Thermalization of a two-phase fluid in low gravity: heat transferred from cold to Hot
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Updated: Oct 13, 2026

Measurements of Local Instantaneous Convective Heat Transfer in a Pipe - Single and Two-phase Flow
Published on: April 30, 2018
Wunenburger1, Garrabos, Lecoutre-Chabot
1Equipe du Supercritique pour l'Environnement, les Materiaux et l'Espace, Institut de Chimie de la Matiere Condensee de Bordeaux, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Universite Bordeaux I, F-33608 Pessac Cedex, France.
Abstract:
We present an experimental study of the thermal response to a positive temperature quench in two-phase fluid SF6 in low gravity for temperature ranging from 10.1 to 0.1 K from the critical temperature. The temperature was measured simultaneously in the gas, the liquid, and the cell wall by thermistors and the density distribution was observed by interferometry. During the quench the gas temperature considerably exceeded the temperature of the heating walls (overheating up to 23%). This striking observation is discussed in the light of the adiabatic heat transfer in this highly compressible fluid while the key role of the localization in low gravity of the gas and liquid phases is revealed.
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