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Experimental determination of the spontaneous nucleation temperature of sodium

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Abstract

The superheat limit of sodium was determined using a submillisecond laserpulse heating technique. Specimens of 1 g of liquid sodium were encapsulated and heated with a laser pulse through a thin tungsten window. A pyrometer measured the increase in surface temperature. Rates of the temperature rise were between 2000 and 7000 K· sm−1. Incipient boiling of the sodium resulted in a break in (lie slope of surface temperature. Using a numerical solution of the heat equation, the measurements gave a value of 2128 K for the spontaneous nucleation temperature with a standard deviation of ±61 K. Systematic errors contribute ±28 K to the total inaccuracy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Institut fur Neutronenphysik und Reaktortechnik, Karlsruhe, Germany

    M. Bober & J. Singer

Authors
  1. M. Bober
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  2. J. Singer
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Bober, M., Singer, J. Experimental determination of the spontaneous nucleation temperature of sodium. Int J Thermophys 16, 289–297 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01438979

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