32 - Boiling

Though the study on the boiling process can be traced back to as early as the eighteen century (the observation of the vapor film in the boiling of liquid over the heating surface by Leiden in 1756), the extensive study on the effect of the very large difference in the temperature of the heating surface and the liquid, \(\Delta T\), was first done by Nukiyama (1934). However, it was the experiment by Farber and Scorah (1948) that gave the complete picture of the heat transfer rate in the pool boiling process as a function of \(\Delta T\).

Applying the Newton’s law of cooling, \(q=h\Delta T\), the heat transfer coefficient, \(h\), was used to characterize the pool boiling process over a range of \(\Delta T\) by Farber and Scorah as illustrated by the boiling curve in the following figure.

Experimental Observations of Farber and Scorah