Heat Transfer in the Anode Region in Plasma-Electrolytic Heating of a Cylindrical Sample

Abstract

The energy balance in a three-phase system "anode–vapor/gas envelope–electrolyte" and the results of experimental determination of the heat fluxes acting in the vapor–gas envelope are considered. To determine the fluxes quantitatively, the calorimetric method and the theory of inverse problems of the thermal conductivity of solid bodies are used. It is shown that heat fluxes into the anode and electrolyte increase with the voltage delivered to the electrochemical cell, whereas the heat flux associated with the vapor release to the atmosphere remains practically unchanged. An increase in the concentration of the current-conducting component in the electrolyte leads to a certain growth of the heat flux into the anode and to a decrease of the flux into the electrolyte. The stages of a nonstationary period of the process of plasma-electrolytic heating have been revealed, and it has been established that the time of heating the vapor–gas envelope is several times shorter than the time of heating a sample.