Superheating limits of liquid helium I

It is shown that the maximum superheat temperature ΔT max in liquid helium I, determined under steady-state peak nucleate boiling conditions, cannot be realistically estimated from the thermodynamic limit of superheat (spinodal), as has been previously claimed. It is suggested that a more meaningful...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cryogenics (Guildford) 1982-01, Vol.22 (8), p.391-394
Main Authors: Sinha, D.N., Semura, J.S., Brodie, L.C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
liquid helium
superconductivity
superheating
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Summary:It is shown that the maximum superheat temperature ΔT max in liquid helium I, determined under steady-state peak nucleate boiling conditions, cannot be realistically estimated from the thermodynamic limit of superheat (spinodal), as has been previously claimed. It is suggested that a more meaningful estimate of ΔT max can be obtained from the kinetic limit of super-heat (homogeneous nucleation temperature). Experimental data on the homogeneous nucleation superheat temperature, ΔT h , in liquid helium I over an extended temperature range are presented and compared with the ΔT max measurements of several investigators. It is pointed out that in any quantitative predictions of ΔT max , a knowledge of ΔT h alone is not sufficient. In fact, the measured value of ΔT max can lie either below or even above ΔT h depending on the bath temperature, conditions of the surface, and the thermophysical properties of both heater and liquid.
ISSN:0011-2275
1879-2235
DOI:10.1016/0011-2275(82)90082-0