Transparent heater for study of the boiling crisis near the vapor–liquid critical point

New design for a pressurized optical cell dedicated to study the boiling crisis in non-homogeneous critical fluids in microgravity conditions is presented. The main characteristic concerns in situ integration of a heating device as a form of transparent resistive thin layer appropriate for light transmission observation of the liquid film boiling, by monitoring the thermal power produced by this heater. High-resolution and high-speed optical diagnostics complement in situ temperature measurements. Illustrations of the high-level performances are provided by the preliminary results obtained during the Earth's tests of the CNES-DECLIC facility, using two (vertical and horizontal) configurations of the heating device with respect to the gravity field acceleration.