Film Boiling Heat Transfer from a Horizontal Circular Plate Facing Downward

The two-dimensional, steady-state, laminar film boiling heat transfer from a horizontal circular plate facing downward to a stagnant saturated liquid is studied theoretically based on that the flow of vapor beneath the circular plate is induced by the hydrostatic pressure gradient due to the change in the vapor film thickness. In the present analysis, the effect of plate edge and contribution of radiation heat transfer are taken into account. The boundary-layer equations for the vapor film are solved by the integral method and the solution is obtained for water at atmospheric pressure. The vapor film thickness, coefficients of convection heat transfer and contribution of radiation heat transfer are examined. The present analysis is compared with the experimental data in terms of total wall heat flux.