Limit of superheat in uniformly heated fluid

The homogeneous nucleation limit is investigated in pure liquid subject to intense uniform heating at constant pressure. The energy equation is solved in conjunction with a new non-equilibrium vapor formation model in order to predict the maximum attainable liquid superheat as a function of the heating rate. It is shown that for uniformly heated liquids, conditions related to the local temperature in a critical vapor embryo and to the local heat consumption for vapor generation on the homogeneous fluctuation centers, must be satisfied simultaneously in order to initiate explosive boiling. The effect of heating rate on the maximum attainable superheat temperature could be as high as 10 K.