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Presumed role of non-condensable residuals in vapor bubble growth at an artificial site in subcooled boiling under microgravity

par Ronshin, Fedor;Rednikov, Alexei ;Zorkina, Anastasia;Kabov, Oleg ;Colinet, Pierre ;Tadrist, Lounès
Référence Applied thermal engineering, 279, 127333
Publication Publié, 2025-11-01

Article révisé par les pairs

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Résumé :

A series of boiling experiments was conducted on a single artificial nucleation site aboard the International Space Station (ISS) using the Multiscale Boiling (RUBI) facility. These experiments aim to elucidate the mechanisms of bubble nucleation and growth during boiling under microgravity conditions, where the effects of gravity and natural convection are eliminated. This unique environment allows bubbles to grow to sizes unattainable under terrestrial conditions. The bubble dynamics were monitored using a side-view black-and-white camera and a bottom-view infrared camera observing through a transparent heated substrate. This study focuses on the results of a single-bubble pool-boiling experiment, with particular attention to the influence of varying levels of liquid subcooling. The experimental findings are supported by numerical simulations based on a previously developed model. Certain observed phenomena, such as a bubble avoiding collapse and then resuming its growth, were found to be hardly explainable without presuming the presence of non-condensable residuals, in spite of a careful degassation of the working FC-72 liquid. The model was modified accordingly to test such a picture of the phenomenon, which included the thermal Marangoni (thermocapillary) convection as a consequence of non-condensables.