Penetration of vapor jets submerged in subcooled liquids

An experimental investigation of the penetration distance required for complete condensation of a submerged turbulent vapor jet injected into a quiescent liquid bath of the same material was made. The bath was maintained in a subcooled condition at a temperature below the boiling temperature of the liquid at the bath pressure. The experiments were limited to choked injector Hows with the penetration regime such that buoyancy effects are negligible. Tests were run for water, ethylene glycol, and iso-octane over a range of flow rates and bath pressures. A theoretical expression for the vapor penetration distance was developed utilizing a variable density single fluid model for the two-phase flow, with the turbulent mixing process treated by an entrainment law. Corrections for the external expansion of the choked flow beyond the injector exit were also determined. This model was found to correlate the results of both the present experiments and those of earlier investigators over a wide range of operating conditions and injector geometries.