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Choked flow of helium II through phase separators

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Abstract

“Phase Separation” means that a Helium II bath and a gas space under a lower pressure are separated from each other by a narrow channel. Liquid from the bath evaporates in the channel or at its outlet. Well-defined amounts of liquid may leave the channel (“Two-Bath Flow”) when a certain critical value of the pressure drop is exceeded. Yet another flow pattern (“Choked Flow”) is occasionally found at the transition from Phase Separation to Two-Bath flow. It is distinguished by the liquid receding into the channel, while the mass flow remains more or less constant. This behaviour is not yet satisfactorily explained. This paper attempts to give an explanation and a numerical description of choked flow. Calculations are compared with experimental observations.

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Schmidtchen, U. Choked flow of helium II through phase separators. J Low Temp Phys 97, 365–392 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00754299

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