Pool boiling heat transfer characteristics of liquid 3He below 1 K Original Research Article

Heat transfer characteristics from a flat smooth copper surface to liquid 3He have been studied between 0.5 and 1 K under saturated vapor pressure. Liquid 3He behaves as normal liquid down to the lowest temperature among all substances, and has no pre-exciting bubble nucleus and dissolved liquids because of the lowest boiling point and the small surface tension. Therefore, it is expected that liquid 3He would show unique heat transfer characteristics. The temperature difference between the copper surface and liquid 3He was measured as a function of heat flux under steady state condition. Kapitza thermal resistance was derived by the study of relation between the heat flux and the temperature difference. In the nonboiling state, the observed data agree with the equation deduced from the convection flow. However, in the nucleate boiling state, the data are not explained with the Kutateladzeʹs correlation. In the film boiling state, the data are in accordance with the Breen and Westwaterʹs correlation. The observed nucleate boiling state was subdivided into three regions by its characteristic behavior. A boiling model is proposed in order to explain the observed behavior qualitatively.