superheat
Heat past boiling
Superheat means to heat beyond a normal limit.
In physics, to superheat a liquid is to raise its temperature above its boiling point without it actually boiling—an unstable state that can cause sudden, violent vaporization.
Steam is superheated when heated beyond the temperature at which it formed, making it useful in power generation.
More loosely, superheat describes any extreme overheating: The engine superheated and seized up.
Water-heating vessel
- turbineBlade-driven energy converter
- saturatedThoroughly soaked through
- vaporGaseous form of liquid
- pressureForce upon contact
flash · throttling · condensate · feedwater · blowdown · nozzle · expansion · injection
Stable but not permanently
- nucleationInitial cluster formation
- thermodynamicsScience of heat-energy relationships
- ebullitionBubbling or emotional surge
- cavitationPressure-induced void creation
Liquefied by extreme heat
- castingShaping through liquid form
- solidificationTransition to firm state
- meltChange from solid
- foundryMetal casting facility
ladle · slag · ingot · degassing · tapping · refractory · alloying · shrinkage
Pressure-increasing mechanical device
- refrigerantHeat-transfer medium
- evaporatorLiquid-to-gas conversion device
- HVACIndoor climate management
- subcoolingTemperature below saturation point
charge · coil · thermostatic · flooding · starved · saturation
boiler
Water-heating vessel
pressure · flash · throttling · condensate · feedwater · blowdown · nozzle · expansion · injection
metastable
Stable but not permanently
- nucleationInitial cluster formation
- thermodynamicsScience of heat-energy relationships
- ebullitionBubbling or emotional surge
molten
Liquefied by extreme heat
- castingShaping through liquid form
- solidificationTransition to firm state
- meltChange from solid
foundry · ladle · slag · ingot · degassing · tapping · refractory · alloying · shrinkage · microstructure
compressor
Pressure-increasing mechanical device
- refrigerantHeat-transfer medium
- evaporatorLiquid-to-gas conversion device
- HVACIndoor climate management
subcooling · charge · coil · thermostatic · flooding · starved · saturation
- steelmakingblast furnace, molten steel, steel production, basic oxygen furnace, steel mills
- HVACair conditioner, furnaces, furnace, ductwork, central air
- thermodynamicsentropy, enthalpy, free energy, second law, thermal equilibrium
- superheated steamVapor heated above saturation
- superheated waterWater exceeding 100°C, unpressurized