Experiment No.

11
Pool Boiling Experiment

A Lab Report submitted by

GANDI VENKATA SUJAY PRABHAT - B20ME029
GANESH A BACHOL - B20ME030
GANTEDA HARSHAVARDHAN - B20ME031
GAONKAR PRATHMESH - B20ME032
GARVIT MEENA - B20ME033
GOVIND MEENA - B20ME034
VISHWAJEET SINGH - B20CH050

Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur

Department of Mechanical Engineering
AUGUST 2022
1. Objective:
To study the critical flux in pool boiling apparatuses.

2. Theory:
2.1. Background:
The aim of this experiment is to study the pool boiling phenomenon up to critical heat flux. As we
increase the voltage, the heat flux increases. The bubbles are formed on the surface of the nichrome
wire, and their size and number increase as the voltage is increased. Finally, at the critical heat flux, the
nichrome wire breaks.
Pool boiling over the heater wire can be visualized in three different regions up to the critical heat flux
point at which the wire melts.
Natural convection region.
Nucleate the boiling region.
Film boiling region.

2.2. Experimental Setup:

Figure 1: Experimental setup of pool boiling

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 1.) Electricity Supply:
● Ammeter (to provide a source of current).
● Voltmeter (to provide a source of voltage).
● PID Controller (to set up the initial temperature of the bath).
● Combined socket, with an earth connection (for safety purposes).
2.) Water Supply (Initial Fill) : To provide a water supply for the experiment.
3.) Floor Drain Required : To collect water from the tank after the experiment is over.
4.) Nichrome wire : It is connected between the electrodes.
5.) Water Bath

3. Procedure:
● Open the tank and fill 3/4th of the tank with water.
● Make sure that all switches are in OFF condition.
● Connect the test heater wire and electricity supply to the setup.
● Set the desired temperature using DTC and heat the water till the specified temperature is
achieved.
● Switch ON the Mains indicator button and switch ON the test heater.
● Now gradually increase the voltage across the test heater by slowly changing the variac from
one position to another.
● Stop a while at each position to observe the boiling phenomenon on the wire.
● As we keep on increasing the voltage, nichrome wire breaks at some particular voltage.
● Note down the voltage and current readings at this point.
● Bring the variac to zero voltage after this.
● Repeat the same procedure for different bath temperatures.
● When the experiment is over, switch OFF the heater, power supply and drain the water from the
tank.

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4. Results and Discussions:
4.1. Observation:

Diameter of the heater wire = 1.22x10-4m.

Length of the test heater wire = 0.08m.
Temperature at which the experiment is carried out is 600C(T1).

Table 1 : Observation Table

S.No V(volt) I(Amp)

1 0 1

2 2.5 1

3 6.5 1

4 10 1.24

5 14.6 1.85

6 18.4 2.37

7 22.5 2.8

8 27.8 3.41

9 32.2 3.97

10 38.2 4.68

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4.2. Plots with discussion:

Figure 2: Pool boiling curve of water

Natural convection region.

This region occurs at low temperature differences. This is where the temperature gradients are set
up in the pool and heat is removed by natural convection to the free surface, where vapor is produced by
evaporation.
Nucleate boiling region.
It is where the vapor nucleation occurs at the heating surface. Here the bubbles start to form.
In part I-a: Fewer bubbles are formed.
In part II-b: Rate of bubble formation increases.
At the beginning of part III, due to an increased temperature difference, the rate of bubble
formation increases to such an extent that they start to collapse.
Film boiling region.
This is the region where the vapor film’s stability changes. In the first part of region III, the
vapor film is unstable. In the second part of region III, a stable vapor film is formed and it covers the
entire surface.

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Calculations:

W = V*I (1)
A = π*d*L(m 2) (2)
Qc = W/A (m 2) (3)

Table 2 : Calculation Table

S.No W = VxI Area(A) Qc=W/A

1 0 3.0662*10(-5) 0

2 2.5 3.0662*10(-5) 0.81*10(5)

3 6.5 3.0662*10(-5) 2.11*10(5)

4 12.4 3.0662*10(-5) 4.04*10(5)

5 27.01 3.0662*10(-5) 8.80*10(5)

6 43.61 3.0662*10(-5) 14.22*10(5)

7 63 3.0662*10(-5) 20.54*10(5)

8 94.8 3.0662*10(-5) 30.91*10(5)

9 127.834 3.0662*10(-5) 41.69*10(5)

10 178.776 3.0662*10(-5) 58.3*10(5)

At the 10th observation, we have a heat flux value of 58.3*10(5) the nichrome breaks. This value of flux
is called the critical flux value.

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5. Conclusion:

● As we increase the voltage around the electrodes the temperature of the nichrome wire increases
due to resistance.
● As the temperature is increased, there is the formation of bubbles around the nichrome wire and
these bubbles start to rise up since its density is lower and finally at boiling point they turn into
vapor.
● At critical flux the nichrome wire breaks.

6. Contribution:
GANDI VENKATA SUJAY PRABHAT-B20ME029 – Background and theory.
GANESH A BACHOL - B20ME030 – Theory and plot discussions.
GANTEDA HARSHAVARDHAN - B20ME031 – Procedure and conclusion.
GAONKAR PRATHMESH - B20ME032 – Calculations and conclusion.
GARVIT MEENA - B20ME033 – Experimental Set up and Experimental Analysis.
GOVIND MEENA - B20ME034 – Observation and Alignment of the report.
VISHWAJEET SINGH - B20CH050 – Noted Reading and theory.