2008 Volume 16 Issue 3 Pages 79-85
The temperature dependency of surface tension of aqueous solutions of some alcohol such as butanol behaves in a nonlinear manner. Namely, the value of surface tension tends to increase, when the solution is heated beyond a temperature. This type of solution is named “nonlinear thermocapillary solution” here. The direction of thermocapillary force in liquid film of the solution on a heated surface acts in the same direction to that of the solutocapillary force. This characteristic will be more marked in small scale systems such as mini⁄micro channels. In this study the liquid behavior of the solution in flow boiling experiments with mini⁄micro tubes was investigated. Butanol aqueous solutions were adopted as test fluids. Pure water and ethanol aqueous solution were also used for comparison. The aim of the study is to observe the liquid motion and to investigate temperature fluctuation in mini⁄micro channels with inner diameter of 1 mm and 0.42 mm. The surface temperature of the tube was measured by using fine K-type thermocouples at the surface of the tubes and the liquid motion was observed by CCD camera system.
