Effects Of Vapour/Aerosol And Pool Formation On Rupture Of Vessels Containing Superheated Liquid

Experiments have been documented involving Freon 114 (boiling point 3.5 deg C at 1 bar), contained in spherical glass containers that were suddenly ruptured. The vapour/droplet cloud formed and droplet sizes have been measured with videos and high speed movies. Pool formation has been measured by collecting the liquid on a cold tray. The main parameters varied were: liquid superheat, the height of release and the percentage of container filling. The superheated liquid shattered into droplets at a vapour volume fraction of~50%. The velocity/size of the largest droplets had Weber numbers ~20-30. The droplets velocities were, however, an order of magnitude smaller than predicted by isentropic expansion of the mixture down to atmospheric conditions - a model that is often used for catastrophic release of liquified gases.