The Nukiyama curve in water spray cooling: Its derivation from temperature–time histories and its dependence on the quantities that characterize drop impact

Heat transfer from hot aluminium walls to cold water sprays was investigated. The method used was the transient two-side symmetric cooling of a planar aluminium target, previously heated to temperatures of up to 750 K, by twin sprays issuing from full-cone swirl spray nozzles of various gauge. The target’s mid-plane temperature was recorded during the cooling transient by thin-foil K thermocouples and a high-frequency data acquisition system. In order to determine the wall temperature Tw, the wall heat flux image and the image heat transfer (Nukiyama) curve, two different approaches were used: the first was based on the solution of an inverse heat conduction problem, the second on a suitable parameterization of the Nukiyama curve and on the solution of a minimum problem. Relevant heat transfer quantities, such as the critical heat flux and the single-phase heat transfer coefficient, were obtained from each heat transfer curve. Their dependence on the main parameters characterizing the spray impact phenomenon (mass flow rate, drop velocity and drop diameter) was investigated on the basis of a preliminary hydrodynamic characterization study, and suitable correlations were proposed.