On the Stability of Boiling Heat Transfer

Abstract Boiling heat transfer in the nucleate region is reviewed. The transition film-boiling region is analyzed by considering the stability of a plane vortex sheet separating two inviscid fluids. Using the classical results of Helmholtz, Kelvin, and Rayleigh, expressions have been derived that predict the maximum and minimum heat-transfer rates in the nucleate and the film-boiling regimes, respectively. The model exhibits the essential features of the phenomenon and shows good agreement with experimental data.