Condensation and Thermal Accommodation Processes of a Vapour by a Shock Tube

Abstract

The present investigation aims at elucidating the condensation phenomena of a vapour including the vapour-condensate (liquid) interaction by using a shock tube. A stagnant gas of high temperature and high pressure is generated in the region between a reflected shock wave and an end wall of the shock tube. The wall itself being kept at an initial room temperature, the vapour adjacent to the wall is cooled and begins to condense forming a thin and uniform liquid film on the end wall.
The thickness of the growing liquid film and the gas temperature at the liquid surface have been measured as a function of time by means of an optical diagnostic technique. A theoretical analysis also has been made corresponding to the experiment. Condensation and thermal accommodation coefficients of a methanol vapour have been determined from the comparison between the theory and the experiment. They were found to be 0.035 and 0. 03-0. 07 respectively. A flow field and an unsteady thermal boundary layer near the phase-changing interface have been theoretically clarified.