Fig. 1: The boiling crisis.
a High-speed video image of the nucleate boiling process. b High-speed video image of the film boiling process (on the same surface as a). a and b show examples obtained in flow boiling conditions on a vertical surface. c Picture of a burnt-out surface which experienced the boiling crisis. This burnout may be followed by the melting of the surface. d Heat flux distribution on a boiling surface experiencing film boiling. e Temperature distribution on a boiling surface experiencing film boiling. d and e are simultaneous measurements obtained using infrared thermometry and have the same scale bar. The large patch with poor heat transfer properties (zero heat flux in d) and high temperature (hot spot in e) indicate the presence of a stable vapor film covering the heated surface.
