. H. BRIDGES


Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.

The critical temperature difference at which the transition


from nuclear boiling to film boiling takes place depends to a
very great extent on the wettability of the solid heating surface
by the boiling liquid. The presence of a film of oil or oleic acid
at the surface of a steel heating tube markedly lowers this
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critical temperature. The addition of sodium carbonate or


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sodium chloride to the water tends to displace the film of


oil or fatty acid and thus promotes nuclear boiling. With
water boiling at a chromium-plated surface, the transition to
film boiling occurs at a much lower temperature than with
water boiling at a clean steel surface.

the thermal conductance between a hot solid sur- between the surface of the wire and the water reached about
a boiling liquid is determined, in part at least, 15.5° C. They did not further investigate the possibility
THAT face and
by the ease with which the liquid wets the solid is sug- of an abrupt change in the unit rate of heat transfer at this
gested by observations made by various investigators. point.
Jakob and his co-workers (2,3) found that when water is boiled Nukiyama (5) appears to have been the first to appreciate
at a metallic surface coated with a thin film of oil, larger the possibility of the existence of a definite maximum, at
bubbles are formed and lower rates of heat transfer are ob- comparatively low values for the temperature differential,
tained than when the ebullition takes place at a clean metal in the unit rate of heat transfer to a boiling liquid.
surface. They attributed the difference in the size of the Drew and Mueller (1) published the first really compre-
bubbles and in the rate of heat transfer to the difference hensive discussion of the subject of the effect of tempera-
in the smoothness of the surface. Pridgeon and Badger ture differential on the unit rate of transfer of heat from a
(6) obtained a higher rate of heat transfer from a polished solid surface to a boiling liquid. They found that boiling at
copper tube than from a clean iron tube. Here again the a solid surface may take place in either of two distinctly dif-
difference may be due, in part at least, to a difference in ferent ways. With relatively low values for the temperature
wettability and not entirely to the difference in roughness differential, separate bubbles are formed at the solid surface;
or to the presence on the iron of a thin insulating film of these break free and rise separately through the solution.
rust. They designate this type of boiling as nucleate boiling. As
In most of the earlier discussions of the rate of heat trans- the temperature difference is increased, no change occurs at
fer to boiling liquids it was tacitly assumed that the manner first in the manner of boiling; the effect of the increased
of boiling remains essentially constant over a wide range of temperature difference is to increase the rate at which the
values for the difference between the temperature of the separate bubbles are formed and evolved. This, in turn,
solid surface and that of the boiling liquid. Isolated observa- results in an increase in the agitation of the solution and
tions indicated that at certain critical values for the tempera- therefore in the unit rate of heat transfer. Finally, however,
ture differential a marked change in the manner of boiling a point is reached at which the vapor formed at the surface
occurs, but the significance of these observations was not of the heating element is not liberated as separate bubbles but
generally appreciated. is evolved as a continuous film covering the heating surface.
Pridgeon and Badger (6) observed that in an experimental This film is an effective insulating agent; as soon as “film
evaporator the rate of heat transfer increased regularly with boiling” begins, the unit rate of heat transfer drops rapidly
the temperature differential until the latter reached a value of to far below the maximum value obtainable with nucleate
about 25° C. and then decreased. They made the following boiling. Some heat is still being transferred, even through
comment: “Does this indicate a film so thin and a rate of the continuous layer of vapor; therefore the formation of
heat transfer so high that the tube begins to be insulated vapor continues, although at a much lower rate. The vapor
by a film of steam?” They did not, however, follow up this that is formed disengages rather slowly from the continuous
suggestion or make any further investigation of this phe- film.
nomenon . Drew and Mueller, working with a copper coil heated in-
Lang (4), working with an evaporator for salt water, also ternally with steam and immersed in the boiling liquid, found
found that at certain rather definite critical values for the that the maximum in the over-all rate of heat transfer—
temperature differential there is a distinct maximum in the i. e., the point at which the transition from nucleate boiling
over-all rate of heat transfer. He did not further investigate to film boiling takes place—occurs at a temperature differ-
this phenomenon. Jakob and Linke (2, 3) observed that ential of 30° to 50° C., depending on the nature of the liquid.
when water was boiled at the surface of an electrically heated Their reported results deal entirely with organic liquids, al-
wire, the wire burned out when the difference in temperature though in the discussion of the paper it was brought out that
1401
1402 INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY VOL. 30, NO. 12

they had observed a similar maximum in the rate of heat the wall of the tube and of the inner film, we can find the
transfer to boiling water when the temperature differential resistance of the film between the outer surface of the tube
was about 40° to 50° C. They commented, however, that and the boiling liquid. The value thus obtained is an
with water the critical temperature difference “varies con- average value for the surface of the tube.
siderably with the nature of the heating surface and with As a heating liquid mercury offers several advantages.
the presence of small addition agents to the water.” In It can be heated to considerably above the boiling point of
the work of Drew and Mueller, as well as in most of the other water or of many organic liquids. Because of its high
work on this subject, the rates of heat transfer and the density and its thermal conductivity, it gives large values
temperature difference that were measured were the over-all for the inside film conductance—i. e., low values for the re-
values. sistance between the liquid and the inner wall of the tube.
The present knowledge of the transfer of heat to boiling Thus the inside film resistance is only a relatively small frac-
liquids has been well summarized in an article by Sauer, tion of the total over-all resistance; a small percentage error
Cooper, Aiken, and McAdams (7). in measuring or computing this inner film resistance has only
In these previously published observations on the rate of a slight relative effect on the calculated value for the resist-
transfer of heat to a boiling liquid, it has frequently been ance of the film between the outer wall of the tube and the
observed that the transition from nucleate boiling to film boiling liquid.
boiling may be influenced markedly by changes in the condi- The apparatus used in these experiments consisted essentially
tion of the surface or by the presence in the liquid of sub- of a horizontal cylindrical boiling chamber provided with a
stances that affect the wettability of the solid. No specific horizontal heating tube through which hot mercury was circu-
information on this aspect of the problem has, however, lated, means for circulating and heating the mercury and measur-
been published. It appears probable that a decrease in the ing its rate of flow, means for measuring the temperature of the
pressure under which the boiling occurs should affect the mercury entering and leaving the boiling chamber, and a con-
denser to collect and return to the boiling chamber the vapor
rate of heat transmission in the region of nucleate boiling evolved by the boiling liquid.
and the temperature difference at which the change to film The boiling chamber was made from a 6-inch section of Pyrex
boiling should occur. This point has, apparently, not been glass tubing, about 3l/2 inches in internal diameter, mounted
between metal end plates. The heating tube was of drawn
thoroughly investigated. steel tubing, 0.25 inch in external diameter and 0.192 inch in
internal diameter, insulated and held in place by asbestos-packed
stuffing boxes in the end plates. The bottom of the heating
Experimental Procedure tube was about V/t inches above the bottom of the boiling
tube. The length of heating tube exposed to the boiling liquid
The commonly used method for the determination of the was 5l3/ie inches. The heating tube was continued beyond the
individual film resistance between a solid surface and a inlet end to provide an adequate calming section.
fluid involves the direct determination of the temperature of One end plate of the boiling tube was provided with an open-
the surface by the use of thermocouples. In the determina- ing through which vapor could be discharged to a reflux con-
denser; the condensate was returned through a trapped return
tion of the film resistance between a heated solid and a boil- line to the opposite end of the boiling chamber. Provision
ing liquid, this method is not very satisfactory. It is diffi- was made for connecting a vacuum pump to the discharge from
cult to insert a thermocouple into the solid without changing the condenser so that the entire system could be maintained
under controlled reduced pressure.
either the condition of the surface in the neighborhood of the The mercury discharged from the heating tube was passed
junction or the flow of heat at that point. Furthermore, the through a water-cooled coil to bring it to about room tempera-
formation of a bubble of vapor immediately above the junc- ture. (In some of the experiments, this coil was by-passed.)
tion of the thermocouple temporarily interferes with the flow It then passed to the iron gear pump that provided circulation,
and from there to a thin-plate orifice meter (s/i6-inch orifice in a
of heat and causes the temperature to'rise locally; the re- Vi-inch chamber), and to a heater section consisting of a length
lease of the bubble brings cool liquid into contact with the of pipe wound with a resistance wire. The rate of flow of mer-
metal and results in a sharp local drop in temperature. The cury was controlled by a steel valve set before the gear pump;
result is that the readings obtained from the thermocouple the temperature of the mercury entering the boiling chamber was
controlled by a rheostat in circuit with the resistance heater.
are so erratic that they have little or no quantitative sig- The entire line carrying hot mercury was thermally insulated.
nificance. Calibrated iron-constantan thermocouples were used to measure
It has been shown that the rate of heat transfer between the temperature of the mercury entering and leaving the heating
chamber.
a liquid flowing through a cylindrical pipe and the inner
wall of the pipe can be fairly accurately expressed by the
In computing the rate of flow of mercury from the readings
Dittus-Boelter equation:
on the differential manometer connected across the orifice
hD/k =
0.0225( µ )°·8(^ )6'3 meter, the density of the mercury at the temperature at the
meter was used. The rates of flow, as computed, are proba-
where h = film conductance, P. c. u./sq. ft./hr./° C.
D = internal diameter of tube, ft. bly accurate to within at least 3 per cent. The electro-
k =
thermal conductivity of liquid, P. c. u./hr./sq. motive forces developed by the thermocouples were read to
ft./0 C./ft. within 0.001 millivolt; the temperatures are probably ac-
u =
velocity of liquid, ft./hr. curate to within about 0.2° C. In no case were readings
p =
density, lb./cu. ft. taken until constant conditions had been attained, as indi-
µ =
viscosity, lb., hr., ft. units
C =
specific heat of liquid cated by constant temperatures of the mercury entering and
leaving the boiling chamber. At each rate of flow and
we circulate a hot liquid of known physical properties
If temperature difference, duplicate readings were taken.
at known rate of flow through a cylindrical tube of known
a Because of the relatively large amount of heat lost from
material and dimensions immersed in a boiling liquid, we the boiling chamber and the vapor lines leading to the con-
should be able to compute the magnitude of the inner film denser, no attempt was made to obtain a balance between
conductance. The conductance of the wall of the tube can the amount of heat supplied to the boiling tube and the
be calculated. The over-all conductance can be computed amount removed in the condenser.
from the measurement of the total amount of heat trans- The point at which the transition to true film boiling occurs
ferred in unit time and the known dimensions of the tube. was always sharply defined. The continuous film of vapor at
From the over-all conductance and the conductances of the surface of the tube appeared at the end at which the hot
DECEMBER, 1938 INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY 1403

mercury entered; as soon as such film appeared it acted as surface of a steel tube. When distilled water was allowed
an effective insulator and greatly decreased the drop in tem- to stand for some time in contact with the steel heating tube,
perature of the mercury flowing through the tube. Almost there was a slight corrosion, which resulted in a change in
immediately after the appearance of the continuous film at the surface condition of the metal. This corrosion may be
any point, this film spread over the entire surface of the tube. prevented by the addition of a trace of sodium chromate
In a few cases and under very special conditions it was (100 parts per million) to the water. Experiments showed
possible to maintain, for a short time, film boiling at the that the rate of heat transfer to a solution of this composi-
inlet end of the chamber and nucleate (or “intermediate”) tion is identical with that to pure water under the same
boiling at the outlet end, but this condition was a very un- temperature differential.
stable one. When two types of boiling could be maintained
simultaneously, we had the rather anomalous result of hav-
ing a much lower over-all rate of heat transfer between the
warmer end of the tube and the liquid than between the cooler
end and the liquid.
In some instances it was observed that just prior to the
establishing of true film boiling the bubbles formed at the
surface of the lower half of the heating tube appeared to
agglomerate, above the upper half, to form a more or less
continuous layer.

Method of Computation
From any one series of measurements made at constant
conditions, the total amount of heat transferred in unit time
was computed from the weight of mercury flowing in unit
time, the specific heat of the mercury, and the drop in tem- Figube 1. Effect of Pbessube on Film
Conductance between Clean Steel
perature of the mercury flowing through the tube. From Tube and Boiling Wateb
this, the known dimensions of the tube, and the average 1. Atmospheric pressure
difference between the temperature of the mercury and that 2. Absolute pressure, 20 inches mercury
3. Absolute pressure, 10 inches mercury
of the boiling liquid, the over-all rate of heat transfer was 4. Absolute pressure, 5 inches mercury
calculated. This was expressed in terms of P. c. u. per square 5. Absolute pressure, 2 inches mercury
foot of external surface of the heating tube per hour per ° C.
From the Dittus-Boelter equation,
Figure 1 shows, for various pressures, the change in the film
hD/k =
0.0225 ( ,/µ)0·*( µ/ °·» conductance with change in the difference between the tem-
perature of the surface of the tube and the temperature of
values of inner film conductance, h, for various rates of flow of the boiling water. At atmospheric pressure (curve 1) and
mercury and various average temperatures of the mercury at an absolute pressure of 20 inches of mercury (curve 2)
were calculated. These were converted to the basis of the film conductance increased continuously throughout
P. c. u. per square foot of the external surface of the heat- the entire range of temperature differentials used in the
°
ing tube per hour per C. The conductance of the wall of experiments. Even with a temperature differential of 60° C.
the tube was computed and expressed in the same units and there was no evidence of film boiling. At pressures of 10 and
on the same basis. From these values, graphs were drawn 5 inches of mercury (curves 3 and 4) there was a more or less
showing the variation of the total resistance of the inner definite maximum in the film conductance at a tempera-
film and the tube wall as a function of the average tempera- ture differential of about 60° to 65° C. In neither of these
ture of the mercury. The total resistances were expressed cases was true film boiling established; at the high tem-
in terms of reciprocal P. c. u. per hour per ° C. difference in perature differences the evolution of vapor was so rapid that
temperature per square foot of external tube surface. One the surface of the tube was more or less blanketed by the
such graph was drawn for each of several rates of flow within bubbles, but the boiling was still definitely of the nucleate
the range used in the experimental work. From the over- type. Even at an absolute pressure of 2 inches of mercury
all thermal resistance, computed as described above, and the (curve 5) no evidence of film boiling was obtained.
combined resistance of the inner film and the tube wall, as In general, even with nucleate boiling there seems to be a
read from the graphs, the resistance of the external film was more or less consistent decrease in the outside film conduct-
calculated directly. From the over-all difference in tem- ance with decrease in the absolute pressure. This can be
perature between the mercury and the liquid and the ratio attributed to the increase in the specific volume of the vapor,
of the outer film resistance to the total resistance, the drop with resulting increase in blanketing action. It is also
in temperature between the outer surface of the tube and the possible that the increase in the viscosity of the boiling liquid
liquid was computed. In the following discussion, all which occurs when the pressure, and therefore the tempera-
temperature differences are expressed in terms of the differ- ture, is decreased may be a factor in determining the change
ence in temperature through this film. in film conductance.
In computing the resistance of the film between the tube In one experiment a waxed packing material was used for
wall and the mercury, the values for the physical properties sealing the heating tube in the stuffing boxes at the end of
of mercury at various temperatures were taken from Inter- the boiling chamber. In the insertion of the heating tube
national Critical Tables, through this packing, the surface of the tube became coated
with a very thin film of the wax. With this contaminated
tube were obtained the results shown on Figure 2. At a
Experimental Results
temperature differential of about 18° C. the boiling was
The first series of results was made to determine the definitely nucleate. When the temperature differential was
effect of the pressure on the manner of boiling of water at the increased to about 26° C., there was a definite change in
1404 INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY VOL. 30, NO. 12

the manner of boiling, although true and typical film boiling same temperature difference showed a conductance of about
was not yet fully established. Individual bubbles were 1310 P. c. u.
formed as in nucleate boiling, but these separate bubbles In another series of experiments about 0.05 gram of oleic
tended to flow together at the surface of the metal so that acid was added to the 300 cc. of water in the boiling cham-
relatively large areas of the heating surface were temporarily ber. The effects of this addition are shown by Figure 3.
blanketed. At a temperature differential of about 34° C. Curve 1 was obtained with pure water; curve 2 shows the
this intermediate type of boiling still persisted, although the results obtained after the addition of the oleic acid. In this
tendency towards the agglomeration of the bubbles was even case the tube was heated to a temperature high enough to
more pronounced. establish film boiling; then the temperature of the mercury
At a temperature flowing through the tube was progressively decreased. True
gradient of about film boiling was obtained at a temperature difference of 55° C.
45° C. true film boil- At temperature differences of 35°, 25.45°, and 19.03° C.
ing was established; the boiling was of the intermediate or transition type. Only
the tube was covered when the temperature gradient had dropped to about 15° C.
with a continuous was true nucleate boiling established. When typical nucleate
layer of vapor and boiling was finally obtained, the rate of heat transmission
the film conductance was comparable with that observed with clean Water on a
had dropped to about clean surface under the same temperature gradient.
one-tenth of the value
obtained at a tem-
perature gradient of
20° C.
This series of ex-
periments shows defi-
nitely the impor-
tance of the wetta-
bility of the solid
surface in determin-
Water from a Steel Tube ing the film conduct-
Covered with a Film of Wax ance between the
solid and a boiling
liquid. The presence
on the surface of the metal of a thin film of material not
readily wetted by the liquid tends to promote film boiling.
In the region in which true nucleate boiling occurs, the pres-
ence of the thin film of wax appears not to have any marked
effect on the rate of heat transmission; at a temperature
difference of 20° C. the contaminated tube showed a film
conductance of 1390 P. c. u., while the clean tube at the

Figure 4. Effect of Mineral Oil on


Film Conductance and Manner of
Boiling
1. Clean steel tube with clean water
2. Tube with film of mineral oil
3. Tube with film of mineral oil after addition
of sodium carbonate

After this series of experiments one gram of sodium carbon-


ate was added to the solution in the boiling chamber, and
the temperature of the circulating mercury was again raised
and lowered. A series of readings was made during the
period of decreasing temperature. The results are shown by
curve 3, Figure 3. Even with a temperature difference higher
than 65° C. true film boiling was not obtained. When the
differential temperature was reduced to 26.8° C., nucleate
boiling was established; at and below this temperature
gradient the results agreed closely with those obtained with
clean water on a clean tube.
That not only fatty acids but also petroleum oils may in-
duce film boiling is shown by Figure 4. Curve 1 represents
the results obtained with pure water on a clean tube. After
Figure 3. Effect of Presence of these experiments were made, a drop of paraffin-base lubri-
Oleic Acid on Film Conductance and cating oil was added to the water in the boiling chamber.
Manner of Boiling At first the added oil floated on top of the water and was not
1. Clean steel tube in clean water carried to the metal surface; there was no immediate effect
2. After addition of oleic acid
3. After addition of sodium carbonate on the rate or manner of boiling. Sufficient water was then
DECEMBER, 1938 INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY 1405

withdrawn to bring the level of the water to about the mid- chloride was introduced into the chamber. There was an
point of the tube, and the liquid was boiled for some time to immediate change in the appearance of the boiling zone. The
ensure that the surface of the metal was well coated with rate of boiling increased to about double the value obtained
oils. Water was then added to restore the normal level, before the addition of the salt, and the continuous film of
the temperature of the mercury was increased to induce film vapor was disrupted, although typical nucleate boiling was
boiling, and a series of measurements was made with decreas- not established. As the temperature of the circulating mer-
ing temperature of the circulating mercury. The results are cury was decreased, the film conductance increased pro-
shown by curve 2. True film boiling persisted until the gressively, as shown by curve 2, Figure 5. (Curve 1 repre-
temperature differential had dropped to about 40° C.; sents the results obtained with the oiled tube without salt.)
even at a temperature differential as low as 20° C. true Although typical nucleate boiling was not obtained until
nucleate boiling was not established. relatively' low temperature differentials were reached, the
One gram of sodium carbonate was then added, and the film conductance was always considerably higher in the
series of measurements was repeated. Even at a tempera- presence of the
ture difference of 70° C. true film boiling was not obtained. sodium chloride.
When the temperature gradient had dropped to 23.4° C. After this series of
nucleate boiling was resumed; below this point the results experiments the
parallel those obtained with clean metal and clean liquid. chamber was drained
The effect of sodium carbonate addition in aiding the and cleaned, the tube
restoration of nucleate boiling on a tube that has been coated was again coated
with oleic acid is easily explained on the basis of the as- with a thin film of
sumption that the sodium carbonate reacts with the organic oil, water was placed
acid with the formation of soap and thus tends either to re- in the boiling cham-
move the adsorbed film completely or to convert it into a ber, and film boiling
material which, even if adsorbed, is less effective in promoting was established.
film boiling. The similar action of sodium carbonate in Then 2 grams of
counteracting the effect of the addition of petroleum oil sodium chloride were
cannot be explained by any such simple hypothesis. It is added. Immediately
probable that in this case the added salt simply displaces the rate of boiling in-
the adsorbed film of oil. creased enormously.
As the temperature
of the circulating
mercury was lowered, Figure 6. Irreversibility of
the film conductance Displacement of Oil Film by
increased rapidly to a Sodium Chloride
maximum of about 1. Decreasing temperature differentials
2. Increasing temperature differentials
1900 at about 25° C.
temperature gradient
and then again decreased. With temperature differentials
between about 25° and 65° C. the boiling was of the inter-
mediate type. With salt solution of this concentration, the
tube that had been coated with oil gave, in the lower ranges
of temperature differentials, considerably higher film conduct-
ances than were observed with a clean tube within these
same ranges.
To determine whether or not the displacement of the ad-
sorbed film of oil by the salt is permanent and irreversible,
the following series of measurements was made. A tube
freshly coated with mineral oil was placed in the boiling cham-
ber, 300 cc. of water were added, and through the tube was
circulated mercury at a high enough temperature to provide
true film boiling. Then one gram of sodium chloride was
Figure 5. Effect of Sodium Chlo-
ride Addition on Film Conduct- added, and a series of measurements was made with decreas-
ance at Steel Surface Coated ing temperatures of the mercury. Boiling of the inter-
with Mineral Oil mediate type occurred; with decrease in the temperature
1. Oil-coated tube with water alone differential there was a progressive increase in the film con-
2. Same tube with 0.33 per cent solution
of sodium chloride ductance until finally a value substantially identical with
3. Same tube with 0.66 per cent solution
of sodium chloride
that shown by pure water was obtained. These results are
illustrated by curve 1, Figure 6. When this point was reached,
the temperature differential was again increased and a second
series of measurements was made. With increase in the
Not only sodium carbonate but also sodium chloride may temperature difference, the film conductance increased
be effective in displacing an adsorbed film of mineral oil. progressively (curve 2, Figure 6). No film boiling was ob-
This is shown by the following experiments: The boiling served even with a temperature drop of 50° C. through the
chamber was washed free from soluble salts and the surface film. Curve 2, depicting the change in the film conductance
of the heating tube was coated with a thin film of the pe- with the difference in temperature through the film, is ap-
troleum oil by wiping it with a cloth wet with the oil. The proximately parallel with the graph obtained with pure water
chamber was then filled with water, and hot mercury was on a clean tube but lies slightly below it. These results
circulated through the heating tube until true and typical indicate that the displacement of the oil film by the salt solu-
film boiling was established. Then one gram of sodium tion is substantially irreversible.
1406 INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY VOL. 30, NO. 12

Several series of experiments were made with a chromium- at the surface of the original chromium-plated tube. Further-
plated heating tube. The tube used in these experiments was more, at low temperature differentials the conductances were
of the same material and dimensions as that used in previous considerably higher than those obtained with the original
work but was electrolytically plated with chromium on the tube.
outer surface. It was not polished after plating. The re- The marked tendency of the chromium-plated tube to
sults obtained with the clean tube in pure water are shown by cause film boiling may be due to a true lack of wettability of
curve 1, Figure 7. Up to a temperature differential of chromium metal by water, or to the presence on the surface
slightly above 20° C. nucleate boiling was obtained, and the of the metal of a very thin film of chromium oxide that is not
unit rates of heat transmission were high. A slight further readily wetted. The action of the sodium carbonate may
increase in the temperature gradient resulted in a transi- be attributed either to the effect of this salt in increasing the
tion to film boiling; true film boiling was attained when the interfacial tension between the metal and the solution or
gradient reached about 45° C. to its effect in removing the film of oxide. The difference
between the results obtained with the original tube and those
shown by the tube that had been exposed to the action of the
sodium carbonate may be due to a slight change in the
roughness of the surface, to the presence on the tube of a
very thin adsorbed film of some material that promotes wet-
ting, or to the removal by the carbonate of a film of chromium
oxide that was not immediately and completely regenerated
by exposure to water alone.
After this series of experiments the tube was heated until
true film boiling was established, and 2 grams of sodium
chloride were added. There was an immediate increase in
the rate of boiling and a transition to what appeared to be
typical nucleate boiling. The film conductance, however,
was not as high as that obtained with the solution of sodium
carbonate. As the temperature differential was decreased,
there was at first only a gradual decrease in the film conduct-
ance. At a temperature gradient of about 35° C., however,
the rate of change in film conductance with change in gradient
began to increase. At the lower values for the temperature
gradient the results obtained with the chromium-plated
tube in the presence of salt solution were lower than those
shown by the same tube in a solution of sodium carbonate
but were somewhat above those obtained with a clean iron
tube in clean water.

Figure 7. Rates of Heat Transfer


from a Chromium-Plated Tube Conclusions
1. Chromium-plated tube with pure water
2. Same tube in 0.166 per cent sodium carbonate The results of these experiments indicate that the manner
solution
3. Same tube with pure water, after boiling with of boiling of a liquid at the surface of a solid and the observed
dilute sodium carbonate unit rate of heat transfer are determined largely by the ease
4. Same tube with 0.66 per cent sodium chloride
solution with which the liquid wets the solid. Relatively small
amounts of certain substances in solution or in suspension in
the liquid may have a great effect in altering the manner of
When film boiling was established, 0.5 gram of sodium boiling and in changing the unit rate of heat transfer.
carbonate was added to the water. Immediately there was Some of the large variations in the evaporative capacities
an enormous increase in the rate of boiling and a transition of evaporators operating under apparently similar or com-
from film boiling to true nucleate boiling. The film conduct- parable conditions may be due to the presence of small
ance increased from about 150 to above 2300, which is con- amounts of contaminating substances that change the wet-
siderably higher than the value observed for a clean iron tube tability of the solid by the liquid. The observed variation in
under the same temperature differential. As the tempera- the effects of various salt solutions in the quenching of steel
ture gradient was decreased, nucleate boiling persisted. may be caused by variations in the ease of wetting of the
The film conductance diminished regularly with the tem- metal by the solution.
perature differential; when the differential was reduced to
about 15° C., the film conductance was about comparable
with that observed with clean iron and clean water. Literature Cited
To show that the effect of the sodium carbonate was not (1) Drew and Mueller, Trans. Am. Inst. Chem. Engrs., 33, 449
caused by any marked permanent change in the smooth- (1937).
ness or other characteristics of the surface of the chromium, (2) Jakob, Meek. Eng., 58, 643 (1936).
the boiling chamber was rinsed thoroughly with water and (3) Jakob and Fritz, Forsch. Gebiete Ingenieurw., 2, 435 (1931).
(4) Lang, Trans. Inst. Engrs. Shipbuilders Scot., 32, 279 (1888).
was then filled with distilled water. A series of measure- (5) Nukiyama, J. Soc. Mech. Engrs. (Japan), 37, 367, S 53 (1934).
ments of film conductance was then made. The results (6) Pridgeon and Badger, Into. Eng. Chem., 16, 474 (1924).
are shown by curve 3, Figure 7. The results were com- (7) Sauer, Cooper, Aiken, and McAdams, Mech. Eng., 60, 673
parable with those obtained with the original chromium- (Sept., 1938).
plated tube, although true film boiling was not obtained until
temperature differentials had been established that were Received June 23, 1938. Presented before the meeting of the American
appreciably higher than those required to give film boiling Institute of Chemical Engineers* Philadelphia, Pa., November 9 to 11, 1938.

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