Rayleigh-B{é}nard Convection with Phase Change Close to the Critical Point

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mouet, Valentin, Michel, Guillaume, Pétrélis, François, Fauve, Stephan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866909533996056576
author Mouet, Valentin
Michel, Guillaume
Pétrélis, François
Fauve, Stephan
author_facet Mouet, Valentin
Michel, Guillaume
Pétrélis, François
Fauve, Stephan
contents Rayleigh-B{é}nard convection is investigated with sulfur hexafluoride (SF$_6$) in the vicinity of its critical point. In the supercritical domain, direct measurements of the heat flux $Q$ as a function of the temperature difference $ΔT$ are consistent with the usual scaling laws of single-phase turbulent convection. Along the liquid-vapor coexistence curve, heat fluxes are dramatically enhanced by condensation and boiling. Optical measurements are performed to document the size and velocity of the bubbles. We report $Q(ΔT, ε)$ in both domains, with $ε$ the dimensionless distance to the critical point. Critical scaling laws are observed that can guide the development of theoretical models. In addition, this documents a system of diverging heat transfer coefficient, i.e., in which a significant heat flux can be achieved with an arbitrarily small temperature difference as $ε\to 0$.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_08191
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Rayleigh-B{é}nard Convection with Phase Change Close to the Critical Point
Mouet, Valentin
Michel, Guillaume
Pétrélis, François
Fauve, Stephan
Fluid Dynamics
Soft Condensed Matter
Rayleigh-B{é}nard convection is investigated with sulfur hexafluoride (SF$_6$) in the vicinity of its critical point. In the supercritical domain, direct measurements of the heat flux $Q$ as a function of the temperature difference $ΔT$ are consistent with the usual scaling laws of single-phase turbulent convection. Along the liquid-vapor coexistence curve, heat fluxes are dramatically enhanced by condensation and boiling. Optical measurements are performed to document the size and velocity of the bubbles. We report $Q(ΔT, ε)$ in both domains, with $ε$ the dimensionless distance to the critical point. Critical scaling laws are observed that can guide the development of theoretical models. In addition, this documents a system of diverging heat transfer coefficient, i.e., in which a significant heat flux can be achieved with an arbitrarily small temperature difference as $ε\to 0$.
title Rayleigh-B{é}nard Convection with Phase Change Close to the Critical Point
topic Fluid Dynamics
Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.08191