The effect of subcooled liquid on laminar film boiling

Heat-transfer results for film boiling in the presence of a subcooled liquid have been determined analytically for the case of the isothermal vertical plate. The two-phase flow and heat-transfer problem which arises has been formulated exactly within the framework of boundary-layer theory, and free convection within the liquid has been accounted for. At a fixed temperature difference between surface and saturation, the effect of subcooling is to increase the heat transfer from the plate surface, with the magnitude of the increase being controlled by five physical parameters. Graphical presentation of the heat-transfer results is made for parametric values which correspond to water, but this information may be applied to other fluids having similar parameter ranges. For large subcooling, the heat transfer is essentially equal to that for pure free convection (no boiling), and the limits for this condition are given.