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Enhanced heat transfer in partially‐saturated hydrothermal systems
Author(s) -
Bixler Nathan E.,
Carrigan Charles R.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/gl013i001p00042
Subject(s) - hydrothermal circulation , convection , heat transfer , mixing (physics) , precipitation , materials science , phase (matter) , thermodynamics , mechanics , geology , chemistry , meteorology , physics , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , seismology
The role of capillarity is potentially important for determining heat transfer in hydrothermal regions. Capillarity allows mixing of phases in liquid/vapor systems and results in enhanced two‐phase convection. Comparisons involving a numerical model with capillarity and analytical models without indicate that heat transfer can be enhanced by about an order of magnitude. Whether capillarity can be important for a particular hydrothermal region will depend on the nature of mineral precipitation as well as pore and fracture size distributions.