Large Heat Transport Due to Spontaneous Gas Oscillation Induced in a Tube With Steep Temperature Gradients

Abstract

This paper describes experimental studies of heat transfer due to the oscillations of gas columns that are spontaneously induced in a tube with steep temperature gradients. The tube (∼3 m in length) is closed at both ends and bent into U-shaped form at the midpoint. The temperature distribution along the tube is step-functional and symmetrical with respect to the midpoint. The warm part (closed-end sides) is maintained at room temperature and the cold one is immersed in liquid helium (4.2 K). The heat transported from the warm part to the cold is estimated from the evaporation rate of liquid helium. The heat flux by the oscillations is proportional to the square of the pressure amplitude, and the effective heat conductivity can be several orders of magnitude larger than the molecular heat conductivity of gas. The experimental results are compared with the theory of the second-order heat flux proposed by Rott and are found to be in satisfactory agreement with this.