Chemical Engineering Science, 1971, Vol. 26, pp. 263-274. Pergamon Press. Printed in Great Britain.

Spherical vapour bubble growth in superheated liquids

S. J. BOARD and R. B. D U F F E Y
Central Electricity Generating Board, Berkeley Nuclear Laboratories, Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England

(Received 7 September 1970)

Abstract-- Experimental data has been obtained on the growth of vapour bubbles in water at constant
uniform superheats up to 20°C. The data is shown to agree within the limits of the experimental
errors with the predictions of a simple theory derived assuming temperature equilibrium at the bubble
wall. The theory is extended to predict the conditions for which differing fluids will exhibit similar
growth rates, and it is shown for example that sodium vapour bubble growth may be modelled accur-
ately in water.

1. I N T R O D U C T I O N hanous, Biasi, Isbin and Fauske[15] assume a

THE GROWTH of a vapour bubble in a liquid is a
problem of fundamental importance in the study
of boiling processes. F o r a bubble in a super-
heated liquid, growth occurs by evaporation from
the liquid wall into the vapour region, thus caus-
ing cooling of the wall and permitting conductive
heat transfer from the bulk liquid. The analytical
problem involves the solution of the coupled
equations of motion and heat transfer in a moving
medium.
Early work on bubble dynamics was concen-
trated upon solving separately the equation of
motion[I,2] and the heat conduction equation
[3,4].
Subsequent attempts to solve the coupled
equations have produced several asymptotic
solutions applicable at long times only [5-8], and
a number of complete but approximate solutions
involving simplifying assumptions about the heat
conduction equation. Of these latter, Forster
and Zuber[9] and Waldman and Houghton[10]
use approximate forms of the Green's functions
applicable strictly to a stationary boundary
problem. Simpson and Silver[l 1], Kosky[12]
and Mikic, Rohsenow and Griffith[13] assume
for a solution to the heat conduction equation a
linear temperature drop across a boundary layer
whose thickness varies with time in the manner
predicted by the Plesset and Zwick asymptotic
solution [5].
Bornhorst and Hatsopoulos[14] and Theop-
263
CES- Vol.26 No. 3- A
quadratic temperature distribution, where the
necessary two factors governing the shape are
deduced from an energy equation in the liquid
and the requirement that the temperature gra-
dient decreases to zero at the outside of the
boundary layer. As in the treatment of Waldman
and Houghton[10], evaporation from the bubble
wall is treated as a non-equilibrium problem
governed by an accommodation coefficient
whose value is undetermined.
The somewhat simpler equilibrium theory of
Judd [16] avoids specifying the shape of the tem-
perature distribution by requiring the gradient
at the wall to be related by a constant factor to
the total energy content of the boundary layer
(deduced from the energy of the bubble). The
constant factor is chosen to give agreement with
the leading term of the Plesset and Zwick asymp-
totic solution.
The majority of observations of bubble growth
in superheated liquids have been in spatially non-
uniform temperature fields (e.g. [17-21]).
McLean e t ai.[19] showed that an effective
superheat for the growth could be deduced from
the experimental data by curve fitting. Theoreti-
cal asymptotic solutions have been obtained for
an idealised spatially varying temperature field
[22] and for a temperature field related to a wall
heat flux [23].
Other experimental results have been obtained
by the rapid depressurisation of heated liquids
 S. J. BOARD and R. B. DUFFEY

[24,12,25]. The difficulty with this method is the equation of motion the standard equation
that the effective superheat may vary consider- [1,281,
ably during the period in which the growth
measurements are made. The data of Hooper
(1)
and Abdelmessih[24] do not include the com-
plete pressure history.
Kosky[l2] in general deduces an effective When the bubble has grown significantly away
superheat from the growth rates. One bubble, from its equilibrium radius, the surface tension
produced by slow depressurisation, was shown and acceleration terms may be neglected, and the
to be in agreement with the Plesset and Zwick equation reduces to
asymptotic solution. The data obtained by
Florschuetz et al. [25] for low superheats was 2-p,- P,
‘7 p1 .
WV
shown to agree with the Scriven[7] asymptotic
solution.
The only results for spatially uniform and time This is related to the constant driving pressure
independent external conditions are those for inertia-limited solution [ l] used in Section 5.
low superheat obtained by Dergarabedian [26, The vapour in the bubble is assumed to obey
271 who used slow indirect heating of water and Kirchoffs formulation of the saturated vapour
other fluids at atmospheric pressure. By this pressure law obtained by integrating the Claus-
method, superheats up to 7°C were achieved in ius-Clapeyron relation:
water and results given in detail up to 5.3°C.
This paper reports some new experimental logP,=A+-ClogT, (2)
data for water with superheats up to 20°C under lJ
spatially uniform and time independent condi-
where,
tions. A simple theory of bubble growth assuming
temperature equilibrium at the wall is developed A is a constant of integration
and compared both with previous theories and L
with the experimental data. The theory is then B=+
extended to predict conditions under which
different fluids exhibit similar bubble growth 1 dL
C=c-@
rates, enabling, for instance, water to be used as
an experimental analogue for sodium in fast
reactor boiling studies. Under conditions of constant latent heat, C = 0
and Eq. (2) reduces to the expression adopted
by Judd[ 161. The more commonly used expres-
2. THEORY sion is a linearised form of the Clausius-
The present method involves the numerical Clapeyron relation:
solution of simplified forms of the coupled equa-
tions of motion and heat transfer for the four P,-Pm =-& (TV---T,*).
unknowns, R, P,, T, and p,,. Variable vapour Pm cz2 (24
density and variable latent heat terms are
retained. This expression is only accurate at very low
The basis assumptions necessary for the anal- superheats, giving for example errors in driving
ysis are listed in Appendix A. These assumptions pressure of about 30 per cent for 20°C superheat
are usual for equilibrium bubble growth analyses in water at O-5 atmospheres external pressure.
and have been discussed extensively in the litera- This leads to a 15 per cent error in bubble growth
ture. Under these conditions we may write for velocity in the inertia driven region.
264
 Spherical vapourbubblegrowthin superheatedliquids

The temperature of the vapour is taken to be The usual approximation to this equation in-
equal to that of the bubble wall, which is de- volves the suppression of the variable latent heat,
termined by the heat conduction equation in a density and temperature terms, leaving only
moving medium,
1 dQ dR
OT 4_R2(dR' OT a 0 [ 20T' 4~rR 2 dt = PvLr~°'-~-" (5A)
;r di/ T;r = £ r }"
Equations (3), (4) and (5) may be combined to
For a solution we require only a relation between give
the temperature drop across the boundary layer
and the temperature gradient at the bubble wall. Tv-- Too dL
The leading term of the Plesset and Zwick anal- ((~'/3)at) v2
ysis implies that,
~[ ~'~ ?~]~:
+ ct-t T~ dT
]
t~ r=-n ( (~r/3)at) v2" dL
"+'3R [Lr~ + (-~+ Cl) ( T°°- Tv) ] dovdt"
We choose the simplest relation which is con-
sistent with this at long times, that is the gradient (6)
at the bubble wall is given by
The vapour density is determined from the

LkOr/dr(~)r=~
Tv-Tooat)
= ((7r/3) v2" (3)
perfect gas law
ev
P~=GTv (7)
as first noted by Simpson and Silver [11].
Non-equilibrium theories require additional
which is accurate to at least 1 per cent in the
assumptions about the shape of the temperature
range of interest.
distribution within the liquid.
Equations (1), (2), (6) and (7) form a set of
We approximate to the heat flux boundary
simultaneous equations for the four unknowns
condition for a moving medium with net mass
which were solved numerically by a fourth-order
transfer by assuming that the rate of change in
Runge-Kutta technique on an IBM 360-75•50.
heat content of the vapour bubble may be equated
The starting conditions describe a bubble initially
to the heat flow in the liquid at the bubble wall [29]:
in unstable equilibrium under the balance of
surface tension and vapour pressure forces:
4'n'R 2 dt = kl ~ ~n.
20-
R0 = p , _ p~
For a changing mass of saturated vapour the
change in heat content is given by (Appendix Tv = Too.
B, Eq. (B11)):
Growth is initiated by perturbing the equi-
1 dQ
librium radius by 0.05 per cent, a procedure
4~R 2 dt
which is equivalent to a similar perturbation in
either pressure or temperature. It has been shown
+ ct Jr Tv dT Tv J dt by variation of the magnitude of this perturbation
R that it is sufficiently small not to significantly
• dt" affect the subsequent growth.
(5) Mikic et ai.[13] have recently published an
265
 S. J. B O A R D and R. B. D U F F E Y

analytical solution to Eqs. (1A), (2A), (3), (4) 102 ........ I ........ I ........ I ........ I ........ I ........

and (5A) which may be written in non-dimen- . . . . . . . . . . Mikic e t al S o l u t i o n , P,,* --1"7 o t m o s . ( 1 3 )

- - P r e s e n t ~eory, P.,1"7etmos.
sional terms as, - - - - - J u d d theory, P~ = I-7 atmos.(Ib)
10 ...... Wa~er EquivaLent

R + = §[(t + + 1) 3/2- (t+) 3/2- I] (8)

I
where ...~:.~fi~ ~
.°~"

R+ R 10-~
-1-8 \ k l 2Pz3ct 2T~* ( r ~ -- r * )3l

and 10-2 ,/
- "21
t+ = r~ ( L~=pv3 "~}
L~ \kw,2c,T-2:(-~- T*))/t. i0 ~ - - - ~ ' ~
10"6 10-s
,..,,I
10-4
. , , ,,,,,I
10"3
........ I
10-2
........ I
104
.......

TI ME (secs)
Numerical computations of vapour bubble
Fig. I. Sodium v a p o u r bubble growth, 5°C superheat.
growth which retain variable vapour density and
temperature terms in the vapour energy equation,
....... I ........ I ........ I ........ I ........ I .......
as does the present theory, have been published
elsewhere [15, 16]. Theophanous et al. [15] have
shown the importance of the variable density
term under conditions of high superheat. As ........ Mikic e t a l S o l u t i o n , P ~ = I . 7 a t m o ~ ( 1 3 ) ] . j ~~J ~ . .
discussed in Section 1, the main differences be- - -
....
Prer~t.t.heory, P~-1-7dtmo~
Judd theory, P~=I.7 atmos.(Ib)~/"
_..! -j

tween the various numerical equilibrium theories I ...... W , ~ e r equiveter~ J "

lie in the assumptions regarding the temperature .d J "

distribution. The methods of Judd and Theo-
phanous et al. (the latter also consider non-
equilibrium) both involve deducing the boundary
layer thickness as a function of time from an l02
energy equation in the liquid, in contrast to the
present method (and that of Mikic et al.) which
assumes a simple t a/2 temperature gradient 103
dependence. The purpose of the present dis-
cussion is to arrive at some judgement regarding It? ........ I ........ I ........ I ........ i ........ I .......
the different assumptions in the light of the Id' lo~ I¢ Io~ iO2 lo~
published theoretical results. TIME (5EC5)

We first note that all four methods have solu-
tions which are chosen to be compatible at long
times with the leading term of the Plesset and
Zwick asymptotic solution [5].
In Figs. 1, 2 and 3 the present theory is com-
pared with the results of Judd[16, 30] and the
analytical solution of Mikic et al.[13], and in
Fig. 4 with the case studied in detail by Theo-
phanous et al.[15] all these being examples of
moderate and high superheat sodium vapour
bubbles.
266
Fig. 2. S o d i u m v a p o u r b u b b l e g r o w t h , 20°C superheat.
Reasonable agreement with Judd's theory is
maintained over the whole of the motion, show-
ing that the definition of an energy balance in the
liquid when the shape of the temperature dis-
tribution is not well known does not necessarily
produce substantially different results to the
present simple approach. The solution of Mikic
et al. (Eq. (8)) shows similar agreement except
at short times where surface tension is important.
 Spherical vapour bubble growth in superheated liquids

........ I ........ I ........ I ........ I ........ I ....... 1 ........ I .... "] T h e effect of non-equilibrium processes on
. . . . . . . . Mikic et al Solut ion, P= - 1"7 atmos.( 13 ) bubble growth rate is dependent on the value of
Present {heory, P-=1'7 a~mos. the accommodation coefficient /3. Considering
Judd theory, P==--1-7 atmos (Ib) that a likely value for the accommodation coeffi-
102 - -. . . . . cient in sodium is unity[32] it may be seen from
the results o f T h e o p h a n o u s et al. [15] in Fig. 4 for
10 - .."""" the equilibrium and /3 = l cases that sodium
bubble growth rates at atmospheric pressure are
1 not significantly limited by transport processes
for superheats up .to 150°C. If h o w e v e r the
104 accommodation coefficient in water is - 1 0 -2
bO
[33] transport processes might be expected to be
10.2 limiting at lower growth rates, and consequently
Iz
observations of bubble growth at moderate super-
-- o..og heats form a critical test of equilibrium theories.
°°@°/ In the following we show good agreement be-
tween experiment and equilibrium theory, which
permits a lower limit value of/3 to be determined.
lo-s "i'i,,,,,,I ........ t ........ I ........ t ........ I ........ I ........ I ......

10"8 10-7 10"6 lOS 10-4 10"3 i0~2 10-I 3. EXPERIMENTAL DATA
TIME (secs).
In order to extend the range o f observations to
Fig. 3. Sodium vapour bubble growth, IO0°C superheat. higher uniform superheats, an experiment was
performed in which bubble growth was observed
,/ j in highly superheated water contained in a well-
-- PRESENT THEORY , I~".~ J"
- - - THEOPHANOUSET.AL. "~;/~1. I / wetted vessel at uniform pressure and tempera-
EQUILIBRIUH. (IS) ~/JJ " J"
----- THEOPHANOUSET.AL. <;///" ,.~'~---/~'- I0" ture. T h e apparatus shown in Fig. 5 has been
NON-EOUILIBRIUH (15) / / ~ /"
described in detail elsewhere [34]. Stable super-
=
heats in the range 3-20°C were obtained at
pressures between 0.1 and 1 atm, and bubble
5 ,7../ growth observed with a Fastax camera operating
~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . . ~ . ~ t

THERId0HETER ]l

I I I
1 2 3
TIME (MILLISECONDS).

Fig. 4. Sodium vapour bubble growth, 150°Csuperheat. EXPANSION',[_ II II

CHAMBER 'F II I'
T h e comparison of the present theory with the
TRACE II I:
HEAT,NG Ill
equilibrium case considered by Theophanous I I
e t a/.[15] in Fig. 4 shows surprisingly close OBSERVATION t~__~
agreement considering the difference between WN
I DOW~ fl
the assumptions about the temperature profile, ]'RIGGER ~ I I
and lends support to the view that bubble growth WIRE
is relatively insensitive to the assumed tempera-
ture shape [31]. Fig. 5. Experimental apparatus.
267
 S. J. BOARD and R. B. D U F F E Y
at 7 × 10s frames sec -1. A typical series of
pictures of bubble growth is shown in Fig. 6.
When the camera had attained its working
speed, bubble growth was initiated by means of a
small capacitor discharge (energy 3 x 10-4J of
time constant 10-4 sec), through an immersed
resistance wire, 1 mm long. This instant was taken
as time zero. The effective radius of the initiating
bubble was determined to be - 1 mm from both
energy considerations and observations in water
at the saturation temperature. The effect of this
bubble on the subsequent superheated growth
is negligible at moderate and high superheats
(see also Section 4.2).
For the present growth experiments, the
bubble diameter was measured from the pro-
jected negatives in two orthogonal directions,
thus allowing for shape distortion. The errors in
the radius values determined in this manner were
-----5 per cent, with an error in timing of 2 × 10-4
sec. The temperature errors, including spatial
temperature variations within the liquid, were
estimated to be ___0.2°C, and the error in pressure
was ___0.003 atm, giving an overall superheat
error of-----0"4°C.
4. C O M P A R I S O N O F T H E O R Y W I T H
EXPERIMENT
4.1 L o w superheats
At low superheats, the generally accepted data
of Dergarabedian [26] has been fitted by various
differing theories. Plesset and Zwick [5] fit their
full asymptotic solution to the data by means of
an arbitrary time shift which they regarded physi-
cally as an effective delay in the growth due to
surface tension effects at small radii. Forster
and Zuber[9] invoke a single fitting parameter
(their r~ value) which has a similar physical
justification. Waldman and Houghton[10] indi-
cate that their theory, which predicts growth 40
per cent slower than the Plesset and Zwick
solution at long times, fits Dergarabedian's data
without adjustment and also Simpson and Silver
[11] state that their analysis fitted the same data
with "great accuracy".
In Fig. 7, the present theory is compared
268
directly with Dergarabedian's results[26], the
broken line representing the leading term of the
asymptotic solution of Plesset and Zwick with-
out time adjustment. The full asymptotic solution
differs slightly at small radii.
In calculating the theoretical curves, an ex-
ternal pressure of 0.976 atm has been used[35]
together with the superheats as quoted in the
original paper.
The agreement of the present theory is within
the experimental errors in radius and time quoted
by Degarabedian (radius ___10 per cent, time
___10-3 sec) except for the 4.7 and 5.3°C cases
where a discrepancy equivalent to about I°C in
superheat appears. The leading term of the
Plesset and Zwick solution
dR k~(T® - T * )
dt p~Lr~( (Tr/3)at) in
generally overestimates the radius as would be
expected for a solution which neglects inertial
forces. In general, it may be seen that Dergara-
bedian's data are not a sensitive test of the
various theories. A more rigorous examination
is possible only at higher superheats.
4.2 High superheats
The present theory is compared with our own
experimental data for superheats in the range
4-21°C in Fig. 8. At the lower superheats, 4.3°C
and 6-3°C, the effect of the trigger bubble is
noticeable as a perturbation on the growth for
radii of less than 1 mm. The general agreement
between the theory and experiment is within
10 per cent, which is rather less than the com-
bined experimental errors in radius and super-
heat, (see Section 3). The analytical solution of
Mikic et al. [13] is also in good agreement (see
Fig. 9) as would be expected from the discussion
of Section 2, whereas the leading term of the
Plesset and Zwick asymptotic solution[5] con-
siderably overestimates the radius at the higher
superheats. For example the values for the 20°C
superheat case are 60 per cent too large at 1 mS
and 40per cent at 3 mS.
The maximum growth rate of the highest super-
0 0 . 5 ms 1.0 ms

I.Sms ZoO InS 2"5 ms

3.0 ms 3.5 ms 4.0ms

Fig. 6. Vapour bubble growth at 20°C superheat P® = 0.318 atm.

(Facing page 268)

 S p h e r i c a l v a p o u r b u b b l e g r o w t h in s u p e r h e a t e d liquids

"15

.1

"05 .- .... 7 7 7: :2::

5 10 15 5 10 15
T.o-T'--1.4°C. Time(MiLLiseconds) T,,-T'--2.1°C Time (Mil.l.iseconds)
'15

I
D

'-" .05 ¢
s ~"
,-.
. .'."

5 10 15 5 10 15
T--T-""31 °C. Time (Milliseconds) T--T;-4-5°C Time (Millisc~ondsl
•15 , / / ~ .." ~~

~'05 / . . .

~ , I , i i iI i , ,,I
5 10 15
T,.-TA-53°C. Time (MilLiseconds)
Pre~{ {heory.
. . . . . Ple~et and Zwick. Leadinq Term (5)
........ Dergarabedian, Data (26)
Fig. 7. Watervapourbubblegrowthat low superheats.

heat bubble observed ( - 2 0 0 cm sec -1) corres- that fl is very much greater than 6 x 10-a, which
ponds to an evaporation rate from the bubble appears to be inconsistent with the values for
surface of about 6 x 10-2gcm -2. This may be water quoted in Section 2 and elsewhere [ 15].
compared with the transport theory limit on
evaporation rate (neglecting condensation) for 5. T H E EQUIVALENCE OF WATER AND
the relevant pressure and temperature conditions, SODIUM VAPOUR BUBBLES

which is ~ 10fl gcm -2. The agreement between The initial growth of a vapour bubble may be
the present simple equilibrium theory and ex- well approximated by the equation describing
periment would seem to indicate that thermal inertia limited growth [ 1]:
equilibrium obtains in the bubble, implying that
the evaporation rate is far below the transport (9)
theory maximum. This leads to the requirement
269
 S. J. BOARD and R. B. D U F F E Y

so that for R >> R0

",o /. ] dR _ [ 2 ( P * : P ® ) ] 1'~ (10)
-9 ~
/ ~ /"
/to
OATA P= ( ~ ) T . . - T ~
• 0395 4'3/
dt k 3pz ]
J /- o &372 6"31
7" /o • 0375 9"31
/ / o (}362 17 /
/ /,0 ® 0.318 20"31 since the bubble pressure Pv is very close to P * ,
.8 / / -- PRESENTTHEORY/
the saturation pressure corresponding to T=.
At much longer times, the growth is heat
transfer limited and the asymptotic solution is
A A A A
applicable:
a: -5

-4 o & o
dR kz( T = - - T * )
o o o o
d t = L pv( ( Tr/3 )ctt ) 112 " (l 1)
•3 o o o
o o * e *
In Fig. 10, the simplified Eqs. (10) and (1 l) are
-2 compared with the present complete solution
and the Mikic solution for the growth of the
-1
100°C superheat sodium vapour bubble example
. . . . . ;~ ~ , , of Fig. 3. The bubble initially accelerates away
2 /, 6 8 10 1 16 18
TIME(RILLISECONDS) from the surface tension determined equi-
Fig. 8. Water vapour bubble growth at high superheats: librium radius until, for times > 10-6 sac, approxi-
experimental data compared with the present theory. mately constant velocity conditions apply. There

i0 z , i , , , i,i i i , l I , ,,i i l , I I I III I I I I I I I I

Key :-

A° As in f i g u r e 8
(Radii >0.I cm)

Hikic etot 5olut;on (13)

+¢10 (,Equation (8))

° - -

QI
m

°y
E

-I
I0 , , , , ,,,,I , , , , ,,,,i I I I I I I I

I0- I I0 ~. 10 2 i03
Dimensionless time
Fig. 9. Water vapour bubble growth at high superheats: experimental data compared with the
solution of Mikic et al. [13].

270
 Spherical vapourbubblegrowthin superheatedliquids

1°4~ ........ I ........ i ' --,.~''"'l ........ ~ ........ I ........ !

~- ~ .~ Equation(.ll) -"
\

l0
t . .

................
. . . . .

~ ......................
. . . . . . . . .

. " . . . ~ , . . . . . . .
. . . . . . ._ __

~" ~ . --.
. . .( , o. ) . . _
-

'~ / "Present theory Mikie et ol Solution (13 ) ~.t_~ -

' o~ / (complete solution) (equotlon (8)) " -~,t~,,.~ .

i0 z

I I I ' I I Ill I I I I I I II] I I I IIIIli I I I I I I Ill I I I IIIIll I I i i l l i l

10-7 10-6 ~o-s iC 4 , io-3 io--z io-t

Time (secs)

Fig. 10. Sodiumvapourbubblegrowthrate, IO0°Csuperheat.

is then a transition to the heat transfer limited
region at times greater than 10-3 sec.
We can calculate the conditions under which
bubble growth both at short and long times will
be equivalent in two different fluids. From Eqs.
(10) and (11) the conditions are, in a system of
scale unity,
(12) and (13) must be satisfied simultaneously. This
only the ratio of the heat transfer and inertia
limited growth rates is modelled. This effectively
only determines the transition region between
these limits, and therefore does not model the
whole of the vapour bubble growth. Detailed
analysis of this modelling condition has not been
published.
For the full modelling conditions Eqs. (12)
=

Pl -](1) L Pt J(2) approach has been examined by considering the

and modelling of superheated sodium by superheated
water and Freon 113, this being a problem
112 __ r,) 1 relevant to safety studies for sodium-cooled
L Lpv -3(I)
reactors. It should perhaps be noted that the
=r r:)] difficulties usually associated with modelling the
(13)
[ Lpv J(2) very high thermal conductivity of liquid sodium
are greatly reduced here since the conductivity
where the subscripts (1) and (2) refer to the only occurs in the term (k~ptct)112, the value of
properties of liquids (1) and (2) respectively. which for sodium is only some four times greater
Under conditions of low superheats when Eq. than for water, and some twenty times greater
(2A) is applicable Eqs. (12) and (13) reduce to the than for Freon 113.
equivalence for the two different fluids of the Initially, we specify the sodium conditions to
non-dimensional parameters R ÷ and t ÷ in Eq. (8). be modelled, and substitute values for all the
Singer[36] has also examined the modelling appropriate sodium parameters and those water
of vapour growth rates, utilising a non-dimen- and Freon 113 parameters which do not vary
sional formulation similar to that derived by appreciably over the temperature range of in-
Florschuetz and Chao[37]. In their formulation, terest (i.e. p~, cl, k~ and L). The solutions for the
271
 S. J. BOARD and R. B. D U F F E Y

Table I. Equivalence conditions for sodium vapour bubble growth as calculated for
water and Freon 113

Sodium
(at 1.7 atm) Water Freon ! 13

T® -- T* (*C) Pa (atm) T~ (°C) T ® - T* (°C) P® (atm) T~ (°C) T~-- T* (°C)

5 0-372 80"3 6"3 0.224 21"7 13.4

10 0-349 84 11 0-184 28-8 24.4
20 0"321 91 20"3 0-158 40 40
30 0"365 101 27 0"158 55"6 55"6
40 0"388 106 30 0"132 59"4 60
50 0-365 111 37 0" 118 68-9 72-8

water and Freon 113 temperatures and pressures
are then obtained by the method of successive
approximation using steam table data for values
of Pv and pv. Typical values deduced by this
procedure are detailed in Table 1. It can be
seen that the greater thermal conductivity limi-
tations of Freon render it not such a useful fluid
for simulating bubble growth as water.
F o r a comparison of sodium and water vapour
bubbles, Figs. 1, 2 and 3 show the results of the
present theory applied to sodium for various
superheats, and also the results of the same
theory applied to the water conditions predicted
by the modelling equations. Experimental data
covering the range of practical importance taken
for some of these water conditions are shown in
Fig. 8.
F o r superheats up to 100°C agreement is ob-
tained between the sodium and water equiva-
lent theoretical cases within 30 per cent after the
bubbles have grown away from the unmodelled
surface tension controlled region. The agree-
ment between the experimental data and the
theoretical curves has been discussed in Section
4.2.
CONCLUSIONS
Some new experimental data on the growth of
vapour bubbles at constant and uniform super-
heats up to 20°C in water has been obtained. A
simple equilibrium theory has been derived which
agrees with this data within the limits of experi-
mental errors. The agreement at the largest ob-
served growth rate implies that the accommoda-
272
tion coefficient in water is very much greater
than 6 × 10-a.
It is also shown that the predicted growth rate
is not sensitive to the exact shape of the assumed
temperature distribution in the liquid and that the
analytical solution recently obtained by Mikic
et al. [13] adequately describes the growth when
surface tension forces are negligible.
By examining the conditions for which bubble
growth will be similar in two different fluids, it
has been shown that water vapour bubbles can
be an entirely adequate simulant of sodium
vapour bubbles.
Acknowledgments-The authors are grateful to Dr. E. W.
Carpenter for many helpful discussions on the work re-
ported here, and to Mr. A. Boyd and Mr. D. Whitehead for
the necessary computer programming. This paper is pub-
lished by permission of the Central Electricity Generating
Board.
NOTATION
A,B,C constants in saturated vapour pressure
law
c specific heat
G gas constant
k thermal conductivity
L latent heat of vaporisation
rn mass ofvapour in bubble
P pressure
P* saturation pressure corresponding to
T~
Q heat content of vapour bubble
R bubble radius
r radial co-ordinate
T absolute temperature
 Spherical vapour bubble growth in superheated liquids

T* saturation temperature corresponding Subscripts

to P~ l liquid phase
t time s saturation condition
v vapour phase
Greek symbols oo bulk liquid conditions
ct thermal diffusivity of liquid o initial value of variable
(kl/p~ct) T value of variable at temperature T
/3 accommodation coefficient T® value of variable at bulk liquid tempera-
tr surface tension ture
p density

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1949.
[19] M c C L E A N E. A., S C H E R R E R V. E. and F A N E U F F C. E.,J. appl. Phys. 1956 27 193.
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[21] C O L E R. and S H U L M A N H. L., Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer ! 966 9 1377.
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APPENDIX A (2) The flow is irrotational.

(3) Spherical symmetry is preserved.
ASSUMPTIONS (4) The velocity of the bubble wall is negligible compared
Throughout the paper the following assumptions have to the velocity of sound in the vapour and consequently the
been used: interior of the bubble is at a uniform pressure.
(1) The liquid is inviscid, incompressible and there are no (5) The whole of the bubble interior is in thermal equi-
body forces. librium with the bubble wall.

273
 S. J. BOARD and R. B. D U F F E Y

(6) The density of the vapour is negligible compared with and

the density of the liquid so that the velocity of the bubble J=i-I
wall is equal to the velocity of liquid at the bubble wall.
m= ~ ~mj,
J=o
Thus, we can also neglect the inertia of the vapour.
(7) The liquid medium extends to infinity. and is the total mass of vapour in the bubble.
(8) The vapour in the bubble remains saturated. For a general mass increment, 8rn,
(9) Surface tension is independent of temperature.
8ti = St, and 8Ti = 8Tr, Ti = Tv.

APPENDIX B For small temperature ranges we may write

INCREMENTAL ENERGY EQUATION FOR dL
THE VAPOUR LTi = LT~-[--d-~ ( Tv-- T~) (B6)
In order to obtain an expression for dQ/dt in terms of the
bubble growth rate, consider the process of heat conduction and from the Clausius-Clapeyron relation we have
into the bubble in incremental steps from time zero. The first
incremental mass 8m0 is evaporated at temperature T~ so dL L
that the heat supplied is, c~ = cz+~-~ Tv" (B7)

dQ0 = LT~Smo. (BI) So that in the limit 8t ~ 0, substituting (B6) and (B7) into
(B5),
The next incremental mass 5m~ cools to temperature T~ and
is then evaporated, whilst the mass 8m0 of vapour is cooled dQ_dm[L + dL
to T~ along the saturation curve. The heat supplied during d---f-- - ~ L r ( - ~ + c t ) ( T ~ - Tv)]
this process is, ( r®dL LT~drv
+rn cz-~ TvdT T~] dt ' (B8)
8Q~ = [Lr~ + c~(T~ -- T~) ]8ml + cs(T® -- Tl)Sm0.
(B2) For a spherical vapour bubble
For the next mass, the heat supplied is similarly,
m = ~TrR3pv (B9)
8Q2 = [LT2+ cl ( T® -- T2) ] ~m2 -t- c s ( T1 -- T2) ( Smo + 8ml). and
(B3) dm 2 dR 4 3 dp~
--~--=4~'R p ~ - ~ + ~ r R dt " (BI0)
For the ith mass,
jffii--1
8Qi = [LT~q'-cI( T~-- Ti) ]t~mi q- cs[ Tti-1)-- Tt] t~mj. So that the final equation becomes, from Eqs. (B8), (B9),
Jffio and (BI0),
(B4)
If the ith mass is evaporated in a time 86,
4~R 2 dt P~ T~+ ~-~+Cz (r~--rv)
[Lri+cz(T~-- TO] -~h +cs 8T~ m (B5) R dL
,3ti 8ti + ~ [LT~+ ( - ~ + cl) ( T~-- Tv) ] dP~dt
where Roy[- T®dL L~]dTv
(BI1)
8T~ = T . - Ti --q--l~uc'4 T v d r dt "

R6sum6-- Des donn6es exp6rimentales ont 6t6 obtenues sur la croissance de bulles de vapeur dans
l'eau b. des surchauffements uniformes constants jusqu'~t 20°C. Les donn6es s'accordent dans ies limi-
tes des erreurs expgrimentales avec les pr6dictions d'une thgorie simple dgrivge de l'hypoth&se d'un
6quilibre de temp6rature ~. la paroi des bulles. La th6orie est 6tendue pour pr6dire les conditions dans
lesquelles des fluides diff6rents montreront des taux de croissance similaires et l'on montre, par exem-
ple, que la croissance des bulles de vapeur de sodium peut ~tre remodelge avec pr6cision dans l'eau.

Zusammenfassung-Es sind experimentelle Daten fiber das Wachstum yon Dampfblasen in Wasser
bei konstanten, gleichfiJrmigen (]berhitzungen bis zu 20°C erhalten worden. Es wird gezeigt, dass
die Daten innerhalb der experimentellen Fehlergrenzen mit den Voraussagen einer einfachen Theofie,
die unter Annahme von Temperaturgleichgewicht an der Blasenwand abgeleitet wurde, iibereinstim-
men. Die Theorie wird erweitert zur Voraussage der Bedingungen unter welchen verschiedenartige
Fliissigkeiten gleiche Wachstumsraten aufweisen werden, und es wird gezeigt, dass zum Beispiel
das Wachstum yon Natriumdampfblasen mit Genauigkeit am Modell des Wassers veranschaulicht
werden kann.

274