Communication: High speed optical investigations of a character of boiling-up onset

In this communication, we discuss the phenomenon of attainable superheat of liquid and the peculiarities of its release by spontaneous boiling-up. We have combined the apparatus for superheating, namely, bubble chamber, with a high speed micro-optical method for detailed monitoring of the initial stage of boiling-up. In experiments on the isothermal pressure drop, it was found that the boiling-up onset of n-hexane is accompanied by characteristic step signal. The signal has proved to be typical of the heterogeneous character of boiling-up onset in a whole range of superheating degrees. The performance of the method for investigation of the refractive index and density for superheated liquids as functions of temperature and pressure has been revealed. The experimental error is estimated to be 0.1%. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3678831]