Experimental analysis of heat transfer characteristics of static water pool under low pressure vaporization

Low pressure vaporization (LPV) is considered a promising method for rapid cooling and a significant rate of water vaporization. This article presents an experimental investigation for the detailed heat and mass characterization of a static water pool exposed to low pressure conditions. An LPV experimental setup has been fabricated in the lab to investigate the effect of process parameters like initial temperature (Tw,0), initial vacuum tank pressure (Pv,0), and the water pool height (Hw,0) on the non-equilibrium fraction (NEF) and heat transfer coefficient (hv). Results shows that NEF initially increased to a high value and then tediously dropped. The final value of NEF decreased with decreasing the initial vacuum tank pressure and initial water pool height inside the flash chamber. A maximum value of the hv existed with the rise of the degree of superheat (ΔT) of liquid. It is found that with an increase of the degree of superheat by 13.44 °C, the value of hv is enhanced by 67%, and the NEF decreased by 46.7%, respectively.