University of Mauritius

Faculty of Engineering
Mechanical & Production Engineering
Department
Assignment on Boiling

Submitted by:
1. BAPPOO Pallavibaye (1244443)
2. BEEGUN Darvesh (1414993)
3. FAUZEE Bibi Haseenah (1417026)
4. RAMBHUNJUN Roni Noorveer (1415480)
5. RUNGEN Ramalingum Brian (1411458)

Course: BEng Mechanical Engineering (Minor: Energy

Systems) Level 3
Module: Thermal Engineering II MECH 3014Y
Lecturer: Mr. A. Khoodaruth
Report Submitted on: 14.10.2016

1.

What is the difference between evaporation and

boiling?

Figure 1: Difference between evaporation and boiling

Evaporation occurs on the surface of liquid and it is a vaporization of

liquid. It is a state of transition from liquid to gaseous state, when vapour
pressure is less than the saturation pressure of the liquid at a given
temperature, and it involves no bubbles formation or bubble motion. The
process occurs slowly and cannot be seen as well. It occurs when there is
exposure of water to air and water molecules change into vapour and
these vapours rise up and form clouds.
On the other hand, boiling occurs on the entire mass of liquid and it is the
vaporization of liquid.It occurs rapidly. It happens when the vapour
pressure of the liquid is equal to the pressure exerted by the
environmental pressure on liquid. It is a state of phase transition. The
boiling occurs in three different stages: nucleate boiling, transition boiling
and film boiling. There are no such stages for evaporation.
Consequently boiling occurs at the solid-liquid interface, when a liquid is
brought into contact with a surface maintained at a temperature T s
sufficiently above the saturation temperature T sat of the liquid.Evaporation
can occur at any temperature. It occurs as long as the substance remain
liquid at a particular temperature.

2.

What is the difference between pool boiling and flow

boiling?

Boiling is called pool boiling in the absence of bulk fluid flow, and flow
boiling (forced convection boiling) in the presence of it.
In pool boiling, the fluid is quiescent and its
motion

near

the

surface

is

due

to

free

convection and to mixing induced by bubble

growth and detachment.
Consequently, pool boiling is a process in
which the heating surface is submerged in a
large body of stagnant liquid. The relative
motion

of

the

vapour

produced

Figure 2: Example of pool boiling n the basis of the presence of

bulk fluid motion.

and

the

In contrast, for flow boiling, fluid motion is

induced by external means, as well as by free
convection and bubble induced-mixing. That is
Flow boiling occurs when all the phases are in
bulk flow together in a channel; e.g., vapour and
liquid flow in a pipe.The multiphase flow may be
classified as adiabatic or diabatic, i.e., without or
with heat addition at the channel wall.
In case of adiabatic flow such as oil/gas flow in a
pipeline, the flow patterns would change as the
inlet mass flow rates of the gas or liquid are

Figure 3: Example of
flow boiling on the
basis of the presence
of bulk fluid motion.

altered or as the velocity and void distributions

In case of diabatic flow (e.g. foundin the riser tubes of steam generators
and boiler tubes in power plants or in the coolant channels between
nuclear fuel elements in a boiling water reactor).Boiling occurs on the
walls of the channels and the flow patterns change due to vapour
production as one observes the flow downstream in the channel due to
vapour production.
This is an important difference between pool boiling and flow boiling; i.e.,
that the forced flow of the multiphase system causes flow pattern
transitions at a given wall heat flux (or temperature) as the integral
power deposited in the fluid increases as it flows along the channel.
3.

What is the difference between subcooled and

saturated boiling?

Pool and flow boiling are further classified as subcooled boiling or

saturated boiling, depending on the bulk liquid temperature.
In

subcooled

boiling,

the

temperature of most of the

liquid is below the saturation
temperature

and

bubbles

formed at the surface may

condense in the liquid. On
the other hand, in saturated
boiling, the temperature of
Figure 4: Classification of boiling on thebasis
of the
presence of bulk liquidtemperature.

the liquid slightly exceeds

the

saturation

4.Draw the boiling curve and identify the different boiling

regimes. Also, explain the characteristics of each
regime.

(Adapted from Thangavels Heat and Mass Transfer Basics, 2016)

In the neutral convection boiling regime, the fluid motion is governed
by natural convection currents, and heat transfer from the boiling
surface to the fluid by natural convection. In the nucleate boiling
regime, bubbles form at various preferential sites on heating surface
and rise to the top. In transition boiling regime, part of the surface is
covered by a vapour film. In the film boiling regime, the heater surface
is completely covered by a continuous stable vapour film and heat
transfer is by combined convection and radiation.
5. How does film boiling differ from nucleate boiling?
In film boiling regime, the heater surface is completely covered by a
continuous stable vapour film and heat transfer is by combined
convection and radiation whereas in the nucleate boiling regime, the
heater surface is covered by the liquid. The boiling heat flux in the
stable film boiling regime can be higher or lower than that in the
nucleate boiling regime as can be seen from the above boiling curve.

6. Draw the boiling curve and identify the burnout point on the
curve. Explain how burnout is caused. Why is the burnout point
avoided in the design of boilers?

(Adapted from Mechanical Engineering Designs Different Boiling

Regimes and boiling curve,2016)
From the above boiling curve, the point C is the in the curve shows
the burnout point. The burnout during boiling is caused by the heater
surface being blanketed by a continuous layer of vapour film at
increased heat fluxes and the resulting rise in heater surface
temperature in order to maintain the same heat transfer rate across a
low-conducting vapour film.
Any attempt to increase the heat flux beyond q

maz

will cause the

operation point on the boiling curve to jump suddenly from point C to

point E. However, the surface temperature that corresponds to point E
is beyond the melting point of most heater materials, and burnout

occurs. The burnout point is avoided in the design of boilers in order to

avoid the disastrous explosion of the boilers.

Bibliography
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Difference Between. (2009). Difference Between Evaporation and Boiling.
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Different Boiling Regimes and boiling curve. (2016). [Blog] Mechanical
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http://mechanicalinventions.blogspot.com/2012/12/different-boiling-regimesand-boiling.html [Accessed 13 Oct. 2016].
Thangavel, M. (2016). Heat and Mass Transfer Basics.
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